During my almost 20 years as a personal trainer, I have been asked numerous times to help clients design & outfit their home gym. Taking into account their fitness goals, the available space and their budget, there are a number of ways to go.

When it comes to the strength training part of their gym, most people are usually looking for some form of multi-gym. They promise to give the most bang for the buck.

Along those lines, I was reading an article today about a new type of compact home gym called the Murphy Gym. Obviously, taking it’s inspiration from the original Murphy Bed, the Murphy Gym is a dual cable stack weight lifting station that folds away into it’s own custom made cabinet.

When it comes to multi-gyms, I have to agree, this one is a beauty.

There is a drawback. The price. The Murphy gym sells for $3,495, plus the cost of installation (about $200); That is for the base unit. In the picture immediately above, the cabinetry is all custom work, which costs extra. For those of you who have recently renovated their homes, you know that custom cabinetry doesn’t come cheap.

Now, for those of you that want Champagne quality fitness equipment for a Wine Cooler price, look no further.

Disclaimer: I have no connection whatsoever with any of the products that I will mention in this post.

This is simply equipment that my clients & I have found success with.

For the last 3 years, I have been using Jump Stretch fitness bands with all of my clients. As an in-home personal trainer, that satisfy almost all of my needs. They are portable, light weight, durable and effective.

For those of you that don’t have access to a personal trainer or even a workout partner, there will be some exercises where you will need to attach the band to an immovable object.

In this video, JS band rows are performed in a gym, with the band attached to a power rack.

How many of you have a power rack in your basement?

To recreate this exercise in your home, all you need to do is install a safety grab bar or a handrail (like a ballet barre) or purchase a pre-built Mini-Gym package.

I have also had a client build an outdoor gym by screwing eyebolts into the 4×4 post that he had used to mount a basketball net. That set-up is similar to the $2300 core-pole.

The cost of this DIY Home Gym: $50 for the handrail & hardware and $170 for a full set of bands.

Grand Total: $220

JumpStretch distributors here.

Hope this helps. In future posts, I will be providing band specific workouts.

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