I want a home gym

MScofield9

That's great, thank you. Yeah the black ones are cheaper, but I wanted the orange ones! I'll make sure to use that.

Also, has anyone used resistance bands before? Just looking around for cheap gym bits. I'm not too sure what's best for beginners, so I'm just exploring options atm

JGreenwood

You're welcome 

Grumpy_chap

MScofield9 said:

I really want to lose some weight and whilst financially a subscription to the gym would probably work out cheaper, I don't have the confidence to go to the gym.

I'm on the larger side, it's fair to say, and I don't feel confident to put my body on show at the gym, or make a fool of myself. I wondered if anyone else has set up their own home gym because of this? I'm not sure what basics I need to buy or where to get them? Can anyone help please?

What type of equipment did you plan to buy when you say "home gym"?

You have mentioned dumbells a couple of times, and you also mentioned resistance bands.  These types of equipment will help you build muscle more so than lose weight. Possibly in a focused / narrow areas.

One of the best pieces of equipment you can buy is a yoga mat as, whatever exercise you do, it will make it easier to do stretching before and after exercise so helps preventing injury.

If the objective is to lose weight, that totally boils down to ensuring you run a calorie deficit.  That can be monitored using free apps available for the phone - I use MyFitnessPal and very it very helpful.  If you have a fitness tracker of any kind it is often possible to link the data to MyFitnessPal and increase the accuracy of the calorie deficit calculation.

A fitness tracker can be helpful as it will allow you to track your level of activity and set targets for increasing your activity level.

To lose weight, the exercise part will need to be more cardio activities - walking, jogging, running, cycling, rowing, skipping, stair-climbing etc.  You can take part in several of these activities for free, and with varying levels of organisation in terms of events.  If you decide you wish to invest in equipment to facilitate this type of training, the space you have will only accommodate one or two items as a permanent feature so you need to decide what it is you wish to have.  There are some options available that offer multi-feature configurations and also some options that are fold-up.

Before buying anything, it is worth trying things out. 
I understand your comments about not wanting to visit a gym, but could you consider a free trial day at a gym (offered as a prospective member), or a session at a pay-as-you-go gym?  That would give you the opportunity to try things out so you know which exercise equipment you like (or don't like) so you can be sure that if you chose to buy anything, you will at least enjoy using it.  (Free trial days may even have a personal trainer that can talk you through things, show how different items should be used and which items will achieve most effect most quickly.)

If you really can't face that, there are now quite a lot of outdoor gyms in parks where you could try out different types of equipment to see what you like more or less than others.  You won't find everything there, though - I've never seen a treadmill, for example.

Finally, when you do reach the point of buying some equipment, don't totally discard the idea of second-hand items.  Much of it is "as new" because people buy equipment with all the best intentions, use it twice and then leave it gathering dust.

Hope that helps.  Good luck on your journey

Murphybear

Have you thought about swimming?  It’s one of the best forms of exercise for people who are unfit/overweight or who have joint problems.  Before you go into panic mode, by the time you get into the water no one will notice you.  I’m speaking from experience.  

I lost 5 stone over the last year by following a low carb diet.  There’s no calorie counting or weighing food and the weight usually comes off quicker than it does on other diets.  

strawb_shortcake

A bit late to the thread but there is so much you can do for free or very little without buying expensive kit. 

You tube has lots of free videos, I used to the kettlebell classes which were great. 

I know it's hard but don't let your confidence put you off too much, couch to 5k I found really helpful, I was rather large at the time and was never judged. Also Parkrun I'd incredibly friendly, I'm a very slow runner but always made to feel welcome and the encouragement from others has massively boosted my confidence.

billy2shots

As a gym rat the best thing I ever did was buy my own equipment 12 years ago. The money and time saved on not going to a commercial gym is massive. Power rack, barbell, dumbbells. 

That being said, I use my equipment 3 times a week with very few missed sessions. Make sure you will commit and it's a no brainer. 

-You don't need a heater. My garage and weights are freezing in the winter, big deal. Get over it. Get some lifting gloves, put a jumper on and wear a hat. If the cold puts you off, you will not commit to a gym membership. 

-weights are for building muscle not losing fat. Wrong

Consuming too many calories adds fat. Exercise (of any kind) burns calories. 
Cardio and and resistance training (weights) have their place but of the two, personally resistance training is more important. Here's why -

Losing fat (that's what your trying to do). Very few people try to lose muscle so weight loss is the wrong term. Fat loss is correct. 
So how do you lose fat but not muscle. It's simple (although many will have you believe otherwise). Eat enough protein 1g per Lb of body weight if you're leanish, 0.75g per Lb if overweight and use those muscles you want to preserve i.e all of them by lifting weights. 

The key is energy in (calories) Vs energy out (exercise and general just living). A calorie deficit will see 'weight loss' but your body will ditch muscle fast and will prioritise that over fat. That's why you need to keep protein consumption high and use your muscles. You're telling your body that you need those muscles so concentrate on the fat loss please. 
Look at runners and cyclists (athletes) No fat on them true, but they look ill and unhealthy because they carry very little muscle as well. 

Train 3 times a week. Full body workouts

3 sets for chest, rep ranges anywhere from 8-12

3 sets for back, reps as above

3 sets for legs, reps 10-15

2 seats for shoulders reps 10-12

2 sets for bi's and Tri's if you really have to, really not important at this stage. Reps 10-12

Aim to improve from session to session as in, add an extra rep onto sets or if you reach the higher rep range, add a bit more weight to the bar and start at the lower rep range next time out. You will need to record your sessions. 

Don't be a lunatic (80% of gym goers) who just repeat the same reps/ weight week in week out with no progression. Progress is key!



Running is a no no for you if you're overweight as that's asking for injuries. Swimming is a no no because you are already self conscious in clothes. 

Fat loss is 90% achieved in the kitchen, 10% by being more active. You can't outwork a poor diet. Use MyFitnessPal to track your calorie consumption (include drinks, can't believe people ignore this). Find out your maintenance calories, the amount you need to exist by not losing or gaining weight and subtract 500/750 calories a day off of this. Do not go extreme as this is a marathon not a sprint. 
As you lose fat, your weight loss will stall. You need to then subtract another 300/500 calories to get it going again. Like lifting weights you have to make progress here. Your body wants to remain in a steady state with as little change as possible. You need to make it adapt.
 Don't worry this will take months until you need to worry about that. 

Aim for 1.5lb-2lb loss a week. 

2lb a week for 6 months is 52lb!!!!

No need to lose 7lb a week for 2 weeks (it is doable) then give up because you have no energy or overdid it. 

Consistency is key. 

Daz2009

As you're overweight I'd begin with either an exercise bike,a treadmill or a rowing machine.
There's literally thousands of used ones for sale on Facebook,Gumtree and eBay.
Do your research, there's a lot of rubbish about.
I just paid £70 for a Reebok bike that cost £400 new.

MrsStepford

Lidl has a rowing machine for 99.99 from 17/08/23 ! Also resistance bands, knee supports, gym clothes. 

jerryjerry

I do some exercises, mostly yoga, in the kids' room because there is a little more space there. I don't think we need too much space to start exercising.

Pollycat

Just to point out that the original poster asked this question on 3rd March and has not logged back on since that day.
Necropost.