Back in May, I wrote a blog post sharing how I’ve set myself up to continue hitting my fitness goals despite lockdown and not being able to go to the gym.
When I first started my fitness journey, I always had a part of my workouts every week done at home. In the beginning, it was more like 90% of my workouts were at home and the remaining 10% was at the gym!
This was mostly because I had terrible gym-intimidation back then which I’m sure is normal for anyone getting started (hopefully this is a quick reminder that gym-intimidation eventually goes away and you can start feeling comfortable and confident working out at the gym.)
When lockdown hit, I found myself having to re-adapt to my previous way of working out – all at home! Luckily, I had always set myself up to workout at home on days I didn’t feel like going to the gym. Consistency is important to me so pre-COVID, when I would wake up late to go to the gym, I’d just go to the other room and get a workout in before going to work.
It was pretty much the same thing now, except I’ve had to really adapt exercises that required specialised equipment. I re-learned that there is always alternatives that work just as well!
You can read my original post with all the equipment that I have for my at-home-gym. In this post, I’ll be sharing some of the things I’ve updated since that post including any new additions that I have!
Welcome to Paw’s Gym! 💜
I get asked about my at-home-gym set-up almost every day when I post my post-workout selfie on Instagram. I thought it might be worth creating a video touring you folks through the set-up, so here’s a short video I took. Hopefully, it’s useful!
Side note: I mentioned recently that I’ve been really getting into creating videos! So this was actually quite fun to film, edit and put together. I’d love to know what you think about a mix of text on a blog with a video! 😊
Updated Equipment
Pull-up Mate Portable Pull-up Bar
I updated my pull-up bar because when we moved to our new apartment, we couldn’t find a wall or door frame that fit our old pull up bar correctly. After searching online for an alternative, I came across Pull-up Mate who sell this portable pull-up bar. If you’ve ever jumped on a call with me, you would’ve probably seen the bright red bar in the background. 😆
As you can see from the video, it’s a stable pull-up bar that can be used for pull-ups (duh) and dips as well depending on how you set it up. I’ve only used mine for pull-ups practice, but it’s been a fantastic piece of kit that has helped me continue to progress with my pull-up goals this year!
I prefer it to my old pull-up bar that caused me anxiety when I went on it. I was always a little worried that I’d break the door frame. 😂
You can find out more information on Pull-up Mate bar here. I bought just the Pull Up Mate bar for £99.95.
6ft, 10KG Barbell + 2.5KG x 4 plates
I finally got myself a barbell! 🎉
I’ve been thinking about it for a few months and kept holding off because my adjustable dumbbells have been great for a variety of exercises. However, I did want to get back into using a barbell for exercises like deadlifts, hip thrusts, squats, overhead press, rows. I felt like I was more “used to” and comfortable with a barbell over my dumbbells. My dumbbells were also a strange shape, making it difficult to set myself up for a specific exercise.
However, I read the description wrong for this barbell 😬 I thought it came with 10kg x 2 plates — but it actually meant that it came with smaller plates that add up to 10kg. 🤦🏻♀️ Luckily we have some plates from our non-adjustable dumbbells so all together with all the plates in the barbell, it totals up to 40kg-ish.
I bought mine off a seller on eBay for £80~
Resistance bands & Skipping rope
I got some long resistance bands with attachments on the end to add to resistance-only exercises for things like rows, tricep exercises, pulldowns. I also bought a long round resistance band to help with my pull-ups on my Pull Up Mate.
And finally, I got a skipping rope to switch up my cardio routine. I’ve gotten better at not whipping myself after a lot of practice! 😂️
‼️ Things coming up…
What I have now has been more than enough to help me hit my strength goals as well as keep me in relatively good shape during this time. I don’t know how long it will be until I feel safe to go into a gym again, but for now I decided to make the most of what I have.
Bigger Plates
As I’m writing this post, I actually have two things that I ordered to fully “complete” my little home gym. The first thing is 10kg x 2 plates – I finally found one that wasn’t too expensive on eBay and yep, you bet I re-read the description multiple times to make sure I got it right this time. 😂
Although my plates have been fine, I prefer having larger plates to help position myself better with certain exercises such as deadlifts. Also adding to the weight will help me continue to reach my strength goals 🚀
A foldable treadmill
The other thing that I invested in was a foldable treadmill. What? You ask. OK, hear me out. 🤣 It actually isn’t specifically for my home gym, but more for under my standing desk because sitting and standing for 8-10 hours a day just isn’t healthy!
I’ve also been feeling quite paranoid leaving the apartment but I still wanted to have days where I’d stretch my legs for a walk. I looked around and after a lot of research, I found quite a lightweight, foldable treadmill that fits perfectly under my standing desk and if not in use folds up and doesn’t take much space.
I’ll share a full review on it when it comes and I have a few weeks of use on it. But for now, I think I made a good decision. 😂 I keep telling myself that if it isn’t a good choice then I can always sell it or give it away to my dad to add to his home gym!
Overall, I’m actively trying my best to continue to stay healthy during this time. I don’t just mean physically but also mentally! Exercise is the thing that has truly kept me sane this year, and I will be leaning towards it for comfort for the rest of my life probably. 😊 #PawGainz, amirite?
Stay safe and sending you all healthy vibes! ✨
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