Going to the gym is a hassle, and with our busy lives, it’s hard to go routinely to achieve fitness goals. That’s why I decided to just move the gym into my home by creating a home gym in my garage. Of course, space is limited, but I do have enough space for some equipment. Since space is limited, I decided to focus on upper-body workouts. To see the biggest gains, most people would agree that the upper-body muscles to target in descending order are as follows: (each muscle’s relative size is also shown based on this article)
- Delts / Deltoids (shoulders) – 380 cm3
- Tri’s (triceps) – 370 cm3
- Pecs / Pectoralis Major (chest) – 290 cm3
- Lats / Latissimus Dorsi – 262 cm3
- Traps / Trapezius
- Bi’s (biceps) – 143 cm3
Dumbbells / Free Weights
Almost all exercises can be done using dumbbells or free weights, which don’t take a lot of space. However, I personally don’t like dumbbells or free weights because
- it’s hard to lift heavy weights with them
- they are more dangerous than using machines, which makes you opt for lower weights
- it’s harder to balance them and use proper form compared to using a machine
- they are not necessarily more comfortable to use compared to machines
- you are limited to maybe 120 lbs per dumbbell
Machines
I find resistance machines way more enjoyable and safer to use, but they can take up a lot of space. Fortunately, there are some options that are designed for home gyms. Following are the machines I have and my opinion about them. They all accept 2″ Olympic plates.
Lat Tower Machine with Ab Crunch
With this machine, you can do many exercises and train many muscles, including
- seated lat pulldown exercise to target lat muscles
- seated row to target upper back muscles
- standing tricep pushdown to target tricep muscles
- standing overhead tricep extension to target tricep muscles
- standing bicep curls to target biceps
- standing upright rows to target shoulder muscles
- standing shrugs to target trapezius muscles
- standing leg curls to target leg muscles
- seated ab crunch to target ab muscles
- standing cable shoulder press to target shoulder muscles
- and many more
I primarily use this machine to do
- seated lat pulldown exercise using this lat bar to target lat muscles
- seated row using a rotating double-D row handle to target upper back muscles
- standing tricep pushdown using a rotating straight bar to target tricep muscles
- standing overhead tricep extension using this attachment to target tricep muscles
- standing bicep curls using this attachment to target biceps
- seated ab crunch to target ab muscles
I highly recommend using this attachment for some of these exercises.
Chest Press Machine
Website (cheaper on Walmart.com)
This chest press machine works very well. You can incline the bench to train your upper chest, but it’s a little less comfortable in that position as your lower body is lower to the floor. The manufacturer claims you can use it to also do situps, but it doesn’t work well at all for that purpose.
As this machine is called a chest press machine, it primarily targets the chest. However, it also works the triceps to some extent. However, don’t expect much work on your triceps. A seated dip machine does a much better job for that.
Seated Dip Machine
Website (cheaper on Walmart.com)
When the handles are turned in and your back is against the back cushion, this machine primarily targets your chest.
When the handles are turned in and your back is leaning forward parallel to the machine’s arms, it primarily targets your triceps.
Deltoid and Shoulder Press Machine
Website (cheaper on Walmart.com)
This machine works well for training the side and top muscles of your shoulder.
Incline Close-Grip Bench Press
Unlike the regular incline bench press, which targets your upper chest, the close-grip version targets your inner chest and triceps. In order to get better efficiency from this exercise, it is recommended to do high repetitions with low weights instead of lifting too much weight.
Rubber Olympic Plates
I bought mine around Black Friday, so I got a deal. 2 x 10 lbs, 2 x 25 lbs, and 2 x 45 lbs for $168.
I also bought 4 x 5-lb plates.
If you’re limited on space, you can buy a power cage + smith machine with pulley system and weight stack. The PMAX 5600 from RitKeep is currently on sale for $2000.
As for the number of sets to do for each muscle group per training session, do 3 to 6.
