By far the cheapest and best quality mats for weight lifting are these rubber mats which were actually intended for horses to walk on.

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If you don’t have a Tractor Supply company nearby, then you can purchase more expensive equivalents from Amazon.

This is the type of treadmill I use for my walking desk. It is a high quality, quiet compact treadmill perfect for walking (or even jogging). Overall, it is a better build than the previous treadmill I used (Confidence Power Plus). It uses a remote control and/or handle bars to control speed. Note that the max weight is 265lbs. This treadmill only stores vertically if you have something to lean it against. Note that many different brands of this treadmill are clones of one another, but should work the same.

I do not personally own this bike, however it is a highly reviewed and reasonable priced exercise bike. Stationary bikes are amazing for doing HIIT cardio at home. You can learn more about HIIT cardio in my video here.

When you lift heavy weights, you want shoes with a hard sole or lift weights in your bare feet. Do not lift heavy weights in running shoes. Running shoes have cushioning to reduce the impact from running. Cushioned soles do not transfer power efficiently. Inefficient power transfer makes the lifts unnecessarily harder. Cushioned soles will hurt the joints in your legs and feet over time when lifting heavy.

Good weightlifting shoe options are:

• Barefoot
• Sneakers/Chucks (or other hard soled shoes)
• Vibrams (if you don’t mind how they look)
• Adipowers / Squat Shoes

Squat shoes are a hard surfaced sole just like sneakers. The major benefit of squat shoes is that the heel is slightly elevated. Unless you have amazing ankle mobility, you will likely benefit from a raised heel. The raised heel allows you to squat a little bit deeper while maintaining good form. Squatting deeper gives more power. More power means you can lift heavier sooner. Lifting heavier sooner means faster progressive tension overload and therefore faster hypertrophy.

These can be a nice supplement if your grip hasn’t caught up the rest of your muscles. It’s sometimes useful for deadlifts, shrugs, and bent over rows. Don’t rely on them unless your grip is about to give out.

My favorite straps. Soft for comfort and very adjustable for different lengths. These feel nicer than the Versa Grips, but the soft material means it will break apart sooner.

Wrist rollers are great for building forearms. You can also make your own by going to Home Depot and buying a wooden dowel, rope, chains, and a carabiner.

These require some sort of pull up bar, but work great for additional ab workouts such as leg lifts. Leg lifts are challenging and are a good way to provide progressive overload on the abs.

(Sometimes on sale for $1/lb on amazon) — These are nice supplements for leg workouts and can help with other types of workouts.

Hex bars are great for deadlifts that focus more on legs and less on the back. I recommend this for people who have back problems like me. Hex bars are also great for shoulder shrugs and forearm exercises (similar to farmer’s walks).

These are great for converting an olympic barbell into more back exercises such as T-bar rows.

This is a higher quality barbell than the starter ones that come with a 300lb set. This barbell has a max weight upwards around 1000lbs and can last you the rest of your life. It is a chrome barbell with bushings meaning it will be 0 maintenance.

The forearms are meant to squeeze. This is one nice accessory to train the forearms. Throw in a few sets of these at the end of a workout (preferably a pull or arms day).

Do not use barbell pads for squats. Do not use barbell pads for anything other than hip thrusts. Barbell hip thrusts are an amazing exercise for the glutes (booty). However, as you progress in weight, the bar can become very painful. Using a barbell pad like this one will make this exercise much more bearable.

These loop bands have many uses in the gym. In particular, they are very useful for banded squats and banded hip thrusts to get extra glute activation. By giving your legs something to outwardly press against, it will increase glute activation giving you better booty growth.

Great if you are the only person using this belt because changing the tightness requires a screwdriver. It is fast to tighten and loosen, but sometimes the “overlap” of the belt can pinch your skin. Lever belts are flashy and cool. +10 points for bling factor. I personally use a customized Pioneer lever belt because customized belts look great for internet content creation.

Buckle belts are easier to adjust for varying stomach sizes and sharing among friends. One downside is trying to tighten the belt requires more effort than a simple lever belt. A lever belt provides leverage for tightening the belt. A buckle belt makes you become the leverage to tighten the belt.

If you are able to do more than 6 pull ups, chin ups, or dips, then consider getting a dip belt for achieving progressive tension overload faster. Weighing down your pull ups and dips can be a fantastic way to get stronger faster in these movements. This belt IS NOT a weight lifting belt. Weight lifting belts help with core stability in heavy compound lifts. Dip belts just allow you to loosely attach more weight to your body to make bodyweight exercises harder.

This weight tree is unique in that it has SIX upright 2″ bar storage slots. If you only have 1 barbell, then this is overkill. However, I have 2 barbells, 2 ez curl bars, 2 dumbbell handles, and a hexbar. In my case, this is the only weight tree that comes close to storing all of the extra 2″ bars I have. It’s compact, has a nice metal finish, and overall feels high quality.

I do not personally own this rack storage, but it is a great generic storage option for weights (including both the 1″ standard plates and 2″ olympic plates), barbells, and a top shelf for random accessories such as dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, etc. Cost for features is hard to beat on this one.

The one body part that is hard to workout without equipment is the back. Buy one of these for a door frame for pull ups and back exercises.

This bench is NOT made for weightlifting, but with beginner weights you can definitely get started on this. If you are super low on space and not sure if you want to drop $100+ for a proper weight lifting bench, this folding bench will stay with you the rest of your life and you will find value/usefulness out of it somewhere in the future even if you don’t use it for weight lifting. Just make sure you follow the information about maximum weight allowed on the bench!

Ghetto? Yes. Gets the job done? Yes. These would be fine for beginners who are unsure if they want to spend a lot of money on weights. If you hate them, return them to Walmart. If you outgrow it in 90 days, return them to Walmart.

These are a bit nicer than the Vinyl dumbbells. If you have a little extra money to spend, get these instead of the Vinyl dumbbells.

There are many options out there for resistance bands that are much cheaper as well. This is a high end pack, but you can search on amazon for other options that are less than $40.

This kit is not as nice as the Lifeline ULTIMATE Trainer Kit, but it will still get the job done for most workouts.

If you truly have no space for a full set of olympic weights, but cost is not an issue, then the SelectTech Dumbbells are great to save space for a high price. For the home gym with very limited space, you can get a very good full body workout with heavy dumbbells like these. If you’re going to spend this much money on dumbbells, I still recommend getting an olympic weight set instead.

The one body part that is hard to workout without equipment is the back. Buy one of these for a door frame for pull ups and back exercises.

300 lb Olympic Weight Set — A great set of weights that will last you a long time. Pick these up from Sears, Dick’s, Sports Chalet, or most sporting good stores for a reasonable price. The barbells are beginner quality. If you are already doing heavy lifts in the hundreds of pounds, consider shopping for an additional high quality barbell. I list a high quality Vulcan barbell on the Extra Accessories page

Small/cheap and gets the job done

More expensive with more options and higher quality, while not taking up too much area in a room.

A short power rack in case you have low ceilings. It’s only 71.5” tall!

• Multi-bench for performing dumbbell workouts
• 7 total adjustment positions for versatility
• Supports chest presses, shoulder presses, crunches, and more
• Positions include flat, incline, decline, and near vertical
• Bottom transport wheels for easy mobility

• Solid construction – made with 2 oversize tubular steel
• Extra thick cushioning for maximum comfort
• Wheel rollers and handle allow for easy movement and storage
• Rack to hold 3 pairs of York Fitbells.

Good basic set, but has lower max weight limits

A single dumbbell handle, but very heavy duty and durable.

The lockjaw style collars are the highest quality collars out there. Put aside the spring clips that come with olympic weights and invest in these instead.

Any TRX ropes or Yoga Ropes will work. Most TRX solutions cost as much or more than Yoga swing ropes, so I opted for these since you also get a free yoga swing out of it.

If you have the space for this full power rack, get it! It comes with weight storage pegs on the side, and a great pulley system. The only downside is the area it takes up.

Very high quality bench that is adjustable and comfortable.

A single dumbbell handle, but very heavy duty and durable.

Great for additional exercises. I recommend tricep ropes, single handle, and narrow grip row attachments. This synergizes well with the Valor Power Rack, which has a pulley system.

These are useful for dips and synergize with the Valor power rack above.

300 lb Olympic Weight Set — A great set of weights that will last you a long time. Pick these up from Sears, Dick’s, Sports Chalet, or most sporting good stores for a reasonable price. The barbells are beginner quality. If you are already doing heavy lifts in the hundreds of pounds, consider shopping for an additional high quality barbell. I list a high quality Vulcan barbell on the Extra Accessories page