Home gym equipment for circuit/HIIT

[jeromedawg]

Hey all

For those of you who are into home gym workouts, I was wondering what kind of essentials and equipment you'd recommend. This would particularly be for HIIT/Circuit training

The stuff I have:
- dumb bells - I got a cheapo plastic/cement-filled 25~+lb set from Walmart and have a couple of 5lb that my wife had
- jump rope (not one of those fancy speed ropes but it has ball bearings haha)
- 1" thick mat
- EZ Curl bar and plates (up to 60lb I think) I got for free of freecycle
- for exercises/ideas, I typically just go on Youtube
- exercise ball (I don't use this when I workout though... maybe I should)

Stuff I'm considering adding:
- a DIY pull-up bar mounted on the wall (anyone have ideas or one they DIYed and would like to share?)
- kettle bell(s) or sandbag(s) (maybe 20-30lb or more?)
- puzzle floor mat (but sometimes I park the car in there, which would be a PITA)
- ropes or resistance bands
- bench?

Any other ideas on equipment I should absolutely be adding? Please no aerodines or skiergs :)

[Bracken_Joy]

So, for our HIIT circuits, we usually do some of the following:

-pull ups or dips on gymnastic rings
-speed rope double unders
-burpees (bonus points if you do them to a pull-up)
-lighter weight higher rep of less form-vital lifts
-we use individual plates as counter balance on our pistols (neither of us can do many pistols without any counter balance- work in progress)
-sprints outdoors

So I guess re: equipment, if you have the ceiling height for it, consider gymnastic rings. They're really fun. We couldn't get a good pull up bar setup for cheap that would support my husband and fit our garage layout, so the rings were the best option there.

Also, I vote for a real barbell and weights set =) Not super cheap, but incredibly versatile. We combine this with horse stall mats- cheaper than fitness mats and strong.

[jeromedawg]

So, for our HIIT circuits, we usually do some of the following:

-pull ups or dips on gymnastic rings
-speed rope double unders
-burpees (bonus points if you do them to a pull-up)
-lighter weight higher rep of less form-vital lifts
-we use individual plates as counter balance on our pistols (neither of us can do many pistols without any counter balance- work in progress)
-sprints outdoors

So I guess re: equipment, if you have the ceiling height for it, consider gymnastic rings. They're really fun. We couldn't get a good pull up bar setup for cheap that would support my husband and fit our garage layout, so the rings were the best option there.

Also, I vote for a real barbell and weights set =) Not super cheap, but incredibly versatile. We combine this with horse stall mats- cheaper than fitness mats and strong.

Interesting thought on rings. Our garage has vaulted ceilings and they're high so that would be a challenge. It seems for pull-up bars most people either mount from the ceiling or they build a free-standing pull-up bar. I may have to do the latter. It seems you can just buy galvanized steel pipe and fittings to mount from HomeDepot or Lowes and DIY a pull-up bar. Free-standing would probably be more expensive though.

[tawyer]

I got some gymnast rings recently and I would recommend them over a pull-up bar for the variety of exercises that are possible.

[jeromedawg]

I got some gymnast rings recently and I would recommend them over a pull-up bar for the variety of exercises that are possible.

Sweet! Where did you guys buy your rings from? I'm not sure how I'd hang these in my garage with the vaulted ceilings... that's the only problem.

[kenaces]

I got full set of kettle bells on craigslist for cheap and they should last longer than me :)

[ooeei]

In college I made a Bulgarian sand bag using a tractor tire tube from tractor supply, some play sand, and duct tape.  Decent for adding a bit of weight to squats, or weighted runs or other things.  I think some people also use them for swinging exercises like kettlebells. 

I also made some clubbells using lengths of pipe and caps/adaptors from home depot.  They didn't end up being super cheap, but I'm sure you could make some another way for cheaper.  Not really what I'd think of as an HIIT thing, but good for shoulder mobility.

I also made a DIY suspension trainer, good for all sorts of movements.

Google will probably give you better instructions than I can, but if you need any more info let me know.

[Bracken_Joy]

I got some gymnast rings recently and I would recommend them over a pull-up bar for the variety of exercises that are possible.

Sweet! Where did you guys buy your rings from? I'm not sure how I'd hang these in my garage with the vaulted ceilings... that's the only problem.

We have 18' ceilings, you'll be fine ;) That's the beauty of the rings- you can adjust them to whatever height you want, there's a super wide range.

Trying to figure out where we bought them, I'm drawing a blank and our Mint data isn't yielding answers. I just know they're real wood rings, have long straps, and we did a big mounting plate with lag bolts up to the attic. Whole shebang was $119 or something. They've held up really well. We've had them probably 6 months? And husband does lots of muscle ups and stuff, so they get yanked around a ton.

Oh, I think maybe it was Again Faster. I was getting confused since we also got one set of bumper plates from them. Here are the rings we got: https://www.againfaster.com/X-Training-Wood-Rings and the mount: https://www.againfaster.com/Ring-Hanger

[jeninco]

Been doing 12-minute workouts from 12minuteathlete.com for a couple of years now.
Love the variation, although I don't have all the equipment and am also an old lady who sometimes adapts things. (Also, I hurt my back last week doing ninja tuck jumps, so I can't recommend starting out with those...)

Seconding (thrilling?) the pull-up equipment. We have a bar (outside on the back deck, but there's usually a pathway shoveled), though I'd actually prefer rings. I'll have to look around to see if there's a sensible way to install a pair: we have mostly 8 foot ceilings, so they'll have to go outside, unfortunately.

Maybe include parallel bars for dips/pushups/leg lifts? I'm mostly about the body-weight exercises, so I make do with a pull up bar, kitchen counters that are close enough together for dips, and a few assorted concrete blocks and a sledgehammer. Kettle bells seem so fancy! (I do the KB exercises with the sledgehammer, when I do them.)

[ooeei]

I got some gymnast rings recently and I would recommend them over a pull-up bar for the variety of exercises that are possible.

Sweet! Where did you guys buy your rings from? I'm not sure how I'd hang these in my garage with the vaulted ceilings... that's the only problem.

We have 18' ceilings, you'll be fine ;) That's the beauty of the rings- you can adjust them to whatever height you want, there's a super wide range.

Trying to figure out where we bought them, I'm drawing a blank and our Mint data isn't yielding answers. I just know they're real wood rings, have long straps, and we did a big mounting plate with lag bolts up to the attic. Whole shebang was $119 or something. They've held up really well. We've had them probably 6 months? And husband does lots of muscle ups and stuff, so they get yanked around a ton.

Oh, I think maybe it was Again Faster. I was getting confused since we also got one set of bumper plates from them. Here are the rings we got: https://www.againfaster.com/X-Training-Wood-Rings and the mount: https://www.againfaster.com/Ring-Hanger

I've got a set from Rogue Fitness that are quality as well.  Don't use them much anymore, but they're used in crossfit gyms all over the place so I'm sure they could handle whatever a home gym would throw at them.  The only thing I'd be cautious about is keeping them outdoors, or putting them over bare rafters where they could wear and tear.  Some sort of padding between the straps and rafters should be fine.

Rings are pretty simple, I think for the use they'll see in 99% of home gyms, any brand should be fine.  You can always buy some heavy duty straps at Harbor Freight if you want as well.

[tawyer]

I got some gymnast rings recently and I would recommend them over a pull-up bar for the variety of exercises that are possible.

Sweet! Where did you guys buy your rings from? I'm not sure how I'd hang these in my garage with the vaulted ceilings... that's the only problem.

Some random seller on Amazon: I went for low price because I wasn't sure that I'd get into the habit of using them. As others have already noted, hanging from high vaulted ceilings is accomplished with a mounting plate of some variety. I have direct access to the ceiling beams so I drilled horizontally and just used two inch eye hooks from the local hardware store to feed the straps through. The straps with the rings were 15 feet each, so the rings can hang 15/2 = 7.5 feet below the beams. My nine foot ceilings are high enough for muscle-ups, but the set-up is adequate for pull-ups, dips, ring pushups, etc. The whole set-up cost me under $40 and 20 minutes to install.