It looks like we’re going to be stuck inside for the foreseeable future and for some of us that might be the wake up call we need to finally chase those fitness goals that eluded us back in the early Covid days. Remember those promises you made to yourself back then? Well, it’s never too late to get started and best of all, ‘working in’ is the new ‘working out’.
Here’s five vital bits of gear that will turbocharge your home workouts…
Pull Up Bar - K KiNGKANG Power Tower, £140
The pull up is arguably the holy grail of bodyweight workouts and they are an absolute necessity if you want to not only build your back but also give your shoulders, arms, core and even pecs a workout. So you’ll need a steady, durable frame to hang from and the K KINGKANG Power Tower is just that.
Built with solid steel construction, you don’t need to worry about the whole thing collapsing under your weight - in fact, such is the craftsmanship, it wouldn’t look out of place in your local gym. It also has dip bars, armrests for knee tucks, lat bars and a standard pull up at the top so that you can get a wide range of exercises in with this equipment, making it a solid addition to any home gym.
Kettlebells - Onnit Primal, £33-£166 (depending on size)
The kettlebell is designed for ballistic movement and as such it engages the whole body, rather than just individual muscle groups, which in plain English means you get fitter, quicker, for less money (what we might call, the perfect home gym equation). If you listen to Joe Rogan, you’ll have heard of Onnit and their kettlebell range that have faces covering everything from Boba Fett to King Kong. Made from chip resistant iron, the current Primal range starts with the Howler at 8kgs and moves up to the Bigfoot at 40kgs.
These are brilliant for serious lifters with a bit of home gym space - a 40kg weight might break the living room floor after all.
Smartwatch - Polar Ignite, £170
Billed as an all-round fitness watch rather than just a running specific one, the Polar Ignite’s biggest drawing point is its sleek, lightweight design, which at 35g, makes it incredibly comfortable to wear 24/7.The battery life is quite short at just 17 hours but the training insights on the Ignite are second to none.
Combining heart-rate and breathing data, the watch can actually indicate just how well your Autonomic Nervous System has recovered from the rigours of training, while the analysis of sleep is as good as you’ll ever find on a watch.
Headphones - UA Sport Wireless Train Headphones: Project Rock Edition, £200
Working from home does have its setbacks, of course. Unless you live alone, chances are somebody else could be in the house while you get your pump on and let’s face it, it’s pretty hard to get said pump on when the only thing you can hear is Loose Women on the telly in the background. The Rock has your back with some incredible earphones to remedy that.
Full ear covering and over-the-head grip means they don’t move and the music doesn’t leak, while the cushions are removable and hand washable. Sixteen hours of battery life is ample for any gym monkey and a five minute charge secures another hour of playtime.
Workout App - Centr
Ever wanted to be as chiselled as a Norse God? Well now you can thanks to this workout app fronted by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Centr is a personalised health and fitness program personally created by Hemsworth and his own team of trusted experts which gives users detailed workout plans which they can do from home or from the gym, including HIIT, boxing, yoga, strength training and much more.
If you think your body is in need of a complete overhaul, there are worse places to start looking.
