Home Gym vs. Commercial Gym
1 Year of Commercial Gym Membership:
Yearly gym membership: $300
Gas to drive to the gym per year: $100
Equipment cost: $0
Total cost of going to the gym per year: $400
1 Year of Home Gym Ownership:
Yearly gym membership: $0
Gas to drive to the gym per year: $0
Equipment cost: as much or little as you want
Not getting yelled at for curling in the squat rack: priceless
Home Gym Equipment
With so much equipment available online, it’s getting easier and easier to have everything you need for a great workout at home. We’ve put this list together of our favorite products to get bigger arms at home.
Doorway Pull Up Bar
Why we like it:
Chin ups and pull ups are great ways to build your biceps, and with this being able to be set up in your room, you have no excuse to not be doing them. We like this bar in particular because it allows for a variety of grips, so you can work all the muscles in your arms and back.
How we use it:
Chin ups and pull ups
Get it here:
Resistance Bands
Why we like them:
Resistance bands are some of the most versatile pieces of equipment, allowing you to do nearly any exercise you want. We like this set in particular because of the variety of resistances, the ability to combine them, and the handles that are included.
How we use them:
Our favorite exercises include curls, overhead triceps extensions, hammer curls, kickbacks and triceps pushdowns.
Get them here:
Adjustable Dumbbells
Why we like them:
Nothing saves space like a pair of adjustable dumbbells. Plus, you can take them to a track or field, or on the road with you. You can have a variety of weights, without multiple dumbbells.
How we use them:
Just like any other dumbbell, we use them for dumbbell curls, hammer curls, supinated dumbbell curls, incline curls, spider curls, overhead dumbbell triceps extensions and kickbacks.
Pro tip:
Offset the weights in your adjustable dumbbells like the tip in the video to provide more resistance against biceps supination.
Get them here:
TRX
Why we like the TRX:
The TRX makes it easy for you to work out your biceps or triceps (or any other muscle for that matter) at home. It’s easy to change the resistance just by moving closer or farther from the TRX, there are loads of different exercises you can do, and you can take it with you on the road.
What it does:
TRX allows you to leverage your body weight to get a great workout nearly anywhere.
How we use it:
This videos above demonstrate just a few ways we use the TRX to work out our arms.
Get it here:
Weider Power Tower
Why we like it:
The power tower is a great way to do dips and chin ups.
How we use it:
Our two favorite bodyweight arm exercises, dips and chin ups, are very convenient with this tower.
Get it here:
X Bar
Why we like the X Bar:
We love using barbells, and the X Bar can mimic barbell curls and barbell overhead triceps extensions, without all the heavy weights.
How we use it:
Our favorite exercises are the barbell curl, barbell overhead triceps extensions, spider curl and reverse curl. If you have a hook above a door or some other sort of attachment. You can also do triceps extensions.
Get it here:
Dip belt
Why we like it:
If you work hard you’ll get stronger, and if you get stronger, you’re going to need more resistance for your dips and chin ups. The dip belt helps with that.
What it does:
The dip belt allows you to strap weight plates to your waist, providing as much resistance for dips and chin ups as you’d like. More resistance = bigger and stronger muscles.
How we use it:
Weighted dips and chins.
Pro tip:
If you really want to get a strong back and biceps, strap on some weight and do negative only chin ups. Place a stool or box under the bar, climb up to the top of a chin up, and lower yourself in 8-10 seconds. Make sure you’re squeezing your biceps and lowering yourself under control through the entire movement.
Fat Gripz
Why we like them:
Many athletes use fat bars to get bigger and stronger arms. Thicker bars make it tougher for your arms to hold them, causing more muscle activation, which leads to bigger and stronger arms. Fat Gripz have the same effect, except in a much cheaper and more portable way.
What they do:
Fat Gripz increase the diameter of the bar.
How we use them:
We put Fat Gripz on dumbbells and barbells for curls, and pull up bars for chinups.
Get them here:
Cannon Curl
Why we like it:
We’re sticklers about form here, and we love that the Cannon Curl makes sure you don’t cheat on your biceps curls.
What it does:
The Cannon Curl stops your elbows from swinging back during a curl, causing you to keep perfect form throughout the curl.
How we use it:
We use this with dumbbell and barbell curls.
Get it here:
Blood Flow Restriction Bands
Why we like them:
Blood flow restriction bands help grow your biceps by restricting blood flow and pumping your muscles full with blood. Studies, like this one and this one, have supported the fact that blood flow restriction can increase muscular strength and size.
What they do:
Blood flow restriction bands restrict blood flow in your muscles, causing a more intense, and more effective pump, helping with strength and size gains.
How we use them:
We use them with dumbbell and barbell curls, as well as rope pushdowns and cable cross extensions.
Get them here:
Looking to understand how to use these products in an effective biceps routine? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Building Bigger Biceps.
Disclaimer: many of these links are affiliate links, which means we may get a commission if you purchase through our link.