As the Wall Street Journal said perfectly in March, “Gyms are reopening, but everything is different.” Masks are required, yet again, in gyms. People are hesitant to go back with the new delta variant and covid breakthroughs occuring. Every customer has to navigate new workout habits around safety protocols of gyms.

The home gym option is extremely convenient and only requires a couple of essential workout items, easily attainable on Amazon. Especially for runners, our strength training should supplement our running. It should not take way from us performing well. Luckily, we don’t need cardio machines or racks. And between you and me, we already are cardio machines that just need a couple of free weights, bands, and unstable surfaces.

To assess the needs of my clients, I always ask “What’s your strength training program currently? What’s your goal? What equipment do you currently have? Do you want to/anticipate on going back to the gym?” From there, we can figure out the equipment that makes sense to the individual and their goals.

Personally, I have been MUCH better at completing my personal strength training with the convenience of a home gym and I strongly feel runners are more likely to succeed in strength training if they set up a home gym as well.

Lucky for you, I created a list of equipment I use to program for my runners. There is an “essentials” list, an “additional options” list that is nice to have, and finally a “for serious lifters” list.