The other day I heard our doorbell ring at my house. My sister got the door and told me that our neighbor needed help unloading something from his truck. He said he needed someone with some strength, I think he chose the right person, don’t you?! 
So I throw on a hoody and put on some flip flops and walk with him around the corner to his place. We get to his truck and he opens the back and what do I see? A brand new HUGE LCD TV (lucky guy!)
After we’re done putting the TV in his living room, he says he has something to show me. So he takes me to his backyard and shows me a home gym he set up under his patio. He has some adjustable dumbbells, a pullup bar that he made himself, a padded area for cardio and ab routines, and an old chair without the cushion which he uses for tricep dips and pushup variations. He asked what I thought, and I told him I was very impressed.
That got me thinking what could the average person use at their own home to do a great amount of exercise variations. So I decided to make a list for you guys who are willing to take the next step in your fitness and insvest in some great tools for your health and fitness. I’m going to give you my top 5 pieces of equipment every person needs at their home, dorm room, or wherever you exercise.
1) Dumbbells- this is a no brainer! There are TONS of exericeses and variations of exercises you can do with a good pair of dumbbells. Or even better, go the same route as my neighbor and invest in a pair of adjustable dumbbells. While these are more expensive than a regular set of dumbbells, they’re like having a whole rack of dumbbells in one pair. Where can you get these? Try www.craigslist.com for a good used pair. Or if you want to purchase individual dumbbells, go to your local sporting store and pick them up there. Dumbbells get really expensive when ordered online. They are heavy and cost a lot to ship!
2) A pullup bar- if you want the best way to get upper body strength and definition in your arms and back, pullups are the #1 way to get that done! You can find a good one here: http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_5369_A_CategoryID_E_223 .Don’t worry if you can’t do a single pullup right now. I’ve worked with many people who start off not being able to do a pullup with their own bodyweight but eventually gain enough strength to be able to do multiple pullups with their own bodyweight!
3) A jumprope- there isn’t another piece of equipment that weighs less and offers more benefits to your body than a jump rope. There are a bunch of different ways to jump rope and they are great to do in between sets of weight training! Get one at your nearest sporting goods store or use the kind that I use for my boot camp classes at www.jumprope.com
4) Rubber tubing- this is another great space saving tool that has many uses. These are the tubes that have handles at the ends. You can choose a resistance that fits your strength level. You are only limited by your own creativity with these things! Just be careful not to scrape the tube on the cement too much. I had one person rub their band too hard on the cement and it broke on them! Don’t worry, he was not injured! The best tube I’ve found is from here: http://www.fwonline.com/protube.htm
5) A stopwatch- This is a tool that you normally see coaches or trainers wearing around their necks. Well now you’ve got a pretty good reason to have one with you every time you workout. Here’s why: I want you to start timing certain workouts and recording in a notebook how long it takes you to complete the workout. For example, let’s say you do 5 exercises with your dumbbells for 20 reps each then you run around your block. Now say you repeat that 2 times and then record how long it takes you to do that whole workout. Now a couple weeks later you can look back in your notebook and repeat that workout, only shorter this time. This will make sure you can track your progress. We should all strive to get better at everything we do, and fitness is no exception. You can get a good stopwatch here: http://performbetter.com/SearchResult.aspx_Q_CategoryID_E_389
I hope this list will help you on your way to a great home fitness program. Remember, you don’t need a whole lot of equipment to get a good workout. All you need is the creativity and dedication to get you to where you want to be! If you want customized workout programs designed by me just for you, go to http://www.fitnessgenerator.com/cpt_soto and let’s get you started with a great home fitness program!