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Great, you want to start working out at home and build your own home gym.
Fantastic! Let me help you find the 9 best home gym equipment for beginners in 2023 you will need to get started.
As you go through the list, please keep in mind that I wasn't able to buy all of these pieces in one go either and rather build up my garage gym over time, as some of these pieces can be rather expensive.
I sourced many of my garage gym equipment either second hand, or through Black Friday deals, etc.
Please do not be tempted to buying a cheap “Multi Gym” as I did when I first started out… In my opinion, they are simply not worth it.
My advice would be to invest your money into the first pieces of equipment I mention below and my number 1 of all time favorites…the humble yet super effective Barbell!
Here is the list of the 9 Best Home Gym Equipment For Beginners in 2023
Starter Pack
1. Barbell
A standard olympic barbell typically weighs 20kg, fits 2” weight plates and is 7ft (about 220cm) tall.
It’s the best possible piece of equipment you can buy to start your home gym, as together with some olympic weight plates, it will allow you to train your upper and lower body, perform some complex and challenging lifts, but most importantly…if you are a beginner, most of the basic compound lifts anyone should learn are performed with a barbell.
Do not be tempted to purchase the 1” little cousin of the olympic barbell.
As you progress with your workouts and the weight you are going to be able to lift in time, you want a barbell that can last for a very long time and that can grow with you.
The temptation is to simply by the cheapest first and replace this when you need to.
The problem is that everything else you need, will need to fit that 1" bar and will eventually need to be replaced, when you do “upgrade” to the 2” bar.
So trust me when I say, you will be best to go for the proper olympic barbell right from the start.
You don’t necessarily need to go for the most expensive either and can also shop around online for a bargain.
My recommendations are these Titan Barbells below.
There are some solid barbell for beginners and experienced lifters alike, which all can handle anything you throw at it for a lifetime of lifting weights. For a beginner however, the Titan Economy Olympic Barbell would be a great pick and will last you a lifetime.
2. Weights
This one is simple really… you will need to buy some olympic weights to put on your bar, but you do have some options here.
You can go really expensive or super cheap…At the end of the day, it’s your choice.
I have been using my cast iron olympic plates for years and these are the cheapest weights you can possibly find. They’re great and I can do all of my lifts with them without problems.
However, if I was doing anything that would allow me to drop the bar from a height onto the floor, I would invest in some rubber coated weight plates to protect my floor.
This is where your personal preference will come into account and you will need to make a choice on what your style of workout (…and your budget) will allow you to purchase for your home gym.
Sometimes you can find amazing package deals online, or in your local gym equipment store that will have a barbell and weights included for a great price.
If you can’t afford a full set, do what others have done in the past and start with just the bar and a couple of weight plates that you could afford.
There is no shame in building up to a full set and if you are a beginner, a couple of 10kg or 15kg plates will give you a good starting point.
Find my top picks from Titan below.
If I was able to afford them, I would definitely go for the calibrated steel plates that are just cool and what you would see in most commercial gyms.
However, for most of us the cast iron plates are going to do the trick. Just do not drop them on the floor from a height as they will break whatever you will drop them on for sure!
3. Power/Squat Rack
Great, we have a bar and some weights. Now you will need a squat rack to safely perform some of your lifts.
Keep in mind though that any rack you’ll get, will take up a significant portion of gym space, as some of them are rather large and that is to allow you to do overhead presses without hitting the bar on the top of the rack for example and allow you to do pull ups properly too.
Without the safety of a squat rack however, you could seriously injure yourself when performing a bench press, or a number of other exercises like a squat.
The number of benefits of owning a squat rack vastly outway the space you are giving up for it.
You can go smaller and use a half rack, wall mounted rack, or just some squat stands.
There are even some really clever folding squat racks out there like the Titan T-3 and X-3 versions below that simply fold into the wall they are attached to and give you back a large portion of your floor space.
Some of my recommendations are below.
I would personally always go back to the safety of the squat rack though, as I mainly workout alone in my garage gym and like knowing that if I max out my lift and go to failure, I have the safety of the squat rack to keep me from hurting myself and catch the bar if I fail to perform the last rep.
A bruised ego is better than a broken back.
For that reason I would recommend the T-2 from Titan because it's the best value and is rated to withstand a 850lb weight! One hell of a bargain at $379.97.
4. Bench
No gym would be complete without a good workout bench. A good bench will elevate your workout to another level.
However, not all benches are made equal…
I had my share of some really bad and cheap benches in the past that have wobbled while I was performing a bench press for example, taking my attention away from what I was doing and forcing me to concentrate on not dropping the bar while what felt like balancing on one of those big inflatable gym balls.
You want a bench that can hold a lot of weight comfortably without any wobbling, ie. your own weight, plus the weight you are going to be lifting.
So if the bench is rated for 90kg and you already weigh 70kg, that bench could only manage another 20kg. This would mean you and an olympic barbell…without any weights on either side…
So you see the bench in that example is just not going to cut it for anyone's long term goals.
Invest in a good bench that can move from flat to 90 degrees at least and if possible, also allows for decline movements too.
It should have a load capacity of at least 200-300kg and should be sturdy when you perform your movements. If it has wheels to allow for easily moving it around the gym that would be a bonus but shouldn’t be a dealbreaker.
My bench has lasted me for over 10 years now, so investing in a good bench will be worth it in the long run.
Some of my recommendations are below.
My top pick would be the Titan Incline Bench V3, as it will provide you with more than just a flat bench, for those of you that want to do any kind of include movements too. For $159.99, it's a brilliant bench that is stable and can keep up with anything you throw at it.
5. Dumbbells
Cast Iron, adjustable, plate loaded, rubber hex dumbbells… the list of dumbbell types is endless.
If you can’t afford a set just yet, second hand dumbbells are perfectly fine, as most dumbbells will withstand any punishment that a gym will throw at them.
I would always recommend to start with a 5kg, 10kg and 15kg set if your budget allows it. This will give you the opportunity to do a vast number of accessory workouts that require dumbbells and will be plenty for a beginner.
Once you feel like progressing, you can too move onto buying more, rather than breaking the bank straight from the start.
I would also recommend adjustable dumbbells to anyone who has a garage gym, as these provide some amazing space savings.
Stay away from the Bowflex type of dumbbells though, as they don’t reduce in width, which can make some exercises difficult. If you purchase one that I recommend, you will not be disappointed.
Have a look at my top dumbbell picks below.
I started with a set of budget cast iron plate loaded dumbbells that did the trick for me and went up to 20kg I think. They would do in a pinch today, and are similar to the Loadable 20" versions here from Titan, but I have since invested in a set of hex dumbbells which is what I would recommend to anyone if you have the money to invest.
Like I said before, you can start of with a couple of smaller weights and get more when you progress with your workouts.
6. Bands
Anyone who thinks that you don’t need a set of bands in the gym, is truly mistaken.
I use my bands almost daily, if it's for a warm up routine, or for making a particular movement harder.
For example… If you purchase a rack that allows you to attach bands to it, you can make your squat harder without adding more weight to the bar.
Simply attach a band on either side of the rack and to the barbell. Now you have increased the tension of the movement when going up, making the squat even harder for you.
If you are struggling with a pull-up and want to do an assisted pull-up to start, you can also use a band to help you with that too.
Bands are a great way to push you through a training plateau, or when you are looking for ways to make movements harder for yourself (safely), as this will induce your muscle to grow and will challenge you at the sametime.
My two favourites Titan bands are shown below are going to be listes here shortly.
Some resistance bands are just thin rubber that will help for some people with what they need, but if you want to use them for weight lifting and assisting you with your lifts, by either helping you with your pull-ups, or making your workouts harder by using them to add resistance... well then these Titan resistance bands are a must have.
You could start with the simple Loop Multip Pack, but for roughly $15 more you can get the proper heavy duty bands from Titan which would be my personal recommendation for sure.
7. Cables
Once you progress through your beginners workout routine, you will find that you will require cables to help you execute some movements like the popular triceps pushdown, or a lat pulldown.
If you have the space and more importantly, the space…
I would always recommend you invest in a cable machine to help you perform those movements.
After many years of not owning one, I was finally able to purchase a cable machine for my home gym two years ago and have not looked back since.
Here are my recommendations on which I would buy if I had the budget for it from the start.
However, I understand that not everyone has that kind of money lying around to start off with… So what do you do if an exercise calls for a cable movement?
Simple, you use a cable pulley system that can be attached to your power rack.
So what is my recommndation here for you?
The Titan Lat Tower attachment system comes in two versions, which are either compatible with the short or the tall T-3 or X-3 Series Power Racks mentioned previously.
Another great alternative are the wall mounted pulley options from Titan that come in two sizes, short and tall. This will allow you to not only perform lat pulldowns and low rows, but a whole range of cable movements such as flys for example.
However, my top pic for anyone starting off and wants to start as cheap as possible, is a simple pulley system that you can attach to your rack or any type of pull up bar, or even a joist in your home.
Your budget will dictate what you can afford and what you are going to buy of course. If you have the budget, I would go with the Titan T-3/X-3 Short or Tall Lat Tower attachment, which is not only a great home gym option in terms of quality and versatility, but also safes a ton of space...which is what most of us don't have to spare.
8. Pull-Up Bar
The best possible workout you can do and I do these daily every morning, is pull-ups.
A pull-up is the bread and butter of workouts and should be part of your routine for sure.
A pull-up bar can be sourced for very cheap these days, but just make sure you don’t buy the ones that you can screw in between your door or hook into your door frame… not all doors are built equal and therefore you could end up on the floor after the bar comes loose!
…yes…also happened to me and I ate the bar too… that was a fun thing to explain to my friends.
Invest in a bar that you can actually attach to the wall, or if you can purchase a power rack that has a pull-up attachment, even better!
I have 3 veriations shown below which are a great addition to any home gym, in which their power rack does not already has a pull-up bar built into it.
If I would require a pull-up bar only, I would go with the Titan Wall-Mounted Pull-Up bar, as I prefer a straight bar to do pull-up on and personally never use the other veriations available on my power rack that has a multi grip pull-up bar built into it that is very similar to the Titan 48-in Wall Mounted Multi Pull-Up Bar shown above.
...but of course...that just my persoanl preference...
9. Starter Package
This starter pack from Titan is definitely worth checking out when you are looking for a complete starter pack that will only require a few weight plates to be added to it…which would make this starter pack almost perfect!
You have the safety of a power rack with the Titan T-2 series, which has a pull-up bar already built into it, saving you having to buy that separately!
The barbell is a great first buy too, as already mentioned above, the Economy Barbell would be my personal first pick, as for a home gym it will last you a lifetime and you can always upgrade once you outgrow this one.
And lastly, even though I personally would prefer a bench that can also incline, the Titan Flat Weight Bench is another great starting point and a lovely addition to this starter pack.
It’s an overall great first buy for anyone and I would highly recommend this to anyone starting off, saving you having to shop around, as you are getting a really solid set of equipment here in this set that will even outlast you.
Summary
I hope this post will help you out on your path of creating your perfect home gym, doesn't matter if its in the garage, or in a spare room somewhere...
Keep in mind, not all of these pieces of equipment aren't needed straight away and you can build up to a fully equipped gym over time.
Also, the majority of gym equipment doesn't lose its value over time, as weight plates are weight plates and will always perform their job no matter how rusty they might get.
So financially you will be investing in something that won't lose you a much money (...might even return a profit) and you will certainly be investing in your health!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which can provide compensation to me at no cost to you if you decide to purchase any product or service from our affiliate partners. These are products I’ve personally used, tested and can stand behind. This site is for entertainment only. You can read our affiliate disclosure in our privacy policy.
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