Nothing sparks motivation more than fun and exciting new pieces of exercise equipment.
That’s why today we’re talking about the best at home exercise equipment to bring fun, motivation and excitement into your at home workout.
I’ll go over my top 5 favorite pieces of fitness equipment that I use, and that my one-on-one clients also use to reach their healthy strength and weight goals.
Side Note:
I am not affiliated with any of these products. I don’t get commissions for endorsing them either.
1. Reebok Stair Stepper
When you read “stair stepper” your mind may immediately think step aerobics classes.
Think again, because this stepper does so much more.
It turns into a workout bench.
The Reebok Stepper has a 4 angle adjustment option, including incline options and height adjustments too.
Your bench opens up a world of possibilities for your strength and your toning by stretching muscles differently, based on the angle. In other words, you stretch and strengthen muscles otherwise neglected.
Put the stepper on an angle to tone your upper and lower abs muscles.
Create a stepper incline to simulate walking up a mountain,
Create length and tone in your arm muscles, all by lying back while you curl.
Variety is endless, which brings fun into every workout move
The Reebok Stair Stepper can be found on Amazon.com here or Amazon.ca here
The Cons:
The step is heavy and awkward to move. If you have a workout space that the stepper will stay in, that’s the best option, as lugging it to the cottage or taking it on vacation can feel like a chore.
2.The Bosu
Balance is an important part of every woman’s exercise program, and the bosu incorporates balance in a fun and innovative way.
The instability of a bosu not only tests your balance much like a paddle board in the water, or a pair of new snow shoes,
But this half dome also creates constant tension in the one area you’re probably really excited to work, the abs.
Your core strength is tested from the moment you get on the bosu to the second you step off, as your ability to balance is directly related to how much control you have over your ab strength.
In other words, if you’re looking for the best piece of flat ab exercise equipment, look no further, it’s the bosu.
The dome side moves much like stepping on an uneven surface. It also bounces, which absorbs impact and makes jumping easy on the joints.
The first time you use a bosu ball, you may notice a slight shake of the muscles as they activate.
I often ask clients to hold on to me (or to a pole if we’re training online) until they get the hang of it.
The Bosu can also be found on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com
The Con:
This is an advanced piece of exercise equipment. I would never give it to a client unless they had successfully entered a more advanced stage of balance. If you want to test your balance to know whether you’re ready for a bosu, try this workout first.
3.Equalizers
Want to tone your back, your arms, your legs and your abs while lying down?
The equalizers (or grounded pull up bars) are the best at home exercise equipment to make and lying down a fun reality.
While this isn’t the only exercise you can do with these pull up bars, it’s certainly the most fun.
When doing a wide grip pull up using one equalizer:
- Lie down under the bar
- Hold on to each side of the equalizer.
- Lift your bottom and pull up as you squeeze your shoulder blades together
If you’re new to pull ups, allow yourself to gently come back down to the ground before doing your next repetition.
The bars can be found on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com
The Con:
The trademarked equalizer comes with two separate bars and no attachment to join the bars together. This creates some instability using 2 pull up bars together.
The easy fix is to buy optionally adjoining, but you don’t exercise quite as hard because increased stability reduces the amount of lean muscle you use.
4.Upper/lower wheel
Want to tone your abs without painful crunches?
Are the low abs a problem area you want to tone?
Then the lower ab wheel is a fabulous addition to your at home exercise equipment.
This isn’t just any ab wheel. This is the GoFit Extreme.
The GoFit extreme has special bicycle like straps that you can gently place your feet into.
As a result, you can move your legs in and out, or up and down, all while protecting your back in a plank position. (see video above for a demonstration).
You can also hold on to the handles, to work upper abs without doing crunches.
This protects the spine and strengthens the back, all while flattening the tummy.
You can get the GoFit on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.
The Con:
You’ve got to put equal pressure on both feet when using the wheel for low abs. Otherwise the wheel tilts to one side. It only takes a few tries before you get the hang of it.
5.Bands with Attachments
Bands are a fun new way to tone and strengthen the entire body, without using free weights.
A band bundle usually comes with bands of various difficulty, as well as various attachments to connect to the bands.
This is the best exercise equipment if you want to continue to do your workouts while at the cottage, visiting family members, or travelling, because they store easily in a handy carrying bag.
The different attachments make exercise feel exciting.
Leg attachments lift the bottom
The door stop attachment creates new varieties of arm, back and chest exercise moves.
Bands with attachments can be purchased on Amazon.ca or on Amazon.com
The Cons:
Some exercises feel awkward and I prefer using free weights instead of bands. For example, the lying down chest press with bands. The positioning of the band often moves or physically lying on the band can feel uncomfortable. This is easily fixed by using the door stop and performing exercises that are usually done lying down by standing at the door instead.
To Recap This Year’s Best At Home Exercise equipment for strength and weight loss over 50:
- Reebok Stepper
- Bosu ball
- The equalizers or pull up bar
- The GoFit wheel
- Bands