fitness gifts for home workouts, blog post cover. Raising the bar fitness

Fitness Gifts For At-Home Workouts

Last year I wrote a post on my “top twelve fitness gifts that every gym-goer needs” this year (2020) we are in our second lockdown and gyms are closed so this year I have created a list of fitness gifts for at-home workouts.

These are the items that I feel will help you get the most from your at-home workouts and enable you to bring them to a new level.

My top 12 Christmas fitness gifts for at-home workouts are: 

Let’s have a look at each one in detail.

1) Adjustable Dumbbells

You may have seen me feature these in my post on “Best home gym set up for lifting weights at home” and if your looking for a bigger gift to give someone this Christmas adjustable dumbbells could be a great choice. 

Image of bowflex adjustable dumbbells as used by raising the bar fitness

This is a gift for those who want to lift weights or recreate the gym experience from home.

Dumbbells are extremely versatile and as these dumbbells allow you to select a large range of different weights the exercises and options with them are endless which makes them a great choice for working out at home. Not to mention they are a great space saver and easy to store away and transport.

These are the pair I use and love: Bowflex click here

2) Pull Up Mate Calisthenics Station

My last post “calsithenics the best way to workout at home” included a portable calisthenics rig/station and pullup mate is one of those options. 

Pull-up mate is a branded calisthenics station but you can get unbranded ones as well.

These stations are extremely versatile and you come with bags so that you can easily transport it and use it just about anywhere with a level surface.

These stations allow you to perform a large range of calisthenic exercises including pull-ups and dips, minimising your need for multiple pieces of equipment.

This is the perfect gift for anyone training calisthenics, using bodyweight training or looking to add variety and more challenging exercises to their at-home workouts

Amazon stock the GoBeast brand: Click here 

3) Resistance Bands

Resistance bands (particularly the type seen in the image) allow you to add resistance to exercises without the use of weights.

Set of fitness resistance bands

They are extremely versatile and can allow you to get creative with the way you train.

They come in different colours which represent the strength or resistance level of the band and they are also great for rehabilitation and mobility training.

These are the style I use with all my clients: Resistance Bands click here

4) Dual Resistance Bands with Foot Loops

These made last year’s list (12 Christmas fitness gifts that every gym-goer needs) as they can be easily added to the gym bag and as a piece of at-home low-cost training gear, these are great. 

Image of a woman using foot loop resistances bands and an image of the product next to her

The difference between these and the resistance bands above in (3) is simply the foot loops but this makes them easier to use as the ones above for certain exercises will require you to wrap them around and secure them from another item whereas the foot loops here give you multiple different options just using your body to support the bands.

These bands are harder to find but this is the actual brand that introduced me to this product 
Billys Bootcamp Bands click here

5) Angles90 dynamic training grips + Cable pulley

These are one of two items on this list which I haven’t used but I am very interested in and I will be purchasing these this year myself.

Angles90 are essentially training grips that can be attached to other various pieces of gym equipment to allow you to use different grips and grip angles when lifting but in this post I am more focusing on the use of these grips with a pulley system.

These portable pully systems are great for at-home training as they allow you to do exercises that normally you would need a cable machine for.
All you need is somewhere to attach them to like a pullup bar or you can use them in conjunction with a calsithencis station.

You will need weights to use these but if you know someone with weights at home this could be a great gift for them this Christmas

You can get unbranded pully systems elsewhere for very reasonable prices and these systems are easily transported.

This isn’t the Angles 90 set but this is literally the set that I own and use when needed
Pulley System click here

6) Gymnastic Rings

These have made every equipment list I have made so far so it’s easy to see that I love these inexpensive pieces of kit.

Set of gymnastic rings

They are extremely versatile and can be used anywhere you can strap them to like a tree, pullup bar or calisthenics station.

They are essential for anyone practising calisthenics and great for anyone looking to add variety and more challenging exercises to their at-home workouts

I love gymnastic rings click here

7) Ab wheel

So you may be thinking that you can train your abs and core without equipment and you can but when it comes to progressing and constantly improving you always need to be adding variety, challenge and bring your workouts and exercises to the next level and an ab wheel is a great piece of kit for doing just that for your ab and core training.

This piece of kit is a great addition to your at-home workouts and easily be put into your gym bag and taken with you on the go.

Although it is called an “ab wheel” or “ab roller” it is more than just an ab trainer it enables you to train more of your core muscles.
It is essentially a compound movement based on the number of muscles this exercise activates.
Due to the fact it is a wheel, it is like training on an unstable surface so you are also incorporating stabilising muscles helping to work control and balance at the same time

A great piece of kit for anyone training at home this Christmas.

This guy is small but deadly click here for ab wheel 

8) Punchbag

You don’t have to be a boxer or martial artist to get the benefits out of this piece of at-home equipment.

Punching workouts are great fat burners, shoulder builders and fitness workouts and by adding different movements and exercise into your bag routine you can have a varied and complete workout with this one piece of kit.

With a punching bag, it is worth paying a bit more for something more stable and sturdy and having one that is also fixed to the floor underneath may be beneficial as bag swing is the biggest limitation to this form of training.

I like to go heavy with my punch bags click here

9) Skipping Rope

This humble piece of equipment can supercharge your workouts and bring the intensity level up.

Red and black skipping rope

A skipping rope is a small cost-effective piece of kit that makes a great stocking filler and a very effective way to add intensity to your workouts.

By adding a skipping routine to your at-home workouts you will not only be increasing intensity but burning more calories and increasing your fitness levels

For a Skipping Rope click here

10) Peloton

This is the second piece of equipment on this list that I haven’t used and although I won’t be purchasing one myself this could be a great choice for anyone with the budget looking to train hard at home.

The hardest thing about training at home is motivating yourself this piece of equipment gives you 24/7 access to fitness classes led by instructors that make them interactive and encourage you to push yourself all from the comfort of your own home.

Not only that but all your progress is tracked and you even get ranked against other users to give a competitive element to keep you striving for your best.

11) Fitness Cage or Rack

The only reason this didn’t make my post “Best home gym set up for lifting weights at home” was because I was including equipment at a lower cost, which was also space-saving but in my opinion, some sort of rack or cage is another must-have for anyone looking to lift weights from home if you have space and the budget.

A fitness cage and fitness racks all have certain differences but serve the same purpose to hold the bar and to catch the weight if you fail.
These enable you to perform squats, bench press, rack pulls etc at home and some even enable you to add on different attachments to progress your home workouts even further.

I like space-saving where possible click here for a Power Rack

12) Parallettes

Another piece of calisthenics equipment, because as I mentioned in my last post calisthenics is the best way to work out from home (in my opinion).

Pair of calisthenics parallettes

Parallettes can be a lot of fun and help you train the foundations and build strength for calisthenics as well as training mobility, control and improving wrist and hand strength.

These are a great gift for anyone starting any type of calisthenics training but of calisthenics isn’t a priority then you won’t need a set of parallettes

This is the style I recommend: Parallettes click here

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *