This question appears quite often for a few reasons. First of all some people don’t want to invest a few thousands since they are not sure if home gym is their thing, or they Weill end up missing the vibe of a busy commercial gym. Another reason is the current economy and political situation, where everyone tries to save wherever possible. In this blog post we will try to find a solution, so that you have your gym setup at home and ready to exercise. Below we are trying to build a home gym setup below 1000$.
The Strategy For Home Gym Setup Under 1000$
My strategy here will be not to spread thin. Instead of buying everything needed and the cheapest, my idea is to invest into three higher quality items. They will give you access to many exercises, including the essential ones. Quality items will ensure your workouts are safe and effective. You will be able to add other items later on, to bring your home gym setup to the next level.
The Fundamentals
The three items I suggest are a squat rack, a workout bench and a set of plates with a barbell.
The Squat Rack
The squat rack lets you perform squats and bench press, as well as other exercises. Most importantly you will have the support of safety bars. This will let you increase the weight without a risk of an incident when the weight is higher than you can lift. For the squat rack we will go for an option with minimal functionality but with a great price saving our budget.
This half rack doesn’t have any bells and whistles, but it is very stable and performs the core functions perfectly. It has one pair of j-hooks that can be used for the bench press as well as a pair of barbell stands in front that you can use for squats, military press, etc. The safety bars are adjustable to the desired height. Most importantly it costs only 249$ which leaves another 751$ in your wallet for shopping 🙂
The Bench
Since we saved some budget by purchasing a basic squat rack and by limiting the total number of items, we will choose a more advanced bench. Cheaper benches exist, but I suggest we take this one. It is a commercial grade adjustable bench by the well known brand Flybird. This bench has more solid frame than the cheaper benches, well-thought-out design and modern colour scheme. It is currently on promotion, which makes it the cheapest commercial bench we have. Important, since we are trying to keep the total under 1000$.
Barbell and Plates
Let’s take this set by York Barbell. It is also currently offered at promotional price. We are getting a great value here. Rated at 1000 lbs 7 feet Olympic barbell with a set of spring clips is included in the set. For the plates we get 255 pounds of great quality York cast iron plates, including 45, 35 and 25 lbs plates and small plates to gradually increase the weight.
By purchasing these three items we spent total 997$ and stayed within our 1000$ budget. Congratulations!
Trade-Offs of Home Gym Setup Under 1000$
Some of the trade-offs we made to build a home gym setup under 1000$ include:
Flooring. Hopefully you have some temporarily solution, such as a carpet. Ideally you will need some specialized gym flooring, such as a couple of 4×6 feet rubber mats to put under the rack. For sure don’t throw your cast iron plates on the hardwood floor, since the floor will be damaged.
Dumbbells. First thing that comes to mind to upgrade this setup is a few pairs of hex dumbbells or a set of adjustable dumbbells, which opens you access to even more exercises, such as dumbbell flyes, bicep curls, etc.
These and other upgrades can be done later, when you are ready. As of now you are set up to start your workouts with the essential exercises.