Home exercise gear that works: weighted hula-hoops, bala bangles, smart skipping ropes and yoga wheels
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
Keeping an exercise routine interesting and fresh is always a challenge. And with gyms open but Omicron on the horizon, we may be doing ad-hoc home workouts for a while yet.
But as anyone who has an unused ab-cruncher gathering dust under their stairwell knows, it’s all too easy to invest in a piece of equipment that you think will augment your routine, but rapidly gets abandoned. What, then, are the fitness gadgets and new pieces of kit worth using?
We’ve been working out in our living room for eighteen months now and have spent that time trying out a myriad of fitness kit. And apart from the two obvious choices - a treadmill, and a kettlebell, these are the pieces of exercise equipment we’ve found genuinely fun to use - and have helped garner results.
As a side note, if you haven’t already updated your gym wardrobe, it may give a flagging exercise regime the shot in the arm it needs. Check out our guides to the best male gym clothing, women’s exercise clothing, gym shoes, and women’s and men’s running shoes to find the gear to help get you through your training in style and comfort.
Bala bangles are terrific if you’re after a simple way of improving the efficacy of your daily walk or activity around the house. They’re simple: Wearable weights you place on your wrists or ankles, which add weight resistance (thus assisting fat-burning) while you move about.
Clinical trials have shown that wearing weights for as little as 20 minutes a day can result in a significant reduction in percentage body fat, hip-to-waist ratio, and waist measurement, in just six weeks.
Note, though, these are emphatically not meant to be used when running or engaging in strenuous exercise, as this may result in injury. If you’re someone who likes more gentle exercise, they’re a simple, effective investment that will help you lose weight and build muscle without having to pump serious iron.
You may have flung a few kettlebells around in your time, in which case you’ll already be aware of how great they are for burning calories and building muscular strength simultaneously.
It is not, however, practical to house a full selection of Kettlebells at home, which is where the JaxJox is brilliant. This single kettlebell magnetically drops or adds weight to the main unit, depending on command, input via the Bluetooth console. Simple but effective.
Bluetooth enabled, this smart skipping rope has23 LEDs and magnetic sensors to track your workouts, monitor your calorie burn and log your data in real time. A sell-out over lockdown, it’s an ideal way of tracking the effect of one of the best cardio exercises there is.
Indeed, you burn as many calories in ten minutes of skipping as you can in 30 minutes of jogging (based on a comparative intensity of effort, too). Additionally, skipping is great for improving flexibility, balance, and coordination.
It also builds muscular endurance in your shoulders, arms and legs, and helps build bone density. There’s a reason Rocky skips in every training montage: with this tool you can track your efforts, as well.
Weight-bearing exercise is the most effective way of building muscle, and, in turn, boosting metabolism. But if you find dumbbells or kettlebells unwieldy, this power ring by Bala is likely to provide a happy entry point.
10 pounds is hefty enough to be effective, but not heavy enough to be intimidating. This is brilliant for weight-bearing exercise - indeed, it comes complete with recommendations of 75 movements. Hold it, swing it, press it, or squat with it - it’s a cinch to hold and use, and it’ll help elevate your workout to a fat-burning state.
