hey nerds coach matt here in this video I'll show you how to level up
your home gym whether you've got a lot a little or nothing to spend let's go
what's up everyone I know home gyms have become very popular
recently but you might be at a loss for what to get for yours or even how to get started
so let's go over some ideas and considerations to make your Batcave the envy of all superheroes
our first consideration when leveling up your home gym is to create a dedicated space for
it I know that might not be realistic or possible for everybody but it's really powerful if you can
and if you don't have a whole room for it maybe you could dedicate a small portion of
it or a corner of your room it's really powerful because it can change how you mentally prepare
and mentally approach your workout not only that you can decorate it how you like put up some cool
stuff or cool quotes I have this Captain America shield over there so what motivational quote would
you have in your home gym share it with us in the comments below a yoga mat is another inexpensive
and really useful tool to have you can roll this thing out and work on some plank work push-ups
and the other nice thing about the yoga mat is when you roll it out it can be another thing that
creates that separation of space and kind of lets your mind know it's go time ready for my workout
so we have a space picked out but you might be a little low on funds I'm broke I'll pay you back
that's okay there's plenty of stuff around the house that we can find and repurpose for
our workouts we've got a ton of great ideas in our article how to build a home gym when all equipment
is sold out link is in the description below but we'll cover a few of those ideas right now
you can use things like milk or laundry detergent jugs a backpack filled with books maybe you pick
some of your heavier books like textbooks or the lord of the rings you have my sword throw them
in a backpack all of a sudden you've got some weight you could do things like goblet squats
and overhead presses
or bent over ropes
so as long as you're willing to be a little bit creative there's definitely ways to explore this
you could also start out with just a towel gotta know where your towel is
use that and get in some good isometric work so I could put this down on the floor step on it pull
in some tension and all of a sudden I'm working deadlifts isometrically and I can do something
similar and set up for a row pull in here this way trying to get my chest to my knee so if you have
that do a couple of push-ups you got yourself a total body workout if we're looking to use
household weights on the plus side there's little to no cost to having those on the downside it can
be difficult to increase or adjust weights quickly through a workout and we always want to make sure
that we're staying safe whenever we're adding resistance to anything that we're going to use
if you have a little bit of a budget for leveling up your home gym one of the first pieces of
equipment I usually tell clients to pick up is a set of resistance bands it's the resistance
here are the two most common that you'll come across one we have these ones with handles that
are easier to grab but maybe not be as beneficial for doing chin-ups or pull-up assistance
and then we have these looped resistance bands which can be a little bit tougher to grab
but can be really great for pull up and chin up assistance speaking of which
check out my 60-second video on how to use the loop resistance bands to help you with
your chin-ups the link is in the description below back to a few other exercises you can
do with the band so we could step on it get into a rack position and do a front squat
we can step on it with just one side and kind of step through and work an overhead press or I
can loop this around my squat rack or door handle and do some band rows with my resistance band here
if you're in the market for resistance bands they're also a host of other great benefits
they scale well you could start light and increase the resistance as you get stronger
you can do lower and upper body exercises with them they don't take up a ton of space
and they're relatively inexpensive a good set will run you between 20 and 40 dollars
there are some downsides to resistance bands though one they could break over time and the
resistance is not the same throughout the motion unlike dumbbells or barbells so it might feel
a little bit easier at the start and a lot of tension at the very end of the motion big big
big warning make sure that any exercise you do has the band aimed away from your face
we don't want you to shoot your eye out you'll shoot your eye out kid
after bands a chin up or pull-up bar would probably be the next area we could level up
our home gym again they're relatively inexpensive between 20 and 40 dollars
and they are also great for working our pulling muscles even if you can't do a chin up or pull up
yet you can always do assisted pull-ups with the band as I mentioned or you can use a chair
or a bench for assistance and if you can do either of those even hanging like this can be great for
your grip and your forearm muscles and if you are looking to get your first chin up coach jim has
put together a great video on tips and exercises to help you get there and the pull-up bar can be
great to build upon you could hang things like bands and gymnastics rings to get even more
exercises and bang for your buck which I'll cover in a second and if you're still not sure you could
put a chin-up bar anywhere where you live Coach Jim has made another video with alternatives
using a towel and a sturdy door frame I mean the guy's like Macgyver better than Macgyver
all right let's go back to the gymnastics rings they're another option that's really come down
in price of late and you can find a pretty decent pair for around 30 bucks they travel easily they
store well they give you a ton of different opportunities and challenges to build upon
so before we move on to some of the big-ticket items let's not forget about cardio rule number
one for surviving Zombieland cardio a jump rope is one of the easiest and cheapest
cardio options for your home gym don't overlook this simple but efficient option
okay so we've covered a ton of different options and you might be wondering what about the weights
leveling up your home gym with either dumbbells or kettlebells is clearly the next logical step
depending on your space and budget you could get a single dumbbell a pair of dumbbells or even some
adjustable dumbbells the adjustable dumbbells are a little bit pricier but they are also
space effective and will help you scale your workouts later in the future
in terms of recommendations for starting weight to buy i'd say anywhere between 18 and 35 pounds
if you're picking up a single kettlebell or dumbbell too light and we'll find that things
are not challenging enough and too heavy we'll see that we're restricted a little bit by what we're
able to do with that one weight and if you want a great workout you could do with just a single
kettlebell or dumbbell check out our 20-minute kettlebell workout where i'll
run you through a variety of strength training exercises after you've grabbed some weights
a weight bench can be a great purchase for your home gym a flat bench will run you about 50 or 60
and it can really expand the range of exercises you can do things like
a dumbbell bench press an elevated push-up and dumbbell step-ups among a host of other exercises
okay let's talk about the most expensive home gym options we have squat stance which are two
posts that can support a barbell a power cage which are four posts that can support a barbell
and a rig like I have here which is sort of a hybrid you'll want to look into one
of these three options if you really want to take your training up to 11.
these guys are eleven you'll really be able to load up the exercises and
take your training to the next level it's the safest way to barbell back squat and
barbell bench press if you get something like a power cage the pull-up bar is already built
in and you'll really have dedicated a space in your house for a home gym
you'll want to take your space and finances into account when thinking about these things and of
course once you have these we're going to add some weights and a barbell on the downside the
cost of these things can really add up if you're looking at squat stands those run you at least 70
a rack can be 300 or more a barbell can be about 100 bucks and weight plates right now
are running about two dollars a pound and if you depending on your strength level
you might need anywhere from 170 to 250 pounds of weight uh to get a good variety of weight training
in there's no right way to build a home gym you have to consider your space your goals and your
finances but I hope it gave you some good ideas to consider for some superhero level workouts at home
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tons of nerdy jokes if you've got an awesome home gym set up or just a towel in the corner of your
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work remotely with clients in all sorts of different situations we'll help you come up with
a plan to work towards your goals and overcome any challenges link in the description below we've got
a so with households my brain is not working today well I take two that was a hanging for too long
here the guy's like Macgyver you give him a towel and a toothpick you can put any workout together
i'm not even sure if anybody gets that reference at this point the dated one the dated reference