Owning your own home gym would be a dream come true for most fitness enthusiasts. But a lot of people seem to think that it’s too expensive and unattainable for an average Joe.
But that’s not true at all, building a home gym doesn’t need to cost a fortune! Here are the best home gyms for under $1000
Home gyms have a lot of benefits that commercial gyms simply can not offer. The main benefits of owning your own home gym are the freedom, convenience and privacy you get. And in the long run, you’ll even save money on owning a home gym!
Finding the right equipment can be challenging, there are hundreds of different brands and machines to choose from. But in this article, I’ve made the process easier for you by creating 3 different home gym setups for under $1000.
Find What You’re Looking For Quickly:
- Best Home Gym Under $1000
- Best All-In-One Home Gym Under $1000
- Best Functional Home Gym Under $1000
- Best Home Gym Equipment
- Best Home Gym Equipment Brands
- Are Home Gyms Worth It?
- Is It Cheaper To Go To A Gym Or Make A Home Gym?
Continue reading to find out more about the benefits of building your own home gym and see each of the home gym setups I’ve created!
Best Home Gym Under $1000
Here is the best home garage gym setup for less than $1000. The gym features all the equipment you need for a complete weightlifting and powerlifting home gym.
Equipment:
- Power Rack: CAP Barbell Power Rack – $167
- Olympic Barbell: CAP Barbell The Beast – $121
- Weight Bench: Yoleo Adjustable Weight Bench – $130
- Weight Plates: Titan Fitness Bumper Plates (230 lbs) – $430
- Safety Arms: CAP Barbell Safety Catches – $29
- Barbell Clips: DMoose Olympic Barbell Clips – $16
- Barbell Attachment: BRTGYM Barbell Landmine Attachment – $22
- Pulley System: Mikolo Lat and Lift Pulley System – $66
- Cable Attachment: Yes4All Double D Handle Cable Attachment – $16
Total Cost: $997
With this home gym setup, you get all the equipment you need to train your entire body in your own home gym for under $1000.
You can do all compound movements such as bench press, squats, deadlifts and overhead press with the power rack, the adjustable bench and the Olympic barbell.
The CAP Barbell power rack also features a pull-up bar which is a great feature at that price point.
The pull-up bar also allows you to attach the pulley system to the power rack. With the pulley system, you can do different back, arm and core exercises.
The barbell landmine attachment allows you to train your back, legs and shoulders with t-bar rows, landmine hack squats and landmine shoulder presses.
With this home gym setup, you also get a lot of safety features such as barbell clips and safety arms for squatting and bench pressing.
This is the best value home gym setup, it allows you to train all muscles effectively from the comfort of your own home. And for only $997 you get excellent value for your money!
Best Multi Station Home Gym Under $1000
Bowflex Xceed Features:
- Price: $999
- Exercises: 65
- Max load: 210 lbs (Upgradeable to 310 lbs)
- Accessories included
- Includes booklet guide with exercises
A multi-station home gym, or an all-in-one home gym as they are also called, is the perfect option If you have limited space but still want to have a home gym where you can train your entire body effectively.
The Bowflex Xceed is the best single piece of home gym equipment you can own. The machine’s dimensions are 53 x 49 x 82 inches (L x W x H) which makes it perfect for a garage or basement gym. It’s the ultimate space-saving home gym under $1000.
Bowflex Xceed Home Gym offers 65 different exercises and has a maximum resistance of 210 lbs (95 kg) which can be upgraded to 310 lbs (140 kg) for $129.
The resistance is provided by “power rods” that can be switched out to increase or decrease the difficulty of the exercise. It’s a super smart solution that doesn’t require weight plates or weight stacks which makes the machine a lot lighter weighing in at only 183 lbs.
Bowflex also gives you a 5-year warranty on the resistance rods, a 1-year warranty on the frame and a 60-day warranty on all other parts.
Best Functional Home Gym Under $1000
Here is the best functional home gym under $1000. It has all the weightlifting and cardio equipment you need to build muscle and lose fat.
Equipment:
- Treadmill: Xterra Fitness TR150 – $375
- Adjustable Dumbbells: ProForm Weight Dumbbells – $299
- Weight Bench: KINGMAZI Adjustable Weight Bench – $97
- Suspension Trainer: TRX All-In-One Suspension Training System – $180
- Skipping Rope: DELGO Skipping Rope – $9
- Yoga-mat: BalanceForm Yoga-mat – $20
Total Cost: $980
This home gym setup is perfect if you want to focus on functional training and cardio. The home gym features everything you need to get in shape and train your entire body at home.
The Xterra Fitness TR150 is the best budget treadmill on the market. It has 12 different pre-set training programs and a high maximum speed of 10 mph.
With the adjustable dumbbells you can do all sorts of exercises and train your entire body. Adjustable dumbbells are super convenient, they are cheaper and take up way less space than individual dumbbells.
The adjustable weight bench features two resistance bands that allow you to train your chest, arms and shoulders.
The TRX suspension trainer is a great way to build muscle with bodyweight exercises. You can do all sorts of pull and push exercises with minimalist equipment. Together with the jumping rope and the Xterra treadmill, you’ll have the ultimate fat-burning home gym.
Best Home Gym Equipment
You can get very far with minimal equipment when it comes to training at home. Here are the most essential pieces of home gym equipment you need in your home gym.
Squat stand or power rack: This is the base for most compound exercises such as the bench press, squat and overhead press. Choose a squat stand or power rack that features a pull-up bar as well, such as the CAP Barbell Power Rack.
Olympic Barbell: A squat rack or a power rack would be useless without an Olympic barbell. You can do pretty much every exercise imaginable with an Olympic barbell and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune either, the CAP Barbell The Beast only sets you back $121.
Adjustable Weight Bench: You can’t go wrong with an adjustable weight bench, it’s useful for countless weightlifting exercises such as bench pressing, shoulder pressing, one-arm dumbbell rowing and Bulgarian split squats.
The different incline options allow you to target your muscles from different angles which improves hypertrophy (muscle growth).
Adjustable Dumbbells: Adjustable dumbbells are super handy to have in your home gym. Not only do they take up very little space, but it’s also a lot cheaper to buy a set of adjustable dumbbells than to buy multiple different pairs of dumbbells.
Treadmill: Treadmills are a great way to improve your fitness and cardio health. Nowadays there are hundreds of inexpensive treadmills on the market, check out my article about the best cheap treadmills to find one that fits you!
Multi-Station Home Gym: Multi-station home gyms are great if you want a compact all-in-one training option at home. It allows you to train your entire body with one machine which is great if you have limited space.
Weight Plates: It goes without saying that a good home gym should include some weights to lift as well. Weight plates can be pretty expensive, but I’d recommend that you go for the cheapest option possible.
Cheaper plates might be a bit less accurate (weight-wise) than more expensive alternatives. But a bit of inaccuracy in the weights won’t be an issue for home gyms and casual lifters.
Best Home Gym Equipment Brands
There are countless gym equipment brands out there and it’s difficult to know which are reliable and not. To make it easier for you to choose the right brand, here are the best home gym equipment brands.
Titan Fitness: Titan Fitness offers great quality equipment at a fair price. They specialize in strength training equipment and make really high-quality power racks, squat racks, weight benches, barbells and weight plates.
Rouge Fitness: Rogue Fitness is one of the most popular and respected brands in the fitness equipment industry. They offer amazing quality but at a pretty high price.
Rouge manufactures all kinds of weightlifting equipment such as power racks, squat racks, weight benches, barbells and weight plates and a lot of strongman equipment as well.
REP Fitness: REP Fitness puts itself somewhere between Titan and Rogue. They have great quality equipment at pretty fair prices. Just like Rogue and Titan, they create power racks, squat racks, weight benches, barbells and weight plates.
CAP Barbell: CAP Barbell is an excellent premium budget choice when it comes to weightlifting equipment. The quality you get from CAP Barbell is unmatched in its price range. They mainly manufacture power racks, squat racks, weight benches and barbells.
Bowflex: Bowflex mainly manufactures weightlifting and cardio machines. They offer high quality and their prices match the market pretty well. I especially like Bowflex’s all-in-one trainers, they are some of the best products on the market while still being fairly affordable.
Are Home Gyms Worth It?
The main benefits of owning your own home gym are freedom, convenience and privacy.
You get the freedom to choose exactly how your gym is going to look, you can play your own music and you’ll never have to wait in line for an exercise.
You also won’t have to worry about opening hours. Your home gym is open 24 hours a day every day of the year!
Having a home gym saves a lot of travel time as well. Working out will feel like a smaller time commitment and with the right home gym set up you’ll have all the equipment you need to build a great physique.
And don’t you hate when you arrive at the gym and realize that you forgot your lifting shoes? Yeah, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.
Home gyms also give you a lot of privacy. There won’t be any distractions that throw you off your training and no one will judge you or have any expectations of you.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of having your own home gym is getting your friends together, working out and spending the afternoon at your house cooking food and watching the Sunday games on tv.
Is It Cheaper To Go To A Gym Or Make A Home Gym?
Owning your own home gym is a lot cheaper in the long run. It’s a bigger upfront investment but you won’t have to pay for an annual or monthly gym membership.
A general gym membership will cost you about $40 a month or $480 a year. With the $1000 home gyms that I’ve featured in this article, you’ll have earned back your initial investment in about two years.
What To Do Now?
Now that you’ve hopefully got some ideas for your new home gym I highly recommend these articles about different training programs that you can use in your new home gym.
