Life Without a Barbell: Quarantine-Friendly Fitness Equipment to Use at Home
It’s day 8 of doing your civic duty to stay away from other people, and you can feel your strength slipping away. You could do some more air squats, but that’s basically the same thing as sitting on your couch. You could do some sit-ups, but I mean, again, you’re already sitting anyway.
What you really need is a barbell. Life isn’t life without a barbell in your hands. Because functional fitness.
But wait… what if there were other objects around you that are heavy and can be picked back up and put back down. Moving boxes to organize your closet, picking up furniture to clean underneath, … Nevermind. Those are chores, not fitness.
For fitness, what we really need is something else to buy.
So, for whatever reason, a barbell and squat rack are out of the question. Maybe you live in an apartment where every square foot is precious, maybe you know you’ll have a gym to go back to any way when these disease prevention necessities comes to an end. So what are some other fitness things to consider buying? Note: Due to demand, not all of these are available currently, but this is also a great wish list for the future.
What’s important to consider when getting some at-home equipment?
When we start to think about what would make the most sense for something to buy that takes up closet space at home, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Versatility - Equipment that can be used for as many things as possible. Going back to the ten general skills of fitness, we want equipment that hits as many of these as possible (endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy)
Compactness - Taking up as little space as possible
Value - Equipment that is worth the investment
Simplicity - Equipment that you don’t have to worry about fixing or breaking
With those areas to focus on, there are a few pieces that seem to make sense, but may not be worth it: For example - adjustable dumbbells and kettlebells. They have a lot of versatility, but all of the attachments take up space, they are expensive, and some part of them may break or get lost. So what’s left? Wasting away watching Netflix and giving up all hope?
What are some possible fitness equipment pieces to consider?
See the embedded spreadsheet for what we’ll talk about in the rest of the article. Keep scrolling to get to our summary recommendations more quickly.
Kettle Gryp: I’m not sure what movement is shown here, but this is what the Kettle Gryp looks like.
The Empack: A great backpack and very versatile
What at-home fitness things are the most versatile?
In terms of versatility, equipment that let’s us check the most boxes at once makes it the most versatile. Here, we see that things like dumbbells and kettlebells are king.
Versatility Comparison - Ranking is out of a Max Score of 10
What at-home fitness things make the most sense to buy?
The list below is a starting point for gym things to accumulate. The higher the utility score, the more beneficial it may be.
The utility score is:
Utility = (Cost per pound + Versatility score) / Cost
That score gives a great way to decide what the next piece of equipment is to check off the list. Or if you have some money to burn, what expensive items to get first.
Top value purchases:
Kettle Gryp (if you already have access to some dumbbells)
Jump Rope
Yoga Blocks and Straps
3 Lacrosse Balls
Quality purchases:
Gymnastics Rings
2 Light Dumbbells
Medium-Heavy Kettlebell
Empack
Resistance Bands (Pull-Up Assist)
Overall Utility Comparison - The Higher the Score, the Better
You can of course fill your closets with all sorts of other fitness junk… er fitness tools, but they will probably just end up in a yard sale or donation bin down the road. Happy fitnessing!
That’s great, but one day I will build a home gym (space isn’t the issue).
If you are in the market for beginning to put an affordable home gym together (squat rack and barbell included). there are a lot of great tips out there. Check out Garage Gym Reviews for tips on a $500 at-home gym or good value approaches for different home gym decisions.