No place like home

In Part 1 of this series I wrote about the value of home exercise – not just as a workable alternative to the average public health club, but a preferable one. The truth is the work of authentic fitness does not require that sea of machines you’ll find in your neighborhood mega-club. Those machines are often present for their visual appeal more than their contribution to your fitness. And often, they actually come between you and any usable conditioning. While the amount of equipment actually required is minuscule compared to the tonnage you’ll observe in traditional health clubs, the ideal home set up may still be out of budgetary reach for some of us on the first swipe. So I’ll break the recommended list down into 3 levels – from bare minimum to fully stocked – to give you some priorities to follow while honoring the household budget. We’ll start the list with the most basic of home gym set ups, though it must also be noted that there is fitness available with even less. Level 1 – Kettlebells are the most versatile and valuable exercise tool you can own. If you can only buy one, it should be an 8kg (18lb) for women and a 16kg (35lb) for men. Pull-up bar - you’ll find several options for sturdy well-made wall-mounted units on eBay for as little as $75, or find a local fabricator to make you one. Large exercise mat You’ll need something on the floor that will take the impact of an occasional dropped kettlebell, and that will double as something forgiving enough to do sit ups and push ups on. Level 2 – Floor Covering Don’t waste your money on the full-size exercise mats from equipment sellers. You can find superior versions at your local feed and grain store in the form of good old fashioned horse stall mats. Rowing machine Concept 2 only, please. Trust me, if you try and save some money on a lesser machine, you’ll regret it and eventually end up with one of these anyway. Medicine Balls There’s no end to the fun you can have with these. Buy them or make them yourself out of old basketballs filled with sand. Weight bench Eventually you’ll want a bench for a variety of things. Buy sturdy, or buy again soon. Dumbbells Get a full set (10s to 60s, in pairs); they’re cheap and you’ll use them. Level 3 – Olympic lifting bar Use only true-round rubber-coated 17.5 inch diameter weight plates. Gymnastics rings Initially they’ll need to be just high enough for dips and L-sits, but you’ll be doing muscle-ups before long, which will require that the rings be another 2 – 4 ft off the ground without sacrificing any working space above the rings. Tumbling mats Ask about these when you visit a gymnastics studio. Dave Young is the head coach at Gravity Janes in Issaquah.

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