The Best At-Home Workout Equipment for Your Home Gym in 2021 ...

I like that it’s thicker than most yoga mats, so it’s great for strength exercises, but not too thick that your feet stick in.”“Doorway pull-up bars are my go-to piece of equipment to help maintain and gain upper body strength, all without any added weight,” says Elizabeth Murphy, a certified personal trainer in Boston. Using ankle weights can add extra resistance to lower-body moves like donkey kicks, as well as core exercises like V-ups.“These resistance bands have become my go-to item for home and travel workouts,” says Jen Temperley, a certified personal trainer and owner of Climb Fitness in Los Angeles. As an added bonus, these bands come with an e-book and access to online workout videos.A medicine ball is one of the most durable and functional pieces of equipment you can include in your home gym, says David Harvey, a certified personal trainer and registered yoga instructor in Houston. With a soft medicine ball, you can do a variety of movements to work your arms, legs and core, as well as anti-rotational and physical therapy exercises to prevent injuries.Don’t underestimate the use of 2- to 5-pound wrist/ankle weights in a workout for an added challenge, says Maddison Rotner, a certified personal trainer at Box + Flow in New York City.These are great to add a little extra challenge to bodyweight, yoga, or Pilates workouts, says Christine Choi, a certified personal trainer in Atlanta. I like to recommend these to my friends who are intimidated by weights, but still want to ramp up their workout routine.” Added bonus: These weights are also easy to transport and take up minimal space when not in use.For those who want an economical and convenient way to get a solid workout at home, this bag is an option for added resistance that uses water instead of sand, making it easy to fill or adjust the weight if you live in an apartment, says Lynn Montoya, a certified personal trainer and owner of Lynn Montoya Fitness in Tustin, California. “You can even use the BOSU in sequence as a weight by doing a BOSU burpee and pressing the base overhead at the top of the exercise,” she says.A playground ball, which looks like a kickball, is great to squeeze for isolated inner thigh work, says Crystal Widmann, a certified personal trainer and owner of Y2B Fit in Philadelphia. Consider it the budget-friendly option for when you’re hankering for a sports massage.According to Lyuda Bouzinova, a certified personal trainer and co-founder of Mission Lean in Boca Raton, Florida, a foam roller is an important component of any home gym, as it helps to soothe sore muscles while keeping your whole body loose and limber.“A lot of at home workouts seem to be lower body-dominant, so it’s important to give particular attention to these muscle groups during recovery,” adds Milton.