Five Pieces of Workout Equipment Everyone Should Own

It’s proven that working out benefits you physically, but did you know it also benefits your mood, which can boost your energy? Getting a good workout is sometimes the last thing on your to-do list. Sure, we all love attending a Barre or Pilates class when we can, but sometimes life gets in the way and you’re sitting in traffic longer than usual, meetings get scheduled or you have to take the kids to soccer practice.

A helpful way to make time for daily exercise is to have simple workout equipment at home. You don’t have to have big machines or a home gym to make working out at home effective.

We’ve found the five pieces of workout equipment everyone should own, so you can exercise even when your free time is limited.

Equipment Options and How to Use Them

First, a good workout isn’t possible without good, comfortable shoes and a great music playlist. With your feet and ears happy, you’ll start your workout on the right foot.

For those not familiar with these colored bands, they are useful for daily workout regimens and rehabilitation exercises. Resistance bands come in various lengths and sizes, color-coded by strength and level of stretch. From squats, leg curls, seated rows and more, these bands can be used for numerous exercises. Check out this guide for using resistance bands.

Jump Rope

Dust off those scrunchies and legwarmers: the jump rope is back. This simple playground classic offers great health benefits at home, strengthening muscles in both the upper and lower body and offering a sweat-inducing cardio workout. Jumping rope may put pressure on joints, so be cautious if you have weak knees or ankles. However, with proper form, jumping rope can have less of an impact on joints than jogging.

Stability Ball

A stability ball – an exercise or fit ball – is a great item to add to your home gym. Because of the unstable surface, you have to work harder to maintain tight core and back muscles during normal routines like ab workouts and stretching.

Exercise Mat

An exercise or yoga mat is important to protect your back from pressure when performing ab exercises, floor work or general stretching.

Dumbbells or Kettlebells

Dumbbells or kettlebells are easy to add to your workout when doing lunges, squats, crunches and more. Try having a range of weights on hand to use depending on the area of the body you’re targeting. Even lifting small three- or five-pound weights on a regular basis can help develop healthier muscle tone.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money or have a lot of storage space to work out at home. If you can’t make it to a class at the gym, these five pieces of equipment will help keep your body in tip-top shape.