SELF testers also like The Big Mat from Lululemon, which brought home the award for best mat for big and tall folks in 2023’s Home Fitness Awards. “Because it’s wider, longer, and thicker than other yoga mats, it protects your body (and floors!) really well,” one tester noted.
Read more: Best Yoga Mats; Best Yoga Mats for Hot Yoga; Best Travel Yoga Mats
We can’t stress the importance of workout recovery enough, and using a massager can help make those off-days from exercising feel especially restorative. The SELF-expert-tested, Home Fitness Award–winning Theragun Mini is small enough to operate with one hand, but it still has plenty of power for kneading out knots and breaking up tightened fascia around your muscles. But if you’re looking for another option, Hyperice’s Normatec Go boots use air compression to massage your calves after a run, and come recommended by SELF’s director of fitness and food, Christa Sgobba, CPT.
Read more: Best Massage Guns
A foam roller is another recovery essential, and the Triggerpoint is a solid SELF-tested option. Its dense, textured grid has long, smooth sections for rolling out sensitive areas that need a gentler touch, as well as smaller spikes to dig into deeply set knots. Hot tip from the Triggerpoint’s Home Fitness Award review: “Opt for the bright orange or neon green option and let it act as a visual reminder that you should probably be foam rolling more often.”
Read more: Best Foam Rollers
“If used correctly, the all-in-one TRX system can be the only piece of equipment that you need,” Victoria Nolan, an ACSM–certified personal trainer based in Houston, tells SELF. The Home2 System, in particular, won a SELF Home Fitness Award for its low-tech setup, ease of use, and ability to provide a truly challenging full-body workout with minimal fuss. “It’s effective for both assisting and amplifying bodyweight strength, flexibility, and mobility,” one judge explained. “That means you can use it to make some moves more intense and other moves more accessible.”
The benefits of at-home workout equipment
Having your own home gym can make it much simpler—if not straight-up easy—to stick to your fitness goals. “If you’re in a season in life where you’re unable to make it to the gym, need to be home, or just don’t want to join a gym, having your own equipment is the way to engage in the benefits of fitness from the comfort of your own home,” says Dr. McCartney.
Convenience
It’s the worst when you need to pause your workout flow to awkwardly loiter near a row of occupied machines while you wait for one to free up. Or maybe it’s late enough that you don’t want to leave your house, but you’re awake and antsy, so you want to blast loud music and blow off some steam on the treadmill. Either way, a home gym solves those problems and more.
Having your own setup lets you break a sweat any time of day, for as long as you want to, without needing to commute to a new location or worry about hogging a machine for too long. It’s your space, and you get to make your own rules.
Privacy
Whether you’re dipping your toe into the workout game for the first time in a while or trying a new-for-you modality your friend told you about, privacy can be a treat that allows you to experiment freely—i.e., dance as if no one is watching, figuratively or literally. With your own home workout setup, you can get to business when and how you want, without other gym goers watching over your shoulder.
What to look for when shopping for at-home workout equipment
When you’re shopping for home gym essentials, you’ll probably narrow down your search based on a few key factors: how much cash you’re willing to spend, the kind of equipment you like to use (or would like to try), and your personal fitness goals. To help guide you in answering those questions for yourself, we have a few tips you can consider.
Budget
According to Franco Calabrese, DPT, a physical therapist based in Chicago, “cost and size are the two biggest factors when it comes to finding the right piece of equipment for home.” The upfront expense of building a home gym could give you sticker-shock, but when you consider the costs of a gym membership, transportation to get there, and other fees, you might realize you’re setting yourself up to potentially save over time.
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