By: Chris Gates

Alright, so you want to get in good workouts from home? I respect that!

Maybe it’s because you don’t like commuting to the gym, or you hate working out around tons of other people, or you’re tired of waiting to use equipment at the commercial gym. Or maybe you’re like millions of other people who have changed their exercise habits since the covid-19 pandemic hit.

Even if you still enjoy working out at the gym, maybe you want to have an at-home solution for when you’re short on time and need to bang out a quick workout.

Whatever the case may be, I’ve got your back! In this article, I’m going to outline: what is the best home gym equipment for limited space?

Because whether or not you have a huge gym to work out in, or if you only have a small space available in your basement, you can absolutely maximize your time and get in great workouts.

Let’s go piece by piece from least expensive to most expensive and build a home gym that can fit anywhere!

(Note: I’m not affiliated with any of the companies or products I recommend in this article. I’m just sharing what I’ve used and found to be high quality!)

Yoga Mat

Alright, let’s get started on the ground.

First and foremost, whatever your limited space looks like, you’re most likely going to benefit from having some protection from the ground.

When you do exercises with your body on the floor, it can be really uncomfortable to try and perform them when the floor is hardwood, concrete, or even certain types of carpet or rugs. By purchasing a yoga mat, you can put a nice comfortable barrier between you and the floor.

It will also help prevent potential damage to your floor or carpet if you’re doing exercises with lots of stops and starts (such as lunges, jump squats, etc.).

Yoga mats are really inexpensive, so this one isn’t going to break the bank, either. A quick search on Amazon shows tons of options in the $20 range.

Resistance Bands

Part of making a workout great is being able to add resistance to your exercises. Resistance bands are an inexpensive piece of home gym equipment to get started with, and they can be stored away to take up almost none of your limited space.

Resistance bands come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. I recommend the style that have carabiners on each end, as these are the most practical to work out with.

Each pack of resistance bands typically comes with five or more bands of varying tension, which allows you to add resistance to your exercises and progress over time by adding more. These packs also come with a variety of handles, and a door anchor, which allows you to set up different types of exercises all over the house (such as chest presses, lat pull downs, tricep push downs, etc.).

Resistance bands are also very inexpensive. Here’s a brand that I’ve used in the past, which will run you just barely over $20.

Cable Pulley

A cable pulley is the next item I’d recommend when you’re looking for the best home gym equipment with limited space.

And this isn’t one many people know about.

If you have a pole, hook, or bar available in your house to wrap a cable pulley around to install, this is an inexpensive piece of home gym equipment that will absolutely transform your workouts.

And it takes up virtually zero space.

I personally use a cable pulley in my home gym, and it has been a game changer for what I’m able to do in a small space. The one I use (and recommend) is from a company called Bells of Steel. Check out that link, because they have a bunch of information on how to set up and use a cable pulley in your home gym.

This piece of equipment costs $55, and what’s cool about it is you can lift virtually anything with it. You don’t need traditional weight plates, dumbbells, etc. You could load up a bag or backpack with books or anything else from around the house, and wrap the loading strap around it and lift.

Of all of the home gym equipment you can use to maximize your limited space, this is probably the one I recommend the most.

Adjustable Dumbbells

Adjustable dumbbells are the next piece of home gym equipment I recommend if you want to maximize your small space, and with this one we’re taking a significant step up in price.

But if you’re committed to regularly exercising and truly getting in great workouts at home, then the price for these dumbbells is well worth it.

There’s a variety of companies who sell adjustable dumbbells, with price ranging anywhere from $200-$800. Depending on the brand, you’re going to run into differences in quality and ease of use.

The ones I use and recommend are the Bowflex adjustable dumbbells (pictured in the video below), as I’ve found them to be of the highest quality. Bowflex has two options with these dumbbells — one that goes up to 52.5 pounds and another that goes up to 90 pounds — and I recommend the SelectTech 552 option, as it’s the most useful and practical for most people (and it’s the less expensive option at $399).

Incline Weight Bench

If you have room in the limited space available, I’d also recommend adding a weight bench to your home gym equipment.

This is the largest piece of all of the equipment I recommend by size, but it’s not actually very large at all and should fit if you have a few feet of space to work with.

If you have a set of dumbbells, an incline weight bench is going to dramatically increase the variety of exercises you can do at home. It would obviously allow you to do chest presses, but this piece of equipment can also be used for rows, pull overs, direct tricep and bicep work, and so many other exercise variations throughout your body.

The weight bench I use and recommend (pictured in the video above) is the Titan incline bench V2. At $150, it’s one of the most reasonably priced adjustable benches on the market, and the quality is good.

And if you get a bench, make sure it’s adjustable. There are flat benches, and there are adjustable benches. The adjustable ones allow you to raise and lower the back of the bench at an incline, which opens things up for you to do a ton of additional exercises.

Most benches are around 5 feet long, 1.5 feet wide, and 4 feet tall, so this can slide into even the most limited spaces and allow you to work out.

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I hope you found this article helpful! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me. I’m always here and happy to help.

All told, the equipment in this article tallies up to around $650, which is quite honestly a small investment when you factor in how much quality work you’ll be able to do for years to come.

And if you’re interested in getting coaching from your at-home gym, well that’s exactly what I do! I’m an online fitness coach and I work with people around the world, regardless of what their gym/equipment looks like, and we make tons of progress! Head over to my client testimonials page to learn more about what my clients are up to.

If you’re interested in talking about your specific goals and how we might be able to work together, please fill out a coaching application form and I’ll be in touch!

Thanks for reading 🙂

~ Chris