There are a lot of stores out there with many different types of fitness equipment. I once went on a forum and asked a simple question “What exercise equipment should I get?”. People came up with many different answers. They tried to convince me to buy stuff that isn’t either effective nor necessary for your workout. How is a person supposed to find reliable information about what exercise equpment is right for you?

Here are some real important money saving tips on health and fitness:

I think the most important thing when it comes to decisions like sports and fitness gear is to stay informed. First of all decide how your routine/workout should look like, then get all the info you can about your workout. Stay informed. When you make a decision while being well informed you are more likely to use that equipment later and less likely to make it a dust gatherer in the corner.
There are many companies who sell pretty good cheap exercise equipment. But even then, before making a decision ask yourself the following questions.

• Are you commited to your workout routine? Be honest with yourself. if you are somebody who quits after a few weeks and starts again a year later, you don’t need to spend money on fitness gear.
• Will you find the time to ride the stationary bike or to use the threadmill?
• Do you have space at home for this machine? It is highly advisable to have compact home exercise equipment.
• What time of the day will you do it?
• How long will you do it?
• Maybe you can take daily walks, or borrow friend’s bike?

And the most important:

• Is there an alternative to purchasing the equipment?

Remember that you do not need 30 different tools to train a specific muscle.

• You only need weights for weight lifting, nothing more.
• You only need to make your heart beat faster for aerobic/ cardio training, nothing more.

Of course it is more practical for weight lifting to have handy weights like dumbbells than a bag of bricks or plastic water bottles. But any weight will suffice. Dumbbells and other equipment is a luxury, but not a necessity. If you decide to have some luxury, opt for a good price/quality ratio.

Compact home exercise equipment:

1. DUMBBELLS. Free weight training.

You can do 95% of all your weightlifting workouts with dumbbells. All you need is a good dumbbell training program. As a matter of fact I was training during 2 years with dumbbells only at home and they kept me in shape all time long! I gained 36 pounds of muscles in this period of time. Triceps extensions, biceps curls, squats, deadlifts, press, everything is possible!
What is important in chosing dumbbells:

• Adjustable dumbbells: It is far better for a home gym to have only one pair of dumbbells than 20.
• Plates weight: dumbbells shall be extremely adjustable with small plates. Every pound matters. You will have far better progress if you can add 1-2 pounds every workout. It is extremely hard to jump from 25 to 35 pounds if you only have 10-pound plates.
• Plates quality: Believe me or not, plates brake. It is highly advisable to have good-quality plates or at least a long guarantee period. Better spend money on good quality equipment than on trash that you will throw away in few months.

You can find simple and cheap dumbbells in Wit’s dumbbell post.

2. CHINUP BAR

The one and only muscle group I could not train directly with my dumbbells are my traps (they are targeted by some upper back exercises, but not 100%). That problem can be quickly solved with a door chinning bar to do my chinups! You could even do some advanced exercises for your abs like gorilla crunches!

Your own weight is more than enoguh to train your traps and your abs. The Door Gym chinning bar shown on the pictures costs 40$: relatively cheap and very effective home exercise equipment where you can perform dozens of different exercises reaching from beginner to advanced levels.

3. RUNNING SHOES:

Jogging is the best aerobic exercise. You don´t need an x1,000$ equipment. Moreover you´re less likely to suffer injuries than on a treadmill and some minor leg muscles are only trained while running on the road. Here are good running shoes I have posted earlier.
Apart of all these equipment do some stretching and you will notice great changes even after the first 10 days of regular training.
Persistence is the key to success. Check your progress once or twice a week. And don’t forget to enjoy the exercise. Although you do sweat and maybe suffer at first. Keep smiling, and you’ll love it and won’t get enough of it!

Extra Tip: Dumbbell Workout Programs

Wit is posting different dumbbell routines on BodyTweaking right now reaching from biceps to legs workouts. You might want to check them out. (Currently, some are still in draft-phase) If you want more, varied dumbbell workouts try this book: The Great Dumbbell Handbook. Very handy and excellent for reference: it has earned my respect.

Cost: Dummbells + chinup bar + gloves + running shoes = under 150$. Much less if you have running shoes, do not need the bar and prefer training without gloves: approx. 50$

Now this isn’t really necessary. You can live without them and a real bodytweaker considers a set of gloves a luxury.

A set of gloves can become necessary though if you don’t want your hands to get ruined completely. When dealing with metal your hand’s surface becomes very rough. Rough enough to hurt your girlfriend when you touch her face. That’s really the only decent reason why you should get gloves.

The set of gloves above is from amazon and costs about 5$. It’s leather and they’ll give you some basic protection for a few years.

Just for a small laugh, I got my gloves a few years ago and this is what they look like today:

Note: A real bodytweaker cares more about the face of his girlfriend than about his hands
Cost: 4.99$ for a set of gloves

Personally I’d train with bricks if there wasn’t any other choice. Maybe some of you guys out there are actually crazy enough to pull this off. In that case you have my deepest respect you crazy bodytweakers.

If you want more comfortable and balanced workouts though, then it’s a good idea to get a set of dumbbells. Probably you’ll spend around 50$-100$ for it, but it’s a lifetime investment. An investment that can’t be compared with its benefits.

At this moment I’d like to suggest a set of adjustable dumbbells. You won’t need to have 30 dumbbells of different sizes. One set of adjustable dumbbells and a few plates will do the job.

The set above is a standard dumbbell set from amazon which I use. I had to buy extra plates for it at a local store though. I guarantee the top quality of this product.
If I had a choice today though I’d buy a different set from amazon which includes already 115lbs of plates and a long bar (+2 dumbbell bars). All that costs about 55$ at amazon which is the cheapest offer I’ve found so far (off- and on-line).

Although a bar isn’t necessary, in this case you get it almost for free. And you can’t underestimate a bar, especially when it comes to a chest workout. A normal set of dumbbells with far less weight and without a bar usually costs much more. If you do decide to buy weights and equipment you should seriously consider these offers from amazon.

Note: A real bodytweaker only spends money for the most necessary and low-cost quality equipment.
Cost: 55.20$ lifetime investment for a 115lbs dumbbells+bar set