One glorious exception, of course, would be the home gym, which demands no requisite travel beyond the confines of your place of residence. And in winter, let’s be honest, that’s a major factor.
That said, proximity alone doesn’t guarantee attendance—and certainly not progress (especially if your home gym equipment is as old as the floorboards it stands on). So, if you’re going to be spending a lot more time in your personal fitness den this winter, a few updates might be in order.
To help you take most of the guess work out of the equation (and get more bang for your buck), I asked five of the most highly sought-after personal trainers in the country to share their single most recommended piece of home gym equipment. You’ll find those below.
And for those of you without an entire room dedicated to gains, don’t fret. A couple of these will work for you as well. (I’m looking at you, New York City studio apartment renters.)
As your home gym evolves, you’ll inevitably want to add heavier dumbbells. The problem is, the heavier you go, the larger they get—and you’ll have to find room (and eventually pony up for a dumbbell rack) to accommodate the additional weights.
Available in three different models, each designed to enable you to house the equivalent of eight, nine, or even 28 sets of dumbbells in the space you’d normally need for just one pair, Powerblock’s Sport Series offers the ultimate space-saving (and forward-thinking) home gym solution.
“These are my recommendation,” says Nike Master Trainer Betina Gozo. “They take up so much less room than multiple sets of dumbbells, and you have a variety of weights at your fingertips!”
While other adjustable dumbbells exist, Powerblock’s offer a supremely sturdy construction that feels satisfyingly solid during workouts, with intuitive weight selection and a welcome ergonomic design.
“I especially love these Powerblocks because of the ease of changing the weights,” says Gozo. “And because of their shape, if you’re doing something like a plank row you’ll find you have more stability than you would with a typical set of round dumbbells.”
“I just decked out my private training facility with six of these bad boys,” says Sam Tooley, owner of Alpha Performance in New Jersey.
“The reason I love Hyperwear’s new battle rope is two-fold,” says Tooley. “First and foremost, the quality is second to none; if I’m going to make an investment in a piece of equipment, I want to know it’s going to last. Second, I love the fact that it is weighted, meaning you don’t need to anchor it to the base of a piece of equipment—or anything, for that matter. You can simply grab both ends of the rope and get to work wherever you’re at.”
The Hyper Rope’s quilted exterior is durable, but not abrasive, and the metallic core makes it versatile enough to incorporate into both strength and conditioning workouts.
“I don’t like having to rely on 15 different pieces of equipment to get a good workout in, so being able to utilize something as simple as a battle rope for a complete total-body burner makes all the difference,” says Tooley.
“This is one of my favorite forms of cardio in my home gym,” says Alex Fine, a Los Angeles-based personal trainer who trains a celebrity clientele of NFL athletes and Hollywood A-listers out of his home gym.
A unique hybrid offering appropriately unique results, the Cross Row 2 employs adjustable, bi-directional magnetic resistance to deliver a high-intensity resistance workout unlike anything you’ll experience with almost any other piece of equipment out there.
“The different grips and resistance options allow me to integrate a super effective form of cardio into heavy strength days,” says Fine. “This machine is used not only to get your heart rate up, but to also improve lat strength when you’re tired of cranking out pull-ups or inverted rows.”
Row, row, row your old rowing machine, gently down the driveway.
Not all upgrades need to be costly. In fact, the most affordable item on this list might be the one you actually need the most.
“My go-to piece of equipment these days is the mobility stick,” says Eric Rakofsky, director of fitness at The Well in New York City.
Specially designed to assist with joint mobilization and fascial stretching, Stick Mobility’s flagship product can single-handedly help you improve mobility and, by extension, a range of other factors—including strength and stability—that will noticeably upgrade your performance in pretty much everything else you’re already doing in the gym (while also reducing your chances of getting injured).
“It’s a great tool to optimize your kinetic chain and widen your range of motion, enabling even further development of strength,” Rakofsky says. “Personally, I like to use it to prep dynamically prior to my workout, and I find it unlocks more range when I’m performing static stretches after training.”
When it comes to storage and portability, this one is hard to beat.
“Exercise is only as good as your ability to effectively and safely complete it,” says Gideon Akande, a Chicago-based Shadowbox instructor and personal trainer.
“With the Hypervolt Plus, you’re able to prepare and recover your body to ensure you’re getting the most out of your workouts,” says Akande.
Hyperice’s futuristic recovery tool uses percussion therapy, allowing you to improve blood flow and circulation before any physical activity—accelerating the warm-up process—and it’s great for soothing tense muscles and alleviating tightness between sessions. And, unlike most of its competitors, Hyperice’s latest iteration is quiet enough to use while you watch TV.
“It’s perfect for your home gym,” says Akande, “but really you can use it anywhere”—including your living room, the office, or even on vacation; the Hypervolt Plus is TSA approved!
