Whether your too busy or can't afford a gym right now, there are so many ways to make home a great place to workout. If you live in an area with nice weather, you can take a lot of this equipment outside with you! This are the must have's that have changed my at-home workouts.
1. Not one but TWO sets of dumbells
Hear me out...have you ever tried to workout your arms with the same dumbells you've been using for your legs?? It can be hard! Different parts of your body need different weights. Having two sets of dumbells is so important to be able to do a variety of exercises. I have a pair of 5 pound dumbbells and a pair of 15 pound dumbbells. I use the 5 pound dumbbells for more bootcamp-like exercises, like zumba. I use the 15 pound dumbbells for most of my arm workouts and use them for my leg workouts as well (although not that often, because it's not that great of a workout!) I would recommend starting with 2 pound and 5 pound dumbbells (that's what I started with!)
2. Resistance bands
Resistance bands are a necessity at any at-home gym. They're great for doing a lot of leg moves, you can use them for squat walks, bridges, wall-sits squats! There are so many moves that look easy until you add a resistance band. There are also the long, thin resistance bands that I use for pull-ups. You can do a lot of moves with those including bicep curls, shoulder press... And the best part is they're super cheap!
3. A Stepper
Having a stepper at home has improved my at home workout game so much! It's made a huge difference! Sure I could use furniture for some of these moves...but having a stepper is convenient because I don't have to dirty up furniture and I can adjust it to the exact height that I want. I use it to do a wide range of moves including elevated split squats, step ups, chest press, reverse fly and so much more! I got mine from Amazon for about $20, so they're not too pricey either!
4. Jump Rope
One day I randomly decided to buy a jump rope for $3 from Target's website and WOW I can't believe how hard it is! It's seriously one of the best cardio workouts and a great warm up. I get more tired from jumping rope for a minute than I do from running a mile! I used to love doing it as a kid, but it's so much more of a workout as an adult, and I promise it's a great tool to have to warm up in a pinch.
5. Pull-up Bar
Pull-ups evaded me for two years. Why? I was never comfortable enough to work on them in the gym because I knew they were awful. Having a pull-up bar at home has made a huge difference. I can tell you that I went from being able to do 1 pull up without the bar to being able to do 5, which is a lot for me. You can still add a resistance band to an at-home pull-up bar, and they conveniently go over a door. Highly recommend getting a pull-up bar for home if it's something you want to work on!