Free Weight and Weight Benches for an Effective Home Gym

A set of free weight and weight benches is just about all you need for an effective home gym. There are options for a packaged bench weight set (dumbbells and barbell included with the bench), but these are typically low quality. The best way to build a home gym around free weights and a weight bench is to simply shop around for a good pair of dumbbells, and Olympic bar, and a solid adjustable weight bench.

Free Weights: What to Choose

Depending on the size of your home fitness room and your budget, you can choose an adjustable dumbbell set or a set of fixed weight dumbbells. If you’re limited in space, quick change dumbbells such as the Powerblocks would be suitable. However, if you have a large home gym, then a dumbbell set like the ones you would find in a health club can be an option.

A barbell can be excellent free weight exercise equipment as well. But again, if you don’t have the space or budget, a quick change dumbbell set is all you need. Keep in mind that with a barbell, you’ll need to purchase additional weight plates as well.

Weight Benches

There are generally two types of weight benches. An adjustable weight bench and a fixed position weight bench. The advantage of an adjustable weight bench is that you get an all in one bench that can adjust to different angles, eliminated the need to purchase a flat bench, incline bench, and decline bench. Most adjustable weight benches typically only adjust from flat to incline; however, there are adjustable benches that do change from flat, incline and decline. Another advantage is that since you don’t need all these benches, you’ll save on space and money.

If you plan on using a barbell, there is weight benches that have a barbell rack attached. This is alright, but for the sake of versatility, a power rack combined with a weight bench is a more effective combination.

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