Strength Training At Home: Easy and Convenient

What a pain! Get up. Get dressed. Shove your gym clothes in the gym bag. Scrape the ice off the car. Thread your way through the traffic. Hunt for a parking place. Find your gym card. Then off to the locker room to change your clothes and cram your stuff into a tiny locker. Wait for a bench. Start your workout.

Or … Get up, grab your shorts, pick up your dumbbells, start your workout.

Which scenario sounds better? Obviously, doing your strength training at home. But is that a viable option? If you are an Olympic hopeful, probably not. But for everybody else, it can be fantastic. Save time, gas, energy, gym fees, and frustration.

OK--what do I need? Some space where you can swing a cat. For a start, you will only need a little space and maybe a floor mat. You will also want a way to watch home-workout DVDs and online videos while you exercise.

Not far down the pike, however, you will want some equipment. A good place to start is with the light, compact, and effective resistance bands or tubes. Begin with the lightest colors and gradually collect the rainbow--the darker, the stronger resistance. Hook storage keeps them untangled and quickly accessible.

Most likely, you will also want dumbbells, which come in graduated weights, and are sometimes sold as sets. You will need an increasing number of these and ever more space to keep them in.

Much more convenient than multiple dumbbell pairs are the Bowflex SelectTech 552 dumbbells or the bigger Bowflex SelectTech 1090s. One pair of these replaces at least 15 pairs of regular dumbbells--saving both space and annoyance. These high tech plate sets change weights with the twist of a dial--about 20 seconds to change it. A metal clip moves to pick up exactly what you dialed. Click and go. This one set will last most non-professionals throughout a weight training career.

Barbells at home can give you much more weight than even the SelectTech 1090s--at a cost in money, space, and potential danger. It is easy to lose control of barbells. Its best to have a spotter at hand to prevent injuries.

An incline/decline bench is required to use the barbells most safely. It would not hurt to use a bench with dumbbells and bands. You just don't need it for the smaller equipment.

Some people splurge and get home exercise machines. Sure, consider them if you have a large space and budget. Try to get a home trial option to make sure it fits you and your space. Such equipment is widely available used--consider this option, too. Also remember, there is not only the purchase price, but the maintenance costs to consider.

Can you do strength training at home? Of course! A gym may have more equipment, more camaraderie, more expert advice, and more motivating competition, but strength training at home is a lot more convenient, and counting gym fees, over time a lot less expensive.