Friday, August 10, 2012

How to build a home gym for $150 or less

In college, I was known for doing kickboxing in my dorm room or recruiting friends to join me in crunching it out with a yoga abs workout DVD. It's a fact that I own more workout DVDs than regular movies. Well, now I have a new workout video obsession- ones posted for free on Pinterest!

Sites like FitFluential, FitBottomedGirls, FitSugar, and Shape all regularly post 5 - 15 minute workout videos. It's easy to search their Pinterest sites to find whatever routine you are looking for, such as cardio, arm workout, abs exercises etc. What I've been doing is finding two or three 5-10 minute videos and doing the circuits through twice each. Trust me- they pack a lot of power into 10 minutes, so doing a few cycles through is certainly enough to work up a sweat!

The best part: No gym membership required and you can easily tailor the workouts to fit into your schedule or work specific body parts.

For instance, yesterday I did this R.I.P.P.E.D. video from FitSugar twice through, this Jillian Michaels circuit from Shape Magazine twice through, and the exercises from this FitBottomedGirl post twice through - all totaling a sweaty 45 minute workout!

So what do you need to get started on home workouts? Here's what my "home gym" looks like.



I am using an empty bedroom right now, but you don't even need a full room. As long as you have somewhere to store your equipment and a small space to spread it out when you're using it, you'll be good to go!

All of my equipment totals less than $150 - and I'm sure you can get everything even cheaper on eBay or Amazon!

  • Yoga mat: $15 and optional skidless yoga towel to prevent yoga mat from slipping 
  • Set of 3 - 4 dumbbells (mine are 3, 5, 8, and 10 lbs.): $35
  • Exercise ball: $20
  • Set of 3 resistance bands: $25
  • Medicine balls: $20
  • Interlocking flooring mat (to protect the carpet when I'm jumping around): $30
Total: $145

Other equipment I use:

  • Computer to play workout DVDs and/or exercise videos from YouTube and Pinterest
  • Speakers to plug your iPod into
  • Workout DVDs
What about you? How do you make the most of at home workouts? I'm always looking for new ideas!

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