I was thinking a small treadmill, but I can just go outside most of the time, and I don’t really want to walk inside.
Power rack. You can do benches and squats with safety bars.
Get the cushioning matting and use it as a general exercise area.
Get free weights, medicine balls, etc.
Do squats, press ups, all sorts of body exercises, augment them with weights.
If any machine… mount a chin up bar to a wall or get a free standing one.
Weights and a bench like many have said, and what a lot of people don’t realize is that lifting (even low weights) can be very cardio intensive.
I’m torn between rower (as lots of people here have said) and one of those pull up station racks that also has dip bars. I love rowers for the efficiency of movement and you get lots of big muscle groups at once but the first thing that got me consistently working out was body weight exercises in my local park. I started with bands on a pull up bar and worked my way up to different pull up variations.
power rack
If you’re getting free weights, I’d get an adjustable bench as well. If you already have a bike, you can get a bike trainer to ride inside when weather isn’t cooperating. I’d avoid a treadmill since as you mentioned, the outside is accessible, and if you’re not in a climate with snow and ice, a little rain sometimes feels good during a run.
But like others mentioned, dumbbells and a kettlebell will be all you need to do a lot of strength exercises. An adjustable bench allows you to expand on that. You can get dumbbells that use plates, so you dont need a full set, just the bars and plates. In the future you could get other bars for different strength training if you feel the need and you can just use existing plates.
Otherwise as someone else mentioned, you can do a lot with just bodyweight traing too. A good mat will go a long ways for that. You can supplement that with resistance bands that take up minimal space.
Rowing machine.
I’d be afraid of putting myself to sleep with it.
I like this answer. Good cardio, good for the core. Full body exercise. Rowing machines the best machine imo. Also quite hard to fuck up on or hurt yourself with, in my experiance.
Lots of movement in many joints too.
Also quite hard to fuck up on or hurt yourself with, in my experiance.
Just make sure to keep the motions seperate; legs first, stomach second, arms only move at the end. Both ways (but reversed).
Interesting, how come? I would think thats the opposite of what you’d want when rowing? (I know nothing about exercise lol)
You want to make sure to make each movement properly, else you’ll overstress places like your back, shoulders and knees.
Edit: it’s also way more efficient when actually rowing on water.
Huh. Thanks for explaining!
I tried a rowing machine, would never do it a second time. Now, I have bad knees, but I still thought it wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe it was a bad machine, maybe I used it wrong, maybe they aren’t for everyone.
If you don’t actually use it then it’s really useless as a clothes rack :p
Free weights. Especially something with changeable plates and a bench. Take up the same space as a machine but allow a higher range of exercises.
Yep.
I have a handful of ancient, beatup dumbbells. So much you can do with even that.
You can also get adjustable dumbbells today, so you can add modify your dumbbells rather than needing to buy new ones.
My dumbells also become barbells. It’s crazy what you can do with adjustable dumbells.
I made it through the pandemic with nothing but a 16 and 24 kg kettlebell, and highly recommend them as the best bang-for-buck option.
Totally understandable if you’re puzzled on where to start with them, but fortunately, they were popularized in the US by a single person (Pavel Tsatsouline) who’s made a full career out of making beginner-friendly instructionals. I recommend this as a starting point, but Enter the Kettlebell is also a great option:
https://www.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Simple-Sinister-Revised-Updated/dp/0989892433
Whatever you are going to use regularly and not get bored with. Consistency is key.
Rower is my choice
Kettlebells are a very good option. I will say, however, that they’re typically more expensive than a dumbbell, and there’s very little you can do with a KB that you can’t also do with dumbbells, and you will pretty quickly get stronger, initially.
Rowing machine is my votes I’m a Concept2 fan; they make great equipment. They’re in the USA but the company is a Perpetual Purpose Trust, in Vermont, so it’s a lefty company. I’ve heard good things about WaterRowers too. You’ll be able to test a concept2 at nearly any decent gym, as they’re the standard rowing machine (and thus will last virtually forever). I recommend testing, extensively, if you can.
Treadmills, to my knowledge, are expensive if they are going to last. They’re heavy and large.
Dumbells and a bench
I like your booty, but I’m not gay
It’s a groovy time for a movie time.
Do not crinkle your food wrappers loudly
I’ve tried to answer that multiple times.
First attempt: rowing machine. On paper, it’s the best solution.
However, using it for a year, I found it really difficult to get motivated to use it, and any sort of injury, strain or discomfort was an excuse to skip the day’s row.
I’ve also tried a recumbent stationary bicycle and a spinner. Again, both worked well for a while, but were hard to maintain.
The ones with lasting power for me are:
Combination chinup bar / captain’s chair / dip bar — this thing gets a LOT of use, as you can just do a few reps in passing or do a solid circuit training session.
Kettleball - again, you can just pick it up and use it.
Likewise, dumbbells.
I’ve found that for any large piece of equipment, one that’s good enough quality to enjoy using is usually the cost of a gym membership. And with the membership, you get to use ALL the machines if you can discipline yourself to actually show up.
