Come tour our home gym with me!

Come on in! Just please leave your shoes at the door. ;-)

I'd love to take you on a little tour of our home gym today (actual tour below)! We don't have a full gym but what we do have works so well for us in the room that is also our home office. These options altogether only take up about half of our pretty small room! If you haven't seen our little corner in use, here's a glimpse.




Let's start with the things that I think are a great idea for almost everyone just starting out with some home equipment and then I'll share some of the bells + whistles we have (which is still far less than many people with full garage gyms and things ... but bells + whistles in that they are next level and not necessary for those just starting out). Sharing the exact links of what we have when I can but for things that are older or unavailable, I'm trying to get as close as possible for ya. 




Yoga mat


Adjustable dumbbells (pricey but wayyyy cheaper and a huge space saver as compared to buying these all as separate dumbbell sets)


Long, straight resistance bands (SO versatile)


Fabric loop resistance bands (fabulous for leg / glute day)


Empty toilet paper roll ... to do this with


Chair (for step ups, tricep dips...)



Those basics cover A LOT OF bases. We've also added to the arsenal over the years:



Long loop resistance band (great for assisted pullups, heavier upper body work, banded deadlifts, etc)


Lighter loop resistance bands (work well for increased range of motion like squat to standing abduction, shoulder and arm work...)


Workout bench with back extension (flat, incline work, decline work, preacher curls, back extensions, glute-focused back extensions, hip thrusts, dips ...)


Airdyne bike (pricey and ours is an older model from a friend but ... assault bikes are SO spicy and perfect for low impact, indoor, high intensity interval training)


Tire to flip ... we acquired this old, big, HEAVY tire and keep it tucked off to the side of our backyard. 


Pull-up bar and rings


Jayflex hyperbell bar  -- they recently gifted this to me and we're LOVING it. It's helping me get over how much I've been missing barbells in these past 4 years since I stopped working out in a gym setting and started doing home workouts only. Basically, it turns a pair of dumbbells (even adjustable dumbbells) into a "barbell". They gave me a discount code to share. Use code TARA_ALLEN_HEALTH15 for 15% off.


Kettlebell (kettlebell swings, kettlebell flows, outdoor workouts, I travel with ours sometimes ... very versatile)


Medicine ball (med ball slams, upper body, ab work, full body...)


Swiss ball (abs, alternative seating option, balance, hip openers...)


Bosu ball (incline work, stability and balance...)


Battle ropes (then gave them away b/c we got the wrong ones, so maybe we'll get the right ones soon)


We're always rearranging and it's not the most aesthetically pleasing space at this time but it has everything we need and then some to help us achieve and maintain all of our fitness goals.


Check it out here



Hope you found this helpful!



XO,
Tara


P.S. If you missed out on this January round of TRANSFORM: Body + Mind -- my 28-day metabolism-boosting course -- the waitlist is now open for the March round. Hop on it if you want to stay in the know and receive a discount code when enrollment begins.


P.P.S. If you're looking for custom help ... with body composition goals, health goals, lab work, custom workouts and nutrition guidance and tons of accountability, check out more on 1:1 coaching. Spots are limited and not always available, but clients graduate out of program often and spots then open up, ;-)

So you want to work out from home?

Minimalist Home Gym?

We went from working out at the gym 3.5 years ago to it being shut down in the middle of March 2020. We had a few things at home -- I used to workout from home when my husband travelled for work and it was just the kids and I. But we did NOT have a lot and have purposely decided to keep things pretty light (no pun intended) even though we've been solely working out from home now for all this time. We could always head back to the gym and we certainly will one day (I miss the heck out of the barbells and heavier weights!) but for now we're in this nice routine and saving a bit of time with it. I've also come to really enjoy the kids hanging around as I workout. They used to just know I went super early to the gym and came home. Now they see me plan my workouts, challenge myself, and they like to join me too!




I'm asked fairly often on instagram (where I share my workouts often on my feed but even more up in stories) if I'm doing workouts at the gym and just showing home workout options for people. It seems that many people are surprised that one could accomplish what they need to without tons of equipment. But you can!  And of course this is one of the things we dive deep into in week 2 (fitness week) of TRANSFORM: Body + Mind -- my 28-day metabolism-boosting course. So if you've taken that course or you will be joining us in September, you'll know exactly how to make it work with even less equipment.




You could start with body weight, use things around the house, check out Craigslist or Facebook Marketeplace for people getting rid of exercise equipment for free or cheap. That being said, if you'd like to build a small, minimalist-type home gym like we have to reach your goals a bit better, here's what I recommend you consider getting:



1) A pair of adjustable dumbbells. While they are pricier than 1 standard pair of dumbbells, adjustable dumbbells are really many-in-one. Ours were a gift from a friend and have no brand name on them, but they seem very similar to these.



2) Straight, long resistance bands. These can be used for all kinds of exercises. These are the ones I have. Grab an empty toilet paper roll too so you can make your own 'cable machine' like I talk about in this post.



3) Thick, loop resistance bands for some spicy leg work! If you follow my workouts at all you'll see I use them ALLLLL the time. They stay in place well and don't flip or slide. The ones I use are from a brand that no longer exists but they're almost identical to these ones.



4) A yoga mat ... and a little corner of your home that you can dedicate to fitness, if possible. If not possible, then a place you can convert into a fitness area within a couple of minutes so it doesn't feel like a hurdle to gettin' 'er done. I have no specific yoga mat recommendations ... you should be able to find one pretty easily with a quick search.



That's a pretty awesome start! You can get a lot done and make a lot of progress on metabolism / muscle-building / "toning up" / fat loss goals with those items.



Happy August,
Tara