The Home Workout Kit I Recommend to My Online Coaching Clients
One of the questions I get asked all the time is:
“What equipment do I actually need to get stronger at home?”
The good news is – nowhere near as much as you might think.
You don’t need a garage gym, an enormous collection of dumbbells or hundreds of pounds’ worth of equipment to get a really effective strength workout at home.
In fact, many of the women I coach train entirely from home with just a few carefully chosen pieces of kit.
So if you’re wondering what home workout equipment is actually worth buying, here’s what I recommend.
- A Set of Dumbbells
If you only invest in one piece of home workout equipment, I’d make it dumbbells.
You can train virtually your entire body with them – squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, rows, presses, lateral raises, bicep curls… the list goes on.
The important bit is having enough resistance to actually challenge yourself.
One mistake I see quite often is women buying one pair of very light dumbbells and then using them for everything.
Your legs and glutes can generally handle considerably more load than your shoulders, for example, so ideally you want access to a few different weights.
Adjustable dumbbells can be a great option if you’re short on space.
And remember: if your final few reps aren’t challenging you, it’s probably time to go heavier.
- Minibands
Minibands are inexpensive, take up virtually no room and are incredibly useful.
I use them with clients for exercises such as:
- Banded squats
- Glute bridges
- Lateral walks
- Hip abduction
- Warm-ups and activation work
I’d recommend buying a set with different resistance levels rather than one band.
That way you can progress as you get stronger and choose the right resistance for different exercises.
- Long Resistance Bands
Don’t confuse these with minibands!
Long resistance bands give you even more exercise options and can be particularly useful if you’re training at home without access to gym machines.
Depending on how you anchor them, you can use them for rows, pulldowns, presses, tricep work, assisted exercises and loads more.
They’re also brilliant for holidays because you can chuck them in a suitcase without sacrificing half your luggage allowance to gym equipment!
- A Bench or Step
This isn’t essential when you’re first getting started, but it’s a useful addition once you’ve got your basics.
A sturdy adjustable bench opens up exercises such as chest presses, supported rows, split squats, step-ups and hip thrusts.
If you don’t have one, don’t panic. I regularly adapt my clients’ programmes around what they already have available.
A sofa, chair or sturdy step can sometimes do the job depending on the exercise.
- A Decent Exercise Mat
Not exciting, I know.
But if you’re doing floor exercises, core work, mobility or stretching, a decent mat makes training much more comfortable.
You don’t need anything fancy – just something with enough cushioning that you aren’t thinking about how much your knees hurt on the floor instead of the exercise you’re supposed to be doing!
What Home Workout Equipment Do You Actually Need to Start?
If you’re completely new to strength training at home, don’t go and buy everything at once.
I’d start with:
- Dumbbells
- Minibands
- Long resistance bands
That’s more than enough equipment for me to create a really effective full-body strength programme.
Then, as you become stronger and more experienced, you can gradually add equipment.
I’ve Put All My Recommendations in One Place
I’ve now created a Recommended Fitness & Nutrition Kit page containing the products I regularly recommend to my online coaching clients.
That includes my suggestions for strength-training equipment as well as useful nutrition and meal-prep kit.
So instead of spending hours scrolling through Amazon trying to work out which bands, dumbbells or kitchen scales you need, I’ve done the searching for you.
👉 See My Recommended Fitness & Nutrition Kit
Some of the links on my kit page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you.
Want More Than Just the Equipment?
Having the right kit helps.
Knowing what to actually DO with it is what gets results.
My online coaching gives you a bespoke strength-training programme based on your goals, experience, available equipment and – most importantly – the amount of time you realistically have available.
Because you don’t need to live in the gym to get stronger.
You just need the right plan.