Since a Pull Up Bar or Chin Up Bar are #7 on my list of How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym, I thought I would explain why and what you can do with one.

A Pull Up bar is a great addition to your exercise equipment for working the upper body. They sell simple door attachment pull up bars which simply hand off the frame of your door without any screws and without damaging your door frame. By performing a simple pull up, you give your entire upper body an effective workout. Whether it’s your biceps, triceps, or shoulder, you’ll feel your muscles getting a good workout.

The Advantages of using a Pull Up Bar

They sell all different variations of door hanging pull up bars, which don’t require you to screw anything into the wall or door, you simply hang it over the door frame. The set up is very quick and easy. Pull up bars offer even more workouts than just a simple pull up.

Some you are able to place on the floor of the door frame and you can perform sit-ups or you can work your triceps by performing dips. A simple pull up bar gives your entire upper body a great workout with a variety of exercises.

Pull Up Bar Safety

As always before you perform any workout be sure your stretch all your muscles. Be sure to learn the proper form and technique for each exercise you perform. Without stretch or performing the exercise in the wrong form can lead to muscle injuries or at least cause a least effective workout.

With pull up bars, before performing a pull up be sure the pull up bar is secure on the door frame, if you do not do this it can result in the bar slipping off the door frame and I’m sure you can imagine what happens next.

Each pull up bar is different, some offer numerous hand positions for your pull ups and chin ups, some allow you to perform dips and sits. I personally have the Iron Gym Pull Up Bar, you can read my review of it here. I am able to perform pull ups in three different gripping positions, I perform dips to work my triceps, sit ups to work my abs.

A Pull Up bar is a great piece of equipment to have for your home gym, like everything else of my How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym list, it adds a variety of exercises to your workouts. By mixing up your exercises, you will have much greater results.

Since Weighted Vests are #10 on my list of How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym, I thought I would explain why and what you can do with one.

After performing exercises over and over, you will get stronger and stronger. Soon those workouts won’t be as effective. So by adding a weight vest to your body, it will increase your overall body weight significantly increasing resistance to workouts. A weighted vest is a vest where you place small weights to it. By attaching the weights to your vest, it will increase endurance when performed in numerous exercises.

The workouts which are very common to wear a weighted vest once body weight is not enough anywhere are strength training and cardiovascular exercises.

Cardiovascular Workouts with a Weighted Vest

Safety always comes first and with weighted vest you must be cautious. Weighted vest are not for beginners, they are for those who could use more body weight when performing cardio and strength training exercise which involve your body weight.

Add the weights slowly, do not add 20 pounds of weight the very first time you use it. They are set up to place weights in the vest in small increments. Slowly increase the weight in the vest to avoid injury.

Cardiovascular Workouts with a Weighted Vest

Include…

• Running
• Walking
• Jump Rope
• Sprinting

Strength Training Workouts with a Weighted Vest

Include…

• Pull Ups
• Balance Trainer Exercises
• Squatting
• Dips
• Push Ups
• Crunches
• Sit Ups
• Planche

Your muscle will get stronger as you perform body weight exercises, just like increasing dumbbells weights, you want to increase your body weight. A Weight Vest is a great addition to your workout equipment. If you want to workout at home, I strongly suggest getting one, plus everything else on How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym.

An Exercise Mat is #6 on my list of How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym, because they are necessary, especially if the room you are going to exercise in has a hard floor.

When we exercise, it’s best to be as comfortable as possible. By performing exercises on a hard floor you can risk hurting yourself or even the floor with some exercise equipment. You always want to keep dumbbells and balance trainers on the exercise mat to keep from scratching the floor.

If you have carpet flooring, it is still recommend you use a exercise mat because when you work up a sweat while performing exercises, you want to limit home much sweat ends up in the carpet. You don’t want your carpet soaked in sweat, do you?

Exercise mats protect both the space in which you exercise and your health. They provide safety, comfort and leverage for improving your overall workout. Therefore, they are very important to have to get the most out of your workouts.

Since a Jump Rope are #7 on my list of How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym, I thought I would explain why and what you can do with one.

We’ve all heard of jump ropes before. You see kids playing jump rope out on their drive way during the summer months having a great time. But, did you know that a jump rope is one of the most beneficial exercises a person can do because it’s an unparalleled cardiovascular workout which will strengthen and tone your entire body!

The Advantages of using a Jump Rope

There are several advantages to performing jump rope exercises, some with surprise you. First off, using a jump rope is very easy to learn. You can tone your entire body by performing jump rope exercises.

Here comes the shock: Did you know you that you can burn up to 1000 calories an hour with jump rope exercises? It’s because you’re using all the major muscle groups in your entire body. You will burn an incredible amount of fat but simply performing jump exercises.

They are portable and very inexpensive. You can take a jump rope anywhere you go and use it anywhere you want. Makes finding a time and place to exercise much easier.

Jump Rope Workout

Here is a sample workout routine with a Jump rope. This is an H.I.I.T workout or High Intensity Interval Training.

The 15 Minute Jump Rope Workout

• Jump Rope for 3 minutes (warm up)
• Rest for 30 seconds
• Jump rope as quickly as possible for 60 seconds
• Rest for 30 seconds
• Jump Rope as quickly as possible for 60 seconds
• Rest for 30 seconds
• Repeat this alternating pattern for 15-20 minutes

This is just a sample workout you can perform with a jump rope. You can also add your own style to it, whether it’s running in place, jumping, etc. A jump rope are a fantastic piece of equipment to help burn calories and body fat. If you want to workout at home, I strongly suggest getting one, plus everything else on How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym.

Since a Balance Trainer is #5 on my list of How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym, I thought I would explain why and what you can do with them.

A Balance Trainer is great piece of equipment for working on your balance, core strength and stability. There are two sides to a Balance Trainer, the dome side and the platform. The dome side is great for exercises working on cardio to strength training. The platform side is great for core exercises. Both sides offer a variety of workouts and exercises.

The Advantages of Using a Balance Trainer

The balance trainer offers several advantages that no offer exercise equipment offers. By adding a balance trainer to your workouts, you will work on balance, core strength and stability, which require you to use more muscles in your body, increasing the effectiveness of each exercise.

When using a Balance Training, Remember these Tips

When first performing exercises on the balance trainer, you should add a contact point (a chair, wall, or bar) to keep your balance. Once the exercises become easier, then you should take away the contact point to create a more challenging exercise.

If you are getting sore using the balance trainer, take a break from it and use the floor. Then go back to the balance trainer when you’re ready.

Balance Trainer Exercises

A great tool for working on balance, stability and core strength is the balance trainer. Here are 5 exercises that you can perform on a balance trainer to work on those three.

1) Basic Stance

To perform the basic stance, stand on the dome side with both feet. Your feet should be on either side of the bull’s eye. By just standing on the dome, you’ll feel your feet moving and your torso contacting to find balance.

Once this becomes easier for you, try simply closing your eyes or lifting your arms.

2) Squats

To perform the squat on the balance trainer, stand on the dome side with your feet slightly forward of the center. Then, bend your knees and perform a squat by slowly descending down while keeping your back straight. Extend your arms straight out to help keep your balance. Once you reach as low as you can, push up with your legs. Don’t just stand up. Perform this exercise for 3 sets, with 10-12 each reps each.

3) Basic Crunch

To perform the basic crunch, sit down on the dome side of the balance trainer with your hops toward the bottom of the dome and your knees bent. Place your hands behind your head or even across your chest, then roll back until you feel your abs stretch. Then, by contracting your abs, curl up.  Perform this exercise for 3 sets, with 10-12 each reps each.

4) Ball Tilt

To perform the ball tilt, turn the balance trainer over and grab the handles on each side. The dome should be face down. Then get into a plank position on your toes. Then, keep the body in a straight line and without bending your arms, tilt the balance trainer forward and then bring it back. Perform this exercise for 3 sets, with 10-12 each reps each. After each 10-12 set, switch to your other side.

For a more difficult exercise, instead of just tilting the trainer back and forth, go in a circle. Rock it forward, right back, and the to the left.

5) V- Sit

The V-Sit is when you sit in the center or perhaps slightly forward on the dome. With hands on either side, keep your support. Then, lift your legs with the knees bend and balance keeping your torso straight and your shoulders relaxed. You should feel your abs tight. Hold this position for 25-30 seconds. You increase the difficulty of the v-sit, take your hands away from the sides and hold them straight out in front of you. Then, straighten your legs, adding a lower leg crunch.

These are just a few workouts that involve the balance trainer. There are plentty of others which involve dumbbells, resistance bands and medicine balls. These are just a few of the begginner exercises. Balance Trainers are a fantastic piece of equipment to have at your home to increase balance, stabilty, and core strength by increasing the number of muscles used in each workout and increasing the variety of workouts possible. If you want to workout at home, I strongly suggest getting one, plus everything else on How to Create an Inexpensive Home Gym.