When investing your hard-earned money, you want to look for the highest quality home gym equipment you can afford. Why? Because if you purchase the right pieces, they will work flawlessly over the years and even outlive you.
So, what are some things to avoid when looking to purchase home gym equipment? Here are five things you should look for and consider before making a purchase.
#1 Low-Quality Materials
The first thing we should focus on is the materials used on home gym equipment as they can vary greatly. Plastic, metal, and rubber are all commonly used materials. You're going to want to focus on materials that are thick and strong to provide you with a lifetime of use without breaking.
Unfortunately, much of what you see in ads and on infomercials are not made with the best materials that are designed to last. Additionally, many of them are gimmicky and not ideal for building a home gym.
#2 Poor Construction
To keep home gym equipment in one piece, welds are generally used to attach various parts. A quick and easy way to know if attention to detail was made in a particular piece of home gym equipment is to look at the beads used. If they run the full length and are solid without cracks, it’s safe to say that you should have a solid and quality piece of equipment in front of you.
Have you ever got on a piece of equipment and if you didn’t know any better, you swore you were on a rocking chair? The machine was wobbly and moved back and forth and from side to side. Stay away from these pieces of equipment as the construction is of poor quality and things are not aligning properly.
That said, the piece could have adjustable legs that allow you to level it on your floor. If so, adjust them so the piece of home gym equipment is level and stable.
#3 Equipment That Sticks or Rubs in Areas
When looking for a good piece of home gym equipment, you want something that is fluid and does not have any sticking points or rubs in various areas that would cause the piece to slowly break down over time. The movement of the equipment should be fluid without any sticking points or snags.
#4 Adjustability
Are you 6’8” or 5’2”? Maybe somewhere in-between? A given piece of home gym equipment will not fit all sizes – therefore, it needs to have adjustability. For instance, on a spin bike, you’re going to want adjustability on the seat where you can raise or lower it to allow the proper bend in your knees (the same goes for the handlebars).
The Ativafit indoor cycle is the ultimate when it comes to adjustability. You can move the seat and handlebars up and down to accommodate various heights while the 35lb flywheel is smooth and quiet. It even has wheels on the front which allow you to easily move the bike into position for use and roll it away for storage when done with your workout.
#5 Ergonomics
Another area that separates a quality piece of home gym equipment from an inferior is its ergonomics. How does it move in relation to your body and mechanics? If a certain piece of equipment isn’t comfortable or doesn’t match the way your body structure is set, you’re not going to use it and therefore wasted your money.
Dumbbells are one piece of equipment that seems to have a Goldilocks effect. Grab a pair of dumbbells and you either love them or hate them based on the grip texture and how they fit in your hand.
AtivaFit thought of it all when it comes to adjustable dumbbells. Not only do you get small weight adjustability (as mentioned in #5), but you also get soft and comfortable contoured grips that fit your hand and won’t give you callouses (even when you’re not wearing gloves).
#6 Buying Home Gym Equipment You Won’t Use or Need
Be selective with the home gym equipment you decide to purchase. There’s no need to go out and buy everything under the sun – especially if you have no plans of using it. If you buy a jump rope but have no intention of using it, nor have used one in the past, all it’s going to do is sit there and take up space in your home.
Focus on the staples such as a quality piece of cardio equipment, some adjustable dumbbells, and a sturdy bench to utilize during workouts and allow for more exercise diversity. From those three pieces, you have everything you need to target every muscle group in the body effectively.