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A guide to home gym equipment
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A guide to home gyms
If you like the thought of having a strong, toned body but don't like gyms, consider home gym equipment. These are also known as multi-gyms.
In addition to keeping your heart healthy, they tone and build muscles - so they're ideal if you want to change your body shape, make yourself stronger, or build a bigger body.Home gym benefits
Home gyms aren't just for bulking muscles - they're equally effective for giving your limbs a sleek athletic shape without adding bulk.
All home gyms have an adjustable stack of weights; using light weights daily will give your arms and legs a defined, toned look. The main types of training are:
Strength - starts at your 'core' - the smaller, inner muscles next to your bones. Home gym equipment can tone up these muscles specifically, by offering a wide range of exercises.
Muscles - if you want big biceps and a six-pack, steadily increasing the weights on your home gym every week will make your muscles larger as well as better defined.
Choosing the right home gym
Exercises for the upper body
A lat bar and pulley are both great for toned arms and shoulders, while press arms and a pec deck are good for building broad shoulders and working the muscles in your chest. Some home gym equipment also has a low pulley that you push forward and back to work your arms.
Exercises for leg strength
Choose a home gym with a leg extension. This is the roller-shaped T near your feet as you sit on a home gym's seat. You pull or push the padded part up or away to tone and build your legs.
Vertical or horizontal home gyms?
All of our home gyms allow you to sit upright in a vertical position. If you’re training includes horizontal positions, some selected models provide this along with the vertical position.
Weight stacks
The weight stack is the maximum weight that can be lifted on the home gym. Up to 80Kg is useful for strength training. A pin allows you to decide which weight you wish to train with.
Some machines have two weight stacks. These make a great choice if you like to train with a partner, as more than one person can train at the same time. And they’re also more convenient if you’re training on your own – the two stacks mean you can switch between exercises and weights more quickly, without moving things around.
Biomechanical advantages of home gyms
One of the big advantages of a home gym over other weight-based training is that it automatically puts you in the right lifting position, so you’re less likely to injure yourself. The way your position affects the way you train is called biomechanics, and the most effective position will be slightly different for everyone. Make sure you choose a machine that’s adjustable, especially if you’re very short or tall.
Getting the right set up
When you’re using a home gym, you quite often need to switch things around between exercises (e.g. disconnecting the weight stack from the press arms and reconnecting it to the leg extension). These switches aren't difficult, but they can interrupt your routine, so it’s worth looking for a home gym that cuts the number of changes down. The best models let you do at least 10 exercises before you need to change anything.
Making space for your home gym
Home gyms can take up a lot of space – up to the same amount as a double bed. They’re also often quite tall, so make sure your ceiling is high enough. Some models fold for storage, but most are to be left fully assembled. Bear in mind that if you’re assembling your home gym upstairs, it will mean extra weight on your floorboards.
Jargon buster
Home gym terms explained.
| Bands | Flexible rods that create resistance when pulled. They’re used instead of weights on some machines |
| Lat bar | Handlebar at the top of a home gym, connected by a cable |
| Leg extension | The roller-padded T shape at the foot end of a home gym |
| Pec deck | The low grips at the side of a home gym |
| Press arms | The large U-shaped grips at the side of a home gym |
| Station | Where you sit, lie, or stand while exercising. Some home gyms have more than one station, but this doesn't necessarily mean two people can use it at the same time. The different stations can be used by the same person as he or she does the different exercises in sequence |
| Weight stack | A pile of heavy blocks that provide resistance as you exercise. You adjust the resistance by moving a metal pin that connects or disconnects weights from the stack |
| Weights | The heavy blocks in the weight stack, usually metal |
