TOP 5 fitness equipment for home workouts

So you've decided to set up a home gym. You've even found the apps you need for home workouts. Now you need workout equipment, but there are two factors that prevent you from buying it quickly - space and budget - but with the right planning, you can create the perfect home workout studio for your goals and desires.

To get started, you will need an exercise mat and small resistance bands. There are thousands of different exercises that don't require any specialised equipment, but an exercise mat will make all the movements more comfortable. If you are on a budget, you can buy a good exercise mat to start with. If you already have a yoga mat, use the same one, but a thicker mat will be gentler on your knees, feet and back. A good quality mat can be bought for as little as €40.

If you're still not sure you want to invest more in workout gear, resistance bands could be your next purchase. They are cheap, easy to store and allow you to increase the intensity of most exercises with your own weight. For example, if your favourite exercise "Jumping Jacks" seems to have become too easy and you want to challenge your adductors, put a small resistance band around your ankles. It's still the same exercise, but it feels completely different! Best of all, these bands cost less than €10.

For even more muscle mass, consider buying strength bands for exercises such as curls, shoulder presses and others. Even if you eventually buy more weights for strength training, strength bands can be used almost anywhere - for rehabilitation, stretching and mobility exercises, power triathlons and pull-ups for support. You can buy strength elastics from 16 to 45 euros each, depending on the resistance level (higher resistance elastics will be more expensive).

When you're ready to invest a little bit more money, the TRX Home Suspension System is the best purchase you can imagine for adding to your home gym. Not only does it come with the TRX suspension system itself, but also access to the TRX mobile app (with over 80 workout programmes). Although the TRX Home Suspension System costs just over €200, it is one of the most popular products for people who want to exercise at home. With the TRX suspension system, you can work your whole body and adapt it to your fitness level. You and your friend or partner will need different weights of dumbbells, but you can use the same TRX suspension system. It's easy to use and can be mounted on doors of any height and, after use, stored in a carry bag. During the summer, you can take it with you and train outdoors.

Once you have resistance bands and a TRX suspension system, the next logical purchase is a medicine ball or weight ball. There are many different exercise and workout concepts you can use these pieces of equipment for, despite the fact that they are completely different. For example, a medicine ball is often used to perform different exercises by throwing it against a wall, but if you try to do that with a weight ball - a hole in the wall is guaranteed! Weight balls, on the other hand, are used for movements such as jerking and pushing, or pulling, for example. It would be noticeably harder to do that with a medicine ball. However, weight balls have a wider choice of weights than medicine balls.

If you're looking to focus on home training, choose the equipment that's right for you. That expensive treadmill your colleague or neighbour was raving about may not be the right one for you. When choosing fitness equipment for home use, start with a mat, resistance bands, medicine ball, weight ball and, of course, a TRX suspension system. Once you've got equipment from all five of these categories, you can slowly work your way up to a bigger purchase. This strategy of buying fitness equipment will save you money, but at the same time, it won't reduce your chances of achieving your goal.