Bring Your Gym Home With These DIY Fitness Accessories

Having some basic equipment available at all times in the comfort of your home can be just the push you need to incorporate fitness into your busy schedule, and if you want, creating a home gym is a lot cheaper than you may imagine. Here are some DIY equipment options that can help you get a satisfying workout right at home.

To keep your workouts exciting and effective, get a good selection of strength training tools. Here are some suggestions that won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Exercise ball: Also known as stability/ swiss ball, it is a versatile tool for exercises and various forms of stretches. An added advantage; you can also use it as a desk chair.

Exercise mat: There are various exercise mats available in the market. They come in different materials like closed cell PVC, cotton, mesh and rubber. These are great for performing all floor exercises and stretches.

Medicine ball: They come in various weights and sizes, and can be used while performing squats, lunges and abdominal exercises for greater impact on the target muscles.

Resistance bands: Available in varying degrees of resistance, the resistance band is by far the most versatile tool, and can help you get a holistic workout right at home. It also reduces chances of injury and is very easy to use.

Ankle Weights: An easy way to increase the intensity of a lower body workout. The added weight provides resistance and makes your muscles work harder. Strap them on to walk, jog or perform various lower body exercises.

Free weights: Free-weight training is the classical strength training style, along with dumb-bells. Available in different weights and materials, you can perform a host of upper and lower body exercises in your home gym using these.

Exercise Bench: An exercise bench is a great addition to any home gym. It can be used to perform all your seated exercises with dumb-bells, medicine balls or even just your body. If you can extend your budget a little, invest in a bench with an incline and decline option to add more variations of the exercises.

TRX Suspension Training: Created by an American Navy Seal, the TRX is great for strength training while using your own body weight as resistance. It is great for beginners and advanced fitness enthusiasts alike.

Cardio training can be done at home using just a skipping rope. You can combine this with jumping jacks, burpees or other similar exercises to get a satisfying cardio session. Alternatively, if you are willing to spend more money, get a treadmill, cross trainer or an exercise bike. Make sure you buy one that is well reviewed and with a good warranty period.

While designing a home gym, selecting the right colour for the walls and flooring material is as important as the equipment you put in the room. If you would rather get your cardio outdoors, running or cycling in your neighbourhood or in an area you are fond of is a good idea.

Click here for some great tips from Homify to help you design a gym that is not only practical, but also suits your personal taste!

Foam roller: A foam roller is an easy to use tool and an effective way to roll out knots and tightness in the muscles, which can help reduce muscle soreness {to an extent}. Further, foam rolling also helps improve blood circulation, helping send oxygen and nutrient rich blood to the muscles.

This post first appeared on FitNut here.