Key Points
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Dumbbells, ab wheels, pilates bars, and pull-up bars are great essentials for home workouts for beginners.
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Start your home gym with the easy-to-order items mentioned below.
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Home workouts for beginners involve full-body exercises.
Are you searching for budget-friendly exercise equipment? Do you need the 411 on effective home workouts for beginners?
Shopping for quality equipment is understandably overwhelming whether you’re too busy to sweat at the studio, transitioning from a group setting to solo training, or creating a home gym. There are several top-rated products to enhance your beginner home workouts.
The Best At-Home Workout Equipment for Beginners
While Peloton bikes and fancy treadmills receive high praise in the at-home fitness industry, there's no need to break the piggy bank to equip your home gym. Training from home can be as simple (and affordable) as stocking up on the basics.
Essential home gym items include a yoga mat, jump rope, medicine ball, light and heavy dumbbells, and resistance bands.
Minimal equipment with maximum gains? Absolutely.
Here’s an attention-grabber: All equipment mentioned in this article sells for under $160!
Dumbbells
Dumbbells come in various sizes, shapes, materials, and colors. Most sets are either metal or plastic-coated, easily storable, and portable. Dumbbells are perfect for training on the go!
They’re convenient and low-impact, enabling you to train intensely, often, and safely. Dumbbells also challenge your stability, build total-body coordination, and develop muscular endurance.
Use them in singles or pairs. Single dumbbells support heavy leg exercises like sumo squats, goblet squats, and deadlifts. Pairs are best for working your arms and aiding symmetrical muscle growth.
Fit&Fab Recommendation
The AmazonBasics Neoprene Workout Dumbbells are durable and made from high-quality materials. Their neoprene coating provides you with a comfortable, secure grip. Sculpt your arms without suffering sore hands, blisters, and hard calluses after.
Bonus? Their hexagonal shape prevents the weights from rolling away once you set them down. Clean them with warm water and dish soap or a spray bottle filled with water and vinegar.
Your purchase options range from 1-20 lbs., or buy a three-tiered rack featuring three dumbbell sets. Choose from a rainbow of colors. Training with pink dumbbells is as motivating as a fresh workout fit!
Dumbbell Exercises
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Bent over row
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Bicep curl to overhead press
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Lateral raise
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Chest fly
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Renegade row
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Overhead tricep extension
Training Tips: Employ dumbbells for cardio and strength training sessions. Cardio? Grab a lighter set (2-6 lbs.) and perform maximum reps. Try syncing up your arm movements to a 100- to 130-beats-per-minute song.
Strength? Hold heavier dumbbells (8-20 lbs.) and complete as many slow, controlled reps as possible.
Amp up the difficulty — without swapping out your weights — by increasing your reps or sets, adjusting your speed, or minimizing rest periods between sets.
Ab Wheel
Ab wheels (ab rollers) are probably the most underrated exercise equipment. Why? At first glance, they may initially seem like a light addition to your workout routine. The second you use them? Oof! You feel abdominal muscles you didn’t even know you had.
How does it work? A lightweight, non-slip rubber wheel with handles on each side is at the center. The small wheel glides effortlessly along most surfaces and supports your full body weight.
Club Pilates GO Instructor Tracey Bauer explains, “It’s this wheel, as well as gripping both handles, that forces your core to work in overdrive as you roll it forward and backward.”
Ab wheels command your entire focus, concentrated breathwork, and core engagement. Move slowly and with precision. Proper form and alignment are crucial.
Ab wheel exercises powerfully activate several core muscles during the extension movement. They fire up your abs, glutes, back, obliques, lats, shoulders, biceps, and triceps, forcing each muscle group to work as a team.
Fit&Fab Recommendation
The Luyata 10-in-1 Ab Roller Wheel comes with a bundle of bonus items. You get a well-constructed ab wheel, a set of resistance bands, pushup bars, a jump rope, wrist wraps, and more.
Even better? The package contains a thick foam knee mat. It feels heavenly, providing ample cushion for your joints during ab wheel rollouts.
The ab wheel is practical, easy to assemble, and beginner-friendly. It's a must-have for home gyms!
Photo source: Amazon.com
Ab Wheel Exercises
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Standing walkouts
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High plank with opposite arm-to-leg lift
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Kneeling ab wheel rollouts
The first two exercises? No ab wheel.
Training Tips: Beginner, intermediate, and advanced variations to ab wheel rollouts exist. Warm up with functional, bodyweight movements that mimic the exercise, but don’t use the ab roller.
After nailing the fundamentals and building your strength, incorporate the ab wheel. Avoid rolling out too far forward. Start with short ranges of motion (a few inches at a time) to prevent overstressing your spine. Gauge how your body responds before progressing further.
Always keep your pelvis in line and avoid dipping into your joints. Stop if you feel sharp pain or pressure in your lower back.
Safety Tip: People with abdominal or lower back injuries should avoid ab wheel exercises until cleared by their doctor.
Pilates Bar
A Pilates bar is multi-functional, customizable, and modifiable. It lets you do various exercises that shred fat, tone your muscles, and bolster flexibility. This three-in-one product simulates popular rowing machines, barbells, and resistance band exercises!
A Pilates bar includes a long bar of 3- to 6 feet with singular resistance bands attached at both ends. Each resistance band's bottom contains foot straps anchoring the bands to the ground.
The Pilates bar’s construction is gentle on joints, allowing you to train longer and harder. It’s compact and sculpts specific muscle groups. When you approach the bar, tailor the movements to your fitness goals.
Do you need stress relief, pain reduction, better balance, and improved core stability? Get a Pilates bar. It’s suitable for all fitness levels, seniors, and Pilates first-timers.
Fit&Fab Recommendation
The WeluvFit Pilates Bar Kit features a stainless steel bar wrapped in soft foam for a comfortable holding experience. The metal lifting lugs rotate 360 degrees, allowing for a full range of motion. This set includes a pair of foot bands, one storage bag, an adjustable bar, and four resistance bands of 30 and 50 lbs. sets.
A Pilates bar lets you reap the mental and physical benefits of traditional Pilates classes minus the Boujee-priced membership.
Need some guidance? Follow along to instructor-led pilates bar videos on YouTube. They’re entirely free.
Photo source: Amazon.com
Pilates Bar Exercises
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Barbell squat
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Leg stretching
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Bicep curl to calf raise
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Alternating front lunges
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Pilates bar kicks
Training Tips: Start light and gradually increase your movement intensity. Listen to your body. Internalize the difference between pushing through soreness versus ignoring the pain.
If you feel pain, stop or pause to readjust.
Pull-Up Bar
A pull-up bar puts your upper body strength to the ultimate test.
Pull-ups are a bodyweight exercise that primarily targets your lats (latissimus dorsi), the broadest muscles in your entire body. Lats are the large back muscles directly underneath your shoulder blades. A pull-up bar tones them fast. Say goodbye to that stubborn bulge underneath your sports bra!
Pull-ups also stimulate your abs, chest, shoulders, and biceps.
Think back to your childhood for a moment. Remember swinging from the monkey bars on the playground? Pull-up bars are the adult version with an extra sprinkle of fitness.
Your body hangs from the center bar, suspended by your arms. With little to no momentum, you raise your upper body until your chin is above the bar — hence the OG name: chin-ups.
What’s the difference between pull-ups and chin-ups? Pull-ups rely on a pronated grip: Your palms face away from your body (knuckles on top of the bar). Chin-ups utilize a supinated hand position: Your hands face toward your body (knuckles on bottom).
Either way, this hard-to-master movement isolates and tones your upper body muscles. It requires impressive control, mental strength, and willpower. The good news? Short and sweet gets the job done.
Fit&Fab Recommendations
The Sportsroyals Power Tower Dip Station Pull-Up Bar contains a fixed handlebar that’s stable and sturdy. It supports up to 400 lbs. of body weight and has an adjustable backrest for added comfort. The large but lightweight equipment makes it easy to move around until you find the perfect spot.
Photo source: Amazon.com
Limited on space? The Ally Peaks Pull-Up Bar fits most door frames. You're good to go if your dimensions are 24 to 32 inches wide and 4.7 to 7.5 inches deep. Bonus? The bar’s thickened steel construction handles up to 440 lbs. of body weight and prevents wobbling and slipping.
Pull-Up Bar Exercises
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Flexed arm hangs (hold for 10 to 20 seconds)
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Dead arm hangs (hold for 20 to 30 seconds)
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Static pull-ups
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Negative pull-ups
Training Tips: Pull-ups are extremely challenging yet equally gratifying. Don’t be discouraged when you first start. Most beginners can only execute one to two successful reps before failure. Keep going and build your number up with daily consistency.
Use aids such as assist loops and chairs to your advantage. Prioritize correct form and technique.
Safety Tips: Go slow to prevent muscle strain and injury. Restrict pull-up sessions to two to three times weekly. Avoid jumping or moving too fast. Keep your wrists neutral and elbows tucked to your sides. Full raises are way more effective than partial raises, so don’t cheat yourself.
Your Home Gym Awaits
Dumbbells, ab wheels, Pilates bars, and pull-up bars make great additions to your home gym. Each product is safe, beginner-friendly, effective, and affordable. They also support a variety of fitness goals.
Did a particular item catch your eye? Snag it today and take the first step towards a healthier, fitter you. Happy shopping!
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