Working out at home is an incredible time-saver and an empowering daily routine for busy entrepreneurs. Luckily, having space for a full gym is not a necessity to get your gains. All you need is a clean corner and some small, essential pieces of home gym equipment.

The following list of essential home gym equipment comes from Dr. Gregg Pugh — a chiropractor and health consultant who is an absolute genius when it comes to biohacking to optimize physical performance. Check out his Insta for daily biohacking tips and epic tips on how to workout at home.

Whether you have an at-home workout routine you want to take to the next level, or don't have one yet but are fired up and ready to start, here is the best home gym equipment to purchase ASAP…

1. Kettlebells

These are a great tool for any home gym, they add completely different stress compared to dumbbells and barbells. They are a great alternative to the much larger alternatives barbells and dumbbells, with kettlebells, you just need one weight in order to recreate the same heart rate stress you’d get from a five-minute run. Kettlebells also add a completely different load on your core making them a great whole-body exercise tool. There is nothing quite like a kettlebell exercise routine to get that whole body workout in such a short period of time.

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2. BFR Bands

BFR or Blood flow restriction training is a great thing to add to your arsenal at home if you're looking to maintain or even build muscle, regulate hormones and/or speed up recovery from a pre-existing injury. These bands act like tourniquets around the legs and arms, which adds a much larger metabolic stress on the muscles and tissues being exercised whilst only using bodyweight or lighter weights. BFR training has been shown to be as effective as heavy lifting when it comes to muscle hypertrophy, strength gains, bone development and hormone upregulation, whilst using almost half the weight. Hence, if you have any joint arthritis this would be a great alternative to heavy lifting. These bands are also super easy to transport so great for travel and holidays.

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3. Ab Wheel

The Ab wheel is by far one of the best pieces of home gym equipment you can buy if you're looking to strengthen your core at home in a much more functional way than a sit-up. Sit-ups train your abdominals to flex the spine whereas an ab wheel trains your core in anti-extension of the spine which is a key component when it comes to spinal stability. This is why I use an ab wheel 3-4 a week and you should too. You can also use it for bicep curls and tricep extension if paring it with a mobility band.

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4. Foam Roller/Massage Ball

Both foam rollers and massage balls are a must for anyone who suffers with any musculoskeletal issues. It's like having your own personal massage therapist or chiropractor on hand at any time, if you know how to utilize them properly. They are great for breaking up fascial adhesions/ increasing blood and lymph flow as well as helping increase spinal mobility. They also travel really well because they are lightweight and fit into any suitcase.

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5. Gym Ball

The old fashioned gym ball may seem a bit outdated, but you would be wrong. It's still a great piece of kit to add to any home gym because of the effects it has on your core and surrounding muscles. Even though it's not very portable it makes up for it because of its versatility when it comes to the number of exercises you can perform. Multiple exercises can be performed with a gym ball from squats, planks and even bench presses, each one being made even harder due to the fact it's on a labial (unsteady) surface. This means it's great for increasing core stability as well as adding additional stressors to the stabilising muscles around the joint you're exercising.

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6. Pull Up Bar

Pulling based exercises are one of the hardest to perform at home without the use of some piece of equipment. These muscles are also very commonly ignored during home workouts and often become underdeveloped leading to back pain and rotator cuff dysfunction. For these reasons alone it's a must-have for any home gym set up, and if you think you can't do a pull up so don't need one, think again. All you need is just a mobility band (mentioned early) and you have a great 1-2 combo to help increase your pulling power and support you as your performance increases. A pull up bar also increases grip strength which has also been shown numerous times to be linked with longevity and overall health and wellbeing.

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7. Suspension Training/TRX Training

Finally but no means lastly the TRX or suspension training equipment as I mentioned early pulling and back muscles tend to be neglected with home workouts but not with suspension training. This simple but effective design takes not only pulling exercise but all over body workouts and makes them challenging and fun. The instability of the cables adds further stress to your core and key stabilizing muscles, so if you can afford this piece of home gym equipment I would highly recommend adding to your home gym set up, your body will thank you in the long run.

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