The 23 Top Pieces of Home Gym Equipment for 2023

One of the biggest shifts in lifestyle activities that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown was transitioning from a gym outside the home to establishing one inside the home. For those passionate about their fitness, an indefinitely closed sign didn’t stop them from getting their daily reps and calorie burn. And, regardless of the 2020 uptick in home gym building, having equipment like treadmills, benches, and free weights has always been popular as it can save time and money and encourage health and wellness.

So, whether you’ve got equipment leftover from your days of high school lifting in mom’s garage or your gear is newish circa shutdown days, it’s always good to know the best pieces to own so you can work all parts of your body to support cardio and muscle-building. This is why we’ve curated the essentials list of home gym equipment for 2023. Read on to find out what you need to get the best at-home workout experience.

The 23 pieces of home gym equipment you must have this year, in no particular order…

Squat rack – Essential to leg day, a squat rack is a must for your home gym, and don’t worry, they don’t have to take up a lot of space. Our pick: Rogue Fitness offers several models, including a smaller, wall-mount version for home gyms.
Weight bench – A good quality weight bench is important for your safety and versatility of workouts. An adjustable weight bench affords you the ability to work your chest, back, and more. Check out our pick from REP Fitness.
Barbell – A must-have that can be picked up at just about any equipment retailer, both men and women will find a standard Olympic-sized bar of 45 pounds that can provide a workout by itself or loaded with weights. Our pick: Any bar by Rogue Fitness
Weight plates – These will put you and your barbell to work. If you go with the barbell from Rogue Fitness or another Olympic-sized option, you’ll need to purchase plates with the same fitting. You can purchase them individually or as a set from our pick here.
Dumbbells – Nothing dumb about these weights. Useful for just about every part of the body, including abs, biceps, triceps, traps, lats, shoulders, and legs, dumbbells with or without a rack are essential to your home gym. Our pick: Papababe’s tower of hex free-weights is available on Amazon here.
Kettlebells – Overhead swings, obliques, sit-ups, curls, and more can all be done with kettlebells. Sure, you could skip a bell and go with a free weight, but the design is comfortable and safer for certain workouts. Our kettlebell pick doesn’t require you to spend a lot – Sporzon offers a pack of three weights for less than $40.
Treadmill – NordicTrack’s most compact series, the New Exp 7i, features a screen where you can get guided workouts from a global base of instructors, all from the comfort of home.
Exercise bike – NordicTrack also offers our pick for the best exercise bike for home. A large digital screen carries you across different terrains and streets as you work your heart and legs during your daily cardio session.
Rowing machine – Simulating an incredibly powerful upper- and mid-body workout, a rowing machine can check off several muscle-building boxes all at once. Our pick for your home gym is any rower by Hydrow.
Elliptical machine – Get your steps in while you work your glutes, quads, hammies, and more with an elliptical machine. The market is full of options, but for affordability and space savings, our pick is a simple machine by Sunny Health & Fitness, available for well under $1,000 on Amazon.
A dip station – Challenging and versatile, a dip station will have you working back, chest, and even core as you perform several basic exercises on the simple piece of equipment. Available from just about all big box and fitness retailers, go with our pick – a sturdy version from ReachPT.
Resistance bands – Available at Target, Walmart, and from fitness retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, resistance bands enable dozens of workouts like squats, abductions, and deadlifts. Check out more than 30 ways to use your bands at home here.
Jump rope – Another simple piece of equipment that can be picked up at just about any big box retailer or sporting goods store, a jump rope requires no electricity, just your willpower. Take your cardio workout next level by going with our pick, a weighted jump rope from Rogue.
Ab roller – Roll your way into a stronger back and ab-pack with an ab roller. It’s a simple device and a home gym essential designed to strengthen your upper body muscles and core. Our pick: this double-wheel training roller from Walmart.
Plyo box – Plyo boxes are one of the most versatile yet simple pieces of equipment you can add to your home gym. With your box, you can do single-leg box jumps, step-ups, single-leg squats, and side step-ups. Our pick is the 3-in-1 foam plyo box from Titan Fitness.
Pull-up bar – A well-mounted over-doorway or wall pull-up bar is a great option for your home gym. There are also free-standing options, but don’t surrender quality over safety. Our pull-up pick is the Rogue Fitness garage bar.
Battle rope – You can tackle rope slams, waves, and more when you firmly anchor this piece of equipment. Our pick is The Power Guidance Battle Rope, available on Amazon in lengths of 30 feet to 50 feet.
Med ball – Speaking of slams, weighted med ball reps can help you strengthen and do cardio at the same time. Our pick is the weighted medicine ball by Rogue Fitness.
Foam roller – Stretching and massaging your muscles are key to protecting and improving your body. A foam roller is one of your less expensive and most necessary pieces of equipment. Our pick: TriggerPoint offers several sizes and textures of foam rollers; most are available at Target.
Yoga mat – These foam mats aren’t just for yogis. A mat with some cushion is ideal for stretching before and after your at-home workouts. Simple to roll out and up, they take up very little space and provide comfort against hard floors where home gyms are typically staged. Our pick: Target’s 3mm All-in-motion yoga mat.
Yoga/stability ball – Another tool not just for yoga, a stability ball measuring 65cm or more is going to be super helpful when you need to stretch your body after pushing your muscles to the max. Here’s our pick from Titan.
Rubber gym flooring – As we mentioned, most home gyms are often staged on non-carpeted or padded flooring and, instead, on concrete garage or basement floors. To protect your floors and your weights, a rubber gym mat or rubber flooring tiles are a good idea for any home gym. Our pick is at Dick’s Sporting Goods here.
Fitness mirror – Perhaps not essential, but oh so amazing, LuLu Lemon’s Studio Mirror streams dynamic training content while it connects to your heart rate, gives you live feedback, and allows you to select, personalize, and save workouts. A digital phenom, we are pleased to say this powerful training device can be yours for less than $1k.

Working out isn’t easy; it takes motivation and dedication. We hope this list of essentials will help you plan and execute your workouts conveniently and effectively. For more on how to get the most out of your at-home workouts using these 23 pieces of equipment, check out these at-home workouts recommended by SELF.

Links:

https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-rml-3w-fold-back-wall-mount-rack

AB-4100 Adjustable Weight Bench

https://www.roguefitness.com/weightlifting-bars-plates

https://a.co/d/emaC9n6

https://a.co/d/4C4ASwE

https://www.nordictrack.com/treadmills/exp-7i

https://www.nordictrack.com/exercise-bikes/s22i-studio-bike

https://hydrow.com/products/rowers/hydrow-rower/

https://a.co/d/ezVawqn

https://a.co/d/4vf4nXz

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/g29565103/best-resistance-band-exercises/