Build a Home Gym on a Budget

Home gyms have recently surged in popularity among the lifting community. You may ask yourself, ‘What’s the point?’, with gym memberships being available for next to nothing nowadays, building an expensive and space-consuming home gym may seem pointless.

However, a home gym makes it much easier for you to incorporate lifting into your busy schedule. We’ve all experienced the feeling of finishing a 9-5 with zero energy and then driving to the gym, which is consequently packed full of others like you.

It also allows you to create a space with the exact kit you need to suit your goals, knowing that you won't have to queue up to use it.

How much does it Cost to Build a Home Gym?

A home gym is not only convenient but can also work out cheaper than a gym membership over time.

On average, a home gym that includes a bench, barbell, plates, dumbbells, and a power rack will cost over £1000.

However, it’s now possible to build a home gym that includes everything you need for intense full-body workouts for much, much less.

Here at MuscleSquad, we provide high quality gym equipment at reasonable prices. Here’s how to build a home gym on a budget.

Beginner Home Gym | Under £100

If you’re new to the gym, it is easy to gain muscle and get leaner thanks to “newbie gains”. Because of this, minimal equipment is needed for you to progress.

Firstly, a set of our resistance bands will go a long way. For a low cost, you get three bands, all with different weights/resistances ranging from 2.5kg-22.5kg. The bands can be used for a variety of exercises, including shoulder press, chest press, curls, tricep extensions, squats, leg extensions, and leg curls. Bands are easily the cheapest and most convenient way to build muscle. They take up little to no space and can easily be stored away and transported if desired.

Depending on your starting strength, a pair of our neoprene dumbbells would also be a brilliant addition to your set-up. Ranging from 1-10kg, these dumbbells can be used for lighter exercises like curls, lateral raises, and flys. You could also add one of the resistance bands to these dumbbell exercises to increase the difficulty as you progress! Prices for the neoprene dumbbells range from £10-£55 as the weights increase.

A slam ball is also a great, low cost and space saving addition to a home gym. It can be used for strength, endurance and cardio and is super durable.

This beginner set-up takes up basically no space and comes at a minimal cost. But, bear in mind that as your strength increases, you will need to increase your weight to continue challenging your body.

Intermediate Home Gym | Under £200

Been to the gym before? Struggled to stay consistent? Haven’t been in ages? The intermediate home gym is the one for you. This set-up includes slightly more advanced equipment to help you get back to your best.

The adjustable dumbbell bench will provide the foundation for all of your workouts. It has 6 different levels of incline, including upright, 60 degrees, 45 degrees, 30 degrees, flat, and decline. The adjustability means the bench supports a range of exercises. Perfect for dumbbell bench press, shoulder press, Bulgarian split squats, dumbbell rows, incline curls, and dips. The bench also folds flat for convenient storage.

For your main movements, a heavy-ish set of dumbbells are needed for an intense workout. Our hex dumbbells are available in weights of 1-50kg, or you can buy a full set so that you've covered for all exercises and progressions. These would be used for exercises like the dumbbell bench press, shoulder press, dumbbell rows, and Bulgarian split squat.

This intermediate set-up again takes up almost no space in your home. Space saving and versatile, this set up means you can build muscle across your whole body for a similar price to a pair of trainers.

Advanced Home Gym | Under £500

If you’ve been going to the gym for a while but want to work out from home, this one’s for you. The advanced home gym is designed for lifters looking to build serious size and strength across their entire body from the comfort of their own home.

Our folding multi-use bench will be the focal point of your workouts. This bench comes with a preacher curl pad, and a leg curl/extension attachment, as well as the traditional adjustable bench. This means not only can you complete all the classic dumbbell exercises, but the leg curl/extension and preacher pad effectively bring two machines from the gym into your home. This bench also folds flat after use for convenient storage.

Adjustable dumbbells are the most cost-effective and useful invention home gyms have ever seen. Our range of adjustable dumbbells goes from 12.5kg-40kg. Each dumbbell has up to 12 different weight settings, giving the same effect as multiple dumbbells in one single package.

Another low cost but versatile option is a 5-foot barbell. This bar comes with 25kg of weight, perfect for sets of skullcrushers, or even for curls when used with the preacher pad for maximum bicep pump. The bar can be separated into two pieces after use for storage.

This set-up will ensure you continue to make progress at the same rate (or faster) than you were at your local gym. The price of this set up varies greatly depending on which adjustable dumbbell you choose, and whether you want a pair or just one. Alternatively, you could grab a pair of heavy and light hex dumbbells, but this decreases the potential variety of exercises that your workouts could contain.

Jamie Grover, Fitness Journalist from Bristol.