At-Home Exercisers: What Does Your Gym Look Like?

I know I'm not the only one who prefers working out at home vs. going to a gym to work out, so I'd love to hear what your home gym consists of and what your workout plan is. 

My "gym" is basically my family/living room (the one with the tv and couch in it) and I have a fairly diverse collection of workout DVD's.  I also have 3-, 5-, and 8-pound dumbbells and some smaller inflatable balls that I bought for some reason (probably to do some ab routine on On Demand). 

[Speaking of Comcast's On Demand menu (Comcast is one of Indiana's main digital cable providers, in case you don't know what I'm talking about; "On Demand" is a collection of tv shows & movies that subscribers can play whenever they want), it has a section devoted to fitness and contains a TON of workout videos ~ for free!  I love it because if I'm bored with the workout DVD's I have on hand, I can always find something new on On Demand!  I hope I don't sound like a spokesperson...!]

I just purchased an elliptical machine that will be delivered tomorrow (what a nice Valentine's Day present!), so that will soon be added into my workout mix.  I need to purchase an exercise ball (the bigger ones you do crunches on), so that will be next on my list.  I exercise only 2-3 days a week currently, but I plan on getting up to 5 days per week.  I'm getting married in August and 2-3 days a week isn't going to cut it!

What exercise item could you not live without?  Do you use any ordinary household items when you work out (i.e. cans of soup as dumbbells)?

Oh 3v0  I am so jealous.   That sounds awesome!!!

Home gyms rock don't get me wrong  I have put together quit the gym in the basement and do use it a lot, even when I had my gym membership...  there is nothing like going to the "real" gym or health club they have lots more stuff  a hot tub, lap pool,  sunlight,  indoor track,  eye candy etc etc

What I have in the basement :

leg extenshion leg curl

squat rack

cable row that is also a lat pulldown or low row/pully.

bench press

olympic weight set

a whole bunch of dumbells

punching bag

a very loud stereo

 I got most of this stuff at a second had sports store and any one who wants to set up a home gym should look at going that route, lots of it seems hardly used!

A really great home work out is that punching bag and wow what a stress reliever!

In uni (where I spend half my time) I go to a gym or go rowing in crew most days but in my flat I have a resistance band, a stability ball and stability ball dvd with 3 workouts-cardio,conditioning&stretching, and my flatmate has a dancemat and game which we use with my ps2.

At home, I've just got a spinning bike in the garage which I use with my ipod - I've made a few playlists and you can get some good exercise podcasts to have a new playlist everytime. I also have boxing gloves and spotting pads, and my dad has (but I use) a small stepper, an ab trainer, and 3 pairs of dumbells (the heaviest are 10lbs). We also have some wrist/ankle weights and an exercise mat, a yoga dvd and some old aerobics videos. In the summer I'll bring my ball and band home from uni to add to this lot.

I also have a mountain bike which I keep in uni most of the time and ride every day to get about, a wet suit, boogie board, and my boyfriend has a big trampoline and a sea kayaks which I get to use now and again.

I don't like public gyms so basically I tried to equip my basement with all I need.  I have dumbbells in pairs from 2.5 to 70 lbs.  I have 2 olympic bars with over 720 pounds of plates for them.  A squat cage for benching (incline or decline) with pulley system for lat pull downs, seated rows, can also do pull ups on the cage.  The floor of the gym has thick rubber matting.  I own 2 kettle bells, 3 medicine balls, 2 plyometric boxes, a set of gymnast rings, a 100 lb heavy bag and a speed bag.  I have a Landice tread mill.  I also have resistance bands and exercise balls in varying sizes.  It took years to acquire all the equipment.  But in the end it is a nice basement home gym.

got a bench barbell with weights and dumbells and a punching bag i also got a stat bike i dont use rather run

I CANNOT live without my resistance band! I travel during the week, so I just slip my band in my suitcase. You can do a complete body workout, including abs, with a band.

At home I have my band, a set of Reebok adjustable weights (up to 25 lbs) and an exercise mat. I also have a set of 10 lb weights for arm strength. I like to use my weights for push-up handles, too.

I rearranged the furniture in my living room last week to accommodate using it as my private personal gym. I have a treadmill but waiting to use it outside on the patio when the weather warms. Inside I use a trampette, EZ Stepper, and use the stereo system to do a low impact aerobic workout to whatever music I'm in the mood for. I walk along the road for  30 minutes a day rain or shine. I want a ball to sit on in front of the computer. I have also heard its great for burning more calories and good posture used this way.

Stationary bike, elliptical machine, treadmill, dumbbell bench & dumbbells, and an el-cheapo weight machine that I only use for Lat Pulldowns.

I have a box of stuff in my living room that I pull out every night for strength training and yoga. The contents are below:

1) yoga DVD

2) 15 lb kettleball

3) 3, 5, 10lb dumbell sets

5) yoga mat

6) jump rope

I also use a gym, so I do my cardio stuff on the elliptical machine or bike, but I love doing my strength training at home while getting my daily youtube fix. I am a college student with limited space, so my lil' setup is small and practical. I really like the kettleball for core work too!

I workout four "hard" days per week: 50 minutes cardio + 20 minutes lazy swimming (floating, some backstroke, mainly for fun). The rest of the time I either do yoga in hte morning for 20-30 minutes or take a walk around my neighborhood. I do strength training with my free weights every other day. Sometimes I go to the gym for the krav maga classes or yoga group workouts.