Upgrade From Good To Great: 6 Core Components Of A Great Home Gym

You’ve been working out for a few months in your living room with the essentials – bands, sliders, workout bars, etc. – and you’ve realized you can totally hold down a workout program.

RIGHT ON! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!

And now, your body is craving more!

More weight; more challenges; more variety; maybe even more space?!

AND, unequivocally, more equipment!

IT’S TIME TO UPGRADE!

You are ready for an upgrade, and that can be scary!

It’s especially scary if you don’t know what pieces of equipment in which to invest your money.

We’re here to help! And don’t worry – we’re not going to encourage you to buy a $2000+ stationary bike or anything. Let’s keep it accessible, affordable, and rational; right?!

The bigger-commitment pieces highlight here may take up a more space than your mini bands, and cost more than sliders (although, we have financing plans to help with that!), but they will bring a range of gains to your home gym journey beyond compare.

A fear of commitment towards bigger, more challenging equipment is only going to hold you back in the long run. When have you ever gotten anywhere with one foot in and one foot out?

If you’re committed to pursuing your happiest, healthiest self, these 6 pieces of equipment are going to transform your efforts from good to great!

These 6 pieces are the cornerstone of an excellent home gym that you will not outgrow anytime soon.

FLAT BENCH

Flat benches (or incline/decline benches) offer a range of exercises. Even if you aren’t bench pressing all day, every day, the flat bench offers a stable base for hip thrusts, dumbbell rows, scull crushers, leg lifts, and can also be very useful for raised push-up modifications.

Something to look for in a bench is a substantial max load capacity. For example, our Synergee Flat Bench has a 1000 lb capacity. That may seem obscenely large at first... but it really isn't!

Think about it: the cheaper benches on the market tend to max out at 400 lbs. If you weigh 200lb and bench anywhere near 200lb, you will be testing it with it’s max capacity whenever you workout.

You may be saving money with a cheaper model, but it definitely won’t last long! And it’s an accident waiting happen.

If Arm Day is every day for you, our Adjustable Bench is worth your consideration. The various angles it allows you to do presses, flies, and rows will be worth the extra investment if it matches your particular style of training!

Our benches also have handles and wheels for easy maneuvering, which is especially helpful for small home gym spaces that need to transform into the garage/living room/office quickly!

KETTLEBELL

I have said it before, and I will say it again: I love kettlebells.

If I were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one piece of fitness equipment with me it would be a 16 kg kettlebell! (Or, if I were a dude, I would bring a 24 kg bell)

The kettlebell is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment. From personal experience, a 16 kg kettlebell was the first “big” investment I made in my own gym equipment collection.

I made this purchase when I was 18 years old, in preparation for my summer seasonal work that would involve travel to remote areas. I would be far away from the commercial gym I frequented – and really, any gym at all! - and I wanted the most versatile piece of equipment that my meager, pre-job-bank account could afford!

And that was a 16 KG kettlebell.

The kettlebell was put to great use and could be subbed in for essentially any interval/CrossFit training I was following. It is still the most convenient tool to have at home when I can't make it to the gym; and it is virtually unchanged from the day I bought it 10 years ago. It's a hunk of metal with a handle - it's gonna last a loooong time!

We have 14 KB Workouts featured HERE, that demonstrate how there ain’t no party like a kettlebell party ‘cuz the kettlebell party don’t stop!

Having 1-2 kettlebells at a moderate weight (for snatches, presses, double swings, farmer carries, etc.) and then 1 at a heavy weight for extra challenging swings and asymmetrical carries (when used with your moderate weight KB) is going to provide you with tons of variety and options!

But starting with one kettlebell and perfecting the movements is a fantastic route to go. For women who have been strength training consistently and are confident in their lifting abilities, I suggest a 16 kg; and for men, a 24 kg.

Also, fun fact, kettlebells are measured in “POOD”. It’s a Russian measure of weight. It sounds hilarious, and it’s accurate because you can really lift a sh*t-tonne with your kettlebells!

BARBELL

At this point in your fitness journey, you have probably mastered body weight movements. Body weight is a fantastic thing to work with; but it’s time to up the ante!

A Barbell is an incredible tool that will build up your functional strength. With the option to add and take off bumper plates as needed, the ability to scale up and scale back adds a world of versatility to your workouts.

If you’ve been pining after a barbell for a while, it is worth it to invest a bit more money in a barbell that is going to last.

It may be tempting to go with a 1-inch bar to start, but cheap bars are just that: cheap.

The lack of spin won't be comfortable for Cleans, Snatches, and Presses. The weight capacity is low, making them hardly relevant for any serious squatting and deadlifting you will be doing.

Don't sell yourself short - you'll be loading up this bar in no time, and you need a barbell that can handle the weight you aspire to lift! 

If you plan to do Olympic lifting, the Regional or Games Barbell will get the job done! We have Regional and Games bars in our own Synergee Fitness facility that are used by numerous athletes every day and their performance remain strong and exemplary!

If you are more partial to Power Lifting, be sure to check out our Rhino Barbell. Where our Regional and Games bar are fitted with needle bearings for quick transitions and a smooth spin, our Rhino Bar is fitted with bushings for less spin and constructed to have less flex.

Either way, if you are holding on to your gym membership because you are scared to buy your own barbell, consider that buying one barbell is less than 3 months – 1 year of a gym membership (depending on where you go!), and this barbell will last way longer than a year.

PLUS, you’ll never have to wait for someone to be done curling in the squat rack to do a real workout!

JUST SOMETHING TO CONSIDER!

BUMPER PLATES

Whether or not you decide to welcome a barbell into your sacred home gym space, Bumper Plates definitely belong there!

Sure, bumper plates are great when set on a barbell!

But they can also be hugely beneficial on their own! Back in May we told you about 4 exercises you can do with just bumper plates – and you still can! Those exercises still exist, almost a year later! Who woulda thunk!

Our bumper plates are made from high-density rubber, which offer protection to your barbell and your floors if any dropping occurs. Bumper plates are the best type of weight plates to have in your home gym; and our Synergee Bumper Plates are the best bumper plates for YOU!

TIMER

Getting your workouts out in is great. Recording them to track you progress is even better!

Having an easy-to-use timer that is dedicated to your workout programming is a surefire way to get to your workouts quickly and make it through them without getting distracted. Using your phone works, but it can also encourage you to check it, snap a selfie, or answer that email when you should be thinking about how much weight you want to add on your barbell. As well, adding the dimension of time to your workouts will make you work harder. Zone into your workout, zone out of everything else going on around you, and let the timer draw you into the workout vortex! You want a clock that is easy to use, highly visible, is remote controlled, and has crisp, clear beeps that can be heard over your music. Our Synergee Timer has all of that! If you have a big garage or you’re looking for something for your commercial gym, the Large is fantastic! Want a small one for your living room/study/gym hybrid room? We have a Small,  2” x 8.5” size! Need something in between? Our Medium timer will do the trick.  

STORAGE

The last piece we will recommend for your super-duper awesome gym? Storage!

Investing in equipment to store your equipment may sound frivolous… but it is ESSENTIAL. If you want to make the most of your workout space, keeping it organized will help astronomically.

Whether you have bars, bands, or plates, we have everything you need to optimize your space. Plus, an organized space is a safe space – a barbell is the last thing you want to roll under your feet when you are doing burpees!

When you’re looking for storage equipment, check out the weight capacities and it’ll cause you less headaches if all the installation hardware is included. You can check out all our Synergee Storage Equipment here!

YOU DESERVE THIS UPGRADE!