A Home Gym Can Cost Thousands—Here’s How To Do It For Under $500 Over Cyber Monday

BalanceFrom Cast Iron Olympic 300lb Weight Set: was $499.99, now $199.99 at Walmart

Save $300 A 7ft Olympic barbell with 255lb worth of weight plates for less than $200 is an unbelievable deal. The “big three” lifts (the back squat, deadlift and bench press) are my strength-boosting staples, and this barbell set makes this possible at home. If you ever max out this set, you can always buy more plates at a later date. And If you’re a fellow CrossFit fan who wants to perform Olympic lifts, Walmart also has this droppable barbell and bumper plate set for just $50 more.

BalanceFrom Multi-Function Adjustable Power Rack: was $199.99, now $79.99 at Walmart

Save $120 If you’re going to buy a barbell set, your next job is to pick up a squat rack and weight bench (see below). Luckily, Walmart has you covered on the former with this 500lb-capacity BalanceFrom rack. It comes with J-hooks and plenty of height settings, so you can use it for heavy barbell exercises like back squats, lunges, rack pulls, rows and presses. You can also capitalize on the built-in pull-up bar to build lats so large you have to shuffle through doors sideways.

FLYBIRD Weight Bench: was $139.99, now $111.99 at Amazon

Save $28 The final piece of the puzzle in my strength-building barbell station is this FLYBIRD weight bench. There are cheaper, more basic options available, but I chose this one for its high weight capacity of 800lb and its adjustable seat. Incline, flat and decline are all on the table, as are upright exercises like dumbbell shoulder presses. I also like that there’s space under the backrest when it’s at 38° and 52°, meaning there’s nothing to obstruct you during chest-supported rows.

Dmoose Gymnastic Workout Rings: was $45, now $27 at Dmoose

Save $18 Nothing complements a pull-up bar like a set of gymnastic rings—the training tool which single-handedly kept me in decent nick during the first COVID-19 lockdown. I also think they make up for the lack of dumbbells in this list by widening your exercise horizons. As well as using the barbell to bench, you can hit your chest with ring dips, ring chest flyers, Archer push-ups and more. If you want to work your pulling muscles, face pulls, biceps curls, ring rows and further pull-up variations are all at your disposal. These moves can all help you build strength and muscle, as well as improving your mobility, stability and co-ordination.

WOD Nation Adjustable Speed Rope: was $17.99, now $16.99 at Amazon

Save $1 OK, this isn’t a mind-blowing saving, but I think a jump rope is one of the most undervalued and versatile conditioning tools around, especially a thinner, faster speed rope like this one. You can use it for single-unders, double-unders, crossovers and more, as well as adding it into breathy AMRAP and EMOM workouts as a bonus lung-busting element. Given that cardio rivals like exercise bikes and rowing machines will cost you upwards of $200, this represents great value for money.

Yes4All Kettlebell 35lb: was $75, now $45.20 at Amazon

Save $29.80 My favorite thing to do in my home gym was a 40-minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) workout inspired by CrossFit GOAT Mat Fraser. I’d pick four moves, a target number of reps for each, then set a 40-minute timer and perform each one in turn until the clock hit zero. My kettlebell usually played an integral part in this. For example, I might give a minute each to 50 double-unders, 20 kettlebell swings, 12 burpees and 20 goblet squats, then repeat this four-minute sequence 10 times.

LEEKEY Resistance Bands: was $39.99, now $15.99 at Amazon

Save $14 In my eyes, buying a set of resistance bands is always a good idea. You can use these long loop bands for support during larger sets of pull-ups if you’re looking to develop muscular endurance in your back, or work up to your first unassisted rep. If you clove hitch it around your pull-up bar, it can also be used to mimic a gym’s cable machine for exercises like biceps curls, triceps extensions and lat pull-down variations.