I’m not a pro strength trainer, but I’ve worked out my entire life. I’ve used various pieces of equipment, and different exercises, at different stages in my life. I’ve worked out for strength improvement, injury prevention, injury recovery, and just staying functional.
These days, most of my workout exercises are built around dumbbells and barbells, which are the main “bigger pieces” of my minimalist home gym setup.
I’ve found pull ups and dips to be of great value for my shoulders, hence why I bought the dip attachment. Luckily, the residential power rack already comes with a proper pull-up bar.
I do various other bodyweight exercises, in addition to weight-centric ones, but none of them require additional gear and won’t be mentioned.
I also have an indoor cycling setup just beside the gym — my road bike on a smart bike trainer. If you want a cardio setup, I think it’s one of the best ways to go, as it’s low impact and racing people from around the world is really fun.
You could easily swap it out for a spin bike, treadmill, rowing machine, or assault bike, but I’ll leave that up to you.
The footprint of my home gym is 12ft by 16ft, and the bike trainer is in addition to that. But, if I was pressed for space, I could organize my home gym more strategically so I could fit cardio equipment on the gym flooring. The following is my personal bare minimum gym equipment needs, at as good a price as anyone can ask for, which is why I’m calling it the best minimalist home gym setup on a budget!