A home gym in one corner: what to buy, and in what order

Start with what you can put away

The first purchase in a small room is the one that does not have to stay out. A pair of adjustable dumbbells and a mat cover pressing, rows, lunges and floor work, and both can go against a wall when the session ends.

Fixed dumbbells handle better and need a rack. If the room has the floor space, that is the more durable answer; if it does not, adjustable ones are the reason the training happens at all.

• Adjustable dumbbells: one footprint, many loads, and more careful handling.
• A mat: protects the floor and marks out the training area.
• A stand or cradle keeps the dumbbells off the floor and out of the way.

Add a bench when you press

A bench turns a pair of dumbbells into a pressing station. Flat benches are simpler, lighter and steadier than adjustable ones, and they can stand on end in a corner.

Check the pad height before buying. A bench that is too tall for your legs makes every press a balancing exercise.

• Pad width: narrow enough to let the shoulder blades sit back.
• Base width: the wider the feet, the less the bench rocks.
• Storage: a flat bench takes little room on end.

A rack and a barbell come last

A barbell needs plates, a rack and a floor that can take a dropped load. In a flat that combination is usually the point where a home gym stops making sense, and dumbbells keep working instead.

With a garage or a ground-floor room, a rack and a straight bar open up squat, press and pull movements that dumbbells cover less comfortably.

• Measure the ceiling: a rack plus a standing press needs height.
• Check the floor construction before setting a loaded bar down on it.
• Leave walking space around the rack, because a racked bar you cannot load is no use.