Home gym

[killersheep]

I am in process of building a home gym,
I am going to include a tread mill, a speed bag, heavy bag
some dumbbells and room to jump rope....
Is there anything that is essential to add?

[hydroman19]

Well find a spot for the double end bag/crazy ball... still my favorite one to do.

[Dizaster]

That's a pretty good start.
Boxing related stuff is easy to figure out what you need.

In regards to the weights side of thing, as long as you've got a bunch of dumbells, you'll get buy..

I bought 2 cheap sets where you get like 100 lbs of weights and 2 dumbells. It really helps having 2 sets of dumbells as you can have them both set at different weights and it cuts out most of the getting on hand and knees every couple of minutes to change weights...
A barbell isn't really necesary.

In regards to equipment, I think minimum is best. A bench press basically is your main thing. It really only needs to be a small bench without the barbell holder. You'll pick one up for around $50. I find benching with dumbells is much nicer with a boxing background and your arms have more of a free range of motions, so you can rotate the dumbells slightly and you use a lot more of the smaller connecting muscles to balance the weight on the way up on down... Which is great. Fancy machines take this away and you can really only get 60-70% of the workout on a machine as you can with free weights... So don't get seduced by any of the big $300 plus machines.. You can work all the same muscles with free weights, probably more productively,,, and definetly cheaper!

From there my only other peice of equipment i'd consider essential is a chin & dip station/bar... If you can chin and dip like a pro, you'll always have upper body strength. Simple... If you only did these 2 exercises alone and absolutely nothing else, you'll still develop great arms and shoulders, chest...

I've met some very fit and professional (natural) bodybuilders and this is all they have also... It's the steroid heads that need 5 different exercises per muscle or limb..

I'm really dying for a treadmill or exercise bike... I feel great after a morning run, but on the colder mornings i'd love to stay inside and watch a bit of tv while exercising.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents on the home gym thing... The aim of setting up a home gym is to really just stay focused on your goals, and don't buy into hype over a bunch of fancy things that you really can do without..

[Canvasback]

A mirror you can shadowbox in front of. Hand mitts if you have some to train with.

[voodoo_dude]

I agree with the double end bag but apart from boxing equip. how bout a power tower(pull/chin ups, dips, knee raises).

[Trainer Monkey]

Well find a spot for the double end bag/crazy ball... still my favorite one to do.

Actually depending on the stand you have,you can switch out the heavy bag and the double end bag on the same stand

[Scrap]

Do what Chuck Norris does get a Total Gym good gear Treadmill will give you bad knees.

[killersheep]

Do what Chuck Norris does get a Total Gym good gear Treadmill will give you bad knees.

What about an elliptical machine? I've heard those aren't as bad for your knees.

[Scrap]

Killer im not a fan of ellipticall trainers they dont do a lot to get you fit or flexable. Skip or run for condition, or curciuts something i hate is when training there being no clock, any type is a must.

[killersheep]

Killer im not a fan of ellipticall trainers they dont do a lot to get you fit or flexable. Skip or run for condition, or curciuts something i hate is when training there being no clock, any type is a must.

Thanks for your recommendation.

[AdamGB]

Personally I would have (ideally)

A HEAVY Bag, a Double end bag, a mat for floor exercises, a Pull up bar and something to do dips from, an array of medicine balls, a lat pull down machine, weights + bench and a rowing machine.

And a pair of trainers + pavement! :P

[LUCKY_13]

My Godfather has a good setup.

Equipment:
Heavy Bag
Speedball
Floor-To-Ceiling Bag
Adjustable Bench
Multi-Purpose Stand (Chinups, Dips, Knee Lifts, Pullups)
Treadmill
Water-Resistant Rower
Pec Deck
Weights Rack
Barbell
Dumbells
Curl Bar
Mat Area
Skipping Rope
Ankle/Wrists Weights

Accessories:
TV
DVD Player
Stereo System
Towel Rack
Mirrors
Bar Fridge
Sports Timer

I think I got it all right. Not saying you need all of this. My Godfather is a Real Estate Mogul and has too much money to spend. His gym was advised and setup by a sports company.
If I had the money I'd get pretty much the same stuff. So this is just an idea for what other stuff you might like.

[killersheep]

My Godfather has a good setup.

Equipment:
Heavy Bag
Speedball
Floor-To-Ceiling Bag
Adjustable Bench
Multi-Purpose Stand (Chinups, Dips, Knee Lifts, Pullups)
Treadmill
Water-Resistant Rower
Pec Deck
Weights Rack
Barbell
Dumbells
Curl Bar
Mat Area
Skipping Rope
Ankle/Wrists Weights

Accessories:
TV
DVD Player
Stereo System
Towel Rack
Mirrors
Bar Fridge
Sports Timer

I think I got it all right. Not saying you need all of this. My Godfather is a Real Estate Mogul and has too much money to spend. His gym was advised and setup by a sports company.
If I had the money I'd get pretty much the same stuff. So this is just an idea for what other stuff you might like.

I would have to knock out some walls into my neighbors house to fit all that lol.

[AdamGB]

I forgot to mention what I DO have... in my room I have a double end bag, I do tricep dips off the side of my bed... I have a pull up bar and I can also do pec dips because I have a weird stair case (loft) I've got a medicine ball which I rarely use and a floor (obviously! :P) which I do use!

The most hi-tech piece of equipment I have (one which I should have in my 'ideal' gym too! :P) is my PC and some kick arse speakers and a good subwoofer! nowt better than getting I tunes on and using an online round timer and just letting loose on the double end bag for an hour!

[JT Rock]

I got a Bow Flex Blaze 2 weeks ago and absolutely love it, it has almost evry conceivable exercise you can do and the fluidity of going from one exercise to another is astonishing... You can do a burn up asskicking workout for to body parts in like 20-30 mins.....