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How To Have The Ultimate Home Gym For Under $100

When it comes to strength training for endurance athletes you don’t need to spend hours in the gym pumping iron. Maybe you’ve already checked out our previous article on Strength Training for Endurance Athletes and are curious about what gear you really need. Many people are drawn to endurance sports such as marathons, bicycle centuries, and triathlons to get away from the gym scene. This being said numerous research studies show that strength training significantly improves performance and prevents injury in endurance athletes.

So how do you get strength training without going to a gym? Build the ultimate home gym! Endurance athletes don’t need fancy equipment and an array of weights to build strength for competition.  In fact almost all the athletes I coach only do strength work at home as it’s more convenient, still challenging, and saves money. The key is using your body weight in various ways to challenge your muscles, which in turn builds strength.

WHAT YOU NEED:

When building your home gym it greatly depends on how much money you want to spend. You can easily get into the thousands of dollars with all the cool strength equipment out there.  However, I have personally found you can do just fine with the equipment listed below that all together on average cost less than $100.

–         Jump rope $5-10: Jumping rope is a great way to warm-up before a work out and add a cardio boost to strength circuit. As a bonus it strength your calves and forearms.

–         Stability Ball $10-20: Not only do stability balls provide a good unstable surface to challenge your body, but they can be used as a computer chair too!

–         Pull-up Bar $20-35: Indoor pull-up bars can be set up easily in a doorway and are a great way to build back and shoulder strength. I’ve found after doing just a few pull-ups everyday my shoulders don’t fatigue when swimming and biking.

–         Suspension trainer $30-150: There are several different brands of suspension trainers available on the market but I personally prefer the ones that can go in a doorway. Suspension trainers provide constant core engagement as you go through exercises. These always are also adjustable to your strength level. Believe me, a good suspension workout will have you feeling as if you just went through an intense barbell workout.

With the items above there are endless workouts you can do that will constantly challenge your body to build strength. In fact 3 of the Top 5 Triathlon Strength Workouts can be complete with the equipment above.

Get creative with your home gym workouts but be sure to focus on you and your sport.  For example, as a triathlete I primarily focus on leg, core, shoulder strength, and injury prevention movements. See Top 5 Triathlon Strength Workouts for workout examples.

 

About The Author

Brad Haag is a Triathlon Coach, Personal Trainer, and a National Qualifying Triathlete. As a graduate of Ben Greenfield’s Superhuman Coach program, Brad specializes in coaching endurance and warrior class athletes to peak performance. He can be found at HaagsAthletics.com or as a featured coach at PacificFit.net

About Eric H. Doss

Eric is a triathlete and writer. He has competed in all distances of triathlons, from sprints to full Ironman distance races. He founded FitEgg.com in 2009 to meet the increasing need for professional, unbiased reviews of triathlon gear.

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