If you haven’t been involved in weight strength training in the past, it’s easy to get confused by all the different kind of home gym equipment that is on the market today. It may almost seem like a foreign language at times. But the good news is that just a little bit of information can help you understand that language quickly and easily. So here are some things that you need to know about home gym equipment in order to get what you really need.

First let’s divide this discussion into two parts. In the first part we will cover traditional free weight systems. This may be what many people think of when they think of home gyms. Essentially, they are a collection of free weights and the bars that the weights are assembled on. The responsibility of using the weights properly in each exercise falls entirely on the exerciser in this case. And it’s easy to injure yourself if you don’t use the proper form when doing free weight exercises. For that reason, be sure to get some good guidance and training before you undertake using free weights to make sure you are doing it properly.

But the equipment that you will need is very simple and not complicated. First of all, you will need about 200 lbs. of free weights that have a hole in the center of them. Then you will need a barbell, which is a long metal bar for stacking weight on each end. Next you will need two dumbbells, and these are used for single-handed exercises. The weights have to be held on to both the barbell and the dumbbells with a simple device called a collar, and you will need enough for both ends on each bar. The next piece of equipment is a bench, and this bench should have a standing rack on one end that will support the barbell with a full load of weights.

Really, that is about all the equipment that you need for a very simple home fitness gym consisting of free weights. However, these days more elaborate home gym equipment has been made available that structures all of your exercises and help you keep the proper form as you go. This usually makes for a more safe overall exercise experience.

The most common components of a typical home gym machine includes a bench, and a press, which often are performed lying down, but sometimes are done standing up on some machines. A lat pulldown is often included too, that lets you pull weights down from above to strengthen the lat muscles in your back. Other popular equipment include a leg extension and leg curl at the end of the bench, and a low pulley for single arm curls. There are also the gyms that include leg presses and squats, but you often have to pay more for those features.

You can actually do just as many exercisers with free weights as you can with one of the expensive home fitness gyms, but you have to know what you are doing in order to do it right. Many folks these days are deciding that they prefer to use the structure that a home gym machine gives them for their individual workouts. Whatever type of the equipment you choose, be sure to use them in advance to be sure that they will meet your needs properly before you buy.

By: Thad Pickering

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