Really? That’s the best excuse you can come up with to not work out? What if I told you I could help you put together a home gym for the price of the average-over caffeinated person’s monthly Starbucks addiction?
Say $100?
“What?!” you say. “$100 a month Starbucks addiction? No way!”
WAY! Let’s say the average Starbucks addict spends about $4.50 a trip and rolls past the drive through window on just weekdays – say 22 times a month – that would come out to $99.
Think about it this way as well, cutting that out would save on the high caloric intake of one of those fancy, high priced and decadent, triple shot, latte, caramel, frap, macchiato, mocha, blended, liquid gut bombs - plus help you save up the greenbacks for your new home gym! I bet you could shed a few lbs in a month just by curbing that addiction! OK, OK, enough of the foo-foo coffee intervention/rant.
So back on topic here. $100 home gyms. Yes it can be done! Here is a quick shopping list of equipment that took me about five minutes to compile and price using a simple Google search. These are the price ranges I found online in round numbers for easy math. I really didn’t do much as far as price comparison or spend much time looking for the cheapest deal so it’s quite possible you could beat this price on your own.
| Equipment | Price Range | Estimated Purchase Price |
| Stability Ball | $18-$30 | $20 |
| Set of 4 Bands | $12 | $12 |
| Tubing | $8-$25 | $10 |
| Medicine Ball | $10-$35 | $20 |
| 10lbs Kettlebell | $20 | 2 x $20 = $40 |
| Total | $102 |
- Jump Rope $12
- Set of 10lbs dumbbells $30-$35
- Foam Roller $15-$20
- Generic Suspension Trainer $40
- Super Bands $8-$25
- Yoga Mats $20
The other thing you could do to bring the price down is check out one of the local used sporting goods stores. That is usually a common and easy place to score dumbbells and kettlebells amongst other fitness accoutrements. All the prices I have listed above come from online sources so I am sure you could do better. I honestly didn’t put any effort into bargin shopping putting this list together.
And keep in mind, if you’ve never used this kind of equipment before. You might want to start with an online exercise video or a DVD that helps with instruction and motivation. Some of the small bits of gym equipment you might buy for home will actually come with either a DVD or an exercise chart of some kind with suggested exercises.
And while we are on the subject of cheap gyms need I remind you that if you are an employee or volunteer at Community you get to use the CMC Fitness Center for free! Yup! You heard me right! I didn’t stutter. A state-of-the-art gym for nada! So come by, introduce yourself and ask us how to sign up if you haven’t already! Also feel free to comment here and drop some suggestions of your own as far as things on the cheap you would add to a home gym.
