5 must-have bodybuilding accessories for training at home

If you've chosen to embark on a weight training program, it's usually either because you're looking to gain muscle or lose weight. But here's the thing, there are many ways to do this. In any case, whether you prefer to do your weight training at home or in a gym, you'll need to invest in equipment. Building a home gym perhaps the solution

The role of accessories in bodybuilding

The aim of a bodybuilding accessory is to help you progress more effectively than if you were to do the exercises on your own. They come in a variety of shapes and types to help you build optimal muscle in every part of your body.

During a home gym session, a fitness accessory can become a first-rate partner. It can even save you time on your workout. Your workout will be much less intense, but you'll feel your body tone up over months of effort.

Weight gain, too, will be more efficient if you exercise with bodybuilding accessories. Doing bodyweight exercises will only help you stay in shape. That's why, if you've decided to take up weight training, you need to include at least one or two sports accessories in your home weight-training program. The most important thing in a bodybuilding session, as in any other sport, is to work on your physical preparation, based on muscle strengthening and toning exercises.

In just a few months, you'll feel your body sculpting, and everyone around you will immediately notice the difference!  

Let's take a look at 5 accessories you can use in the gym or at home. Or if you've set up a dedicated workout space.

The abdominal wheel

What is an abdominal wheel?

It is a small wheel relatively simple of constitution, crossed by a small handle which one can hold on both sides,

How to use an abdominal wheel?

Performing this ab exercise with the wheel is relatively simple. Simply hold the handle and push the wheel until your body is on the ground, then slowly straighten up. By repeating this movement, not only your abdominal belt, but also your arms, hips and shoulders will strengthen. This is a complete bodybuilding workout that allows different muscles of the body to work at the same time.  

From now on, you can use it as the basis for all your abdominal exercises. For a modest sum of between 10 and 40 euros, you'll be able to work your abs like never before. A correctly performed abdominal wheel exercise is the equivalent of several sets of classic sit-ups performed without the aid of a body-building accessory.

It's a great way to get visible, protruding abs in just a few weeks. Normally, building up abdominal muscles to a flat, chocolate-bar tummy takes months of training and rigor. But thanks to this wheel, your outlook will change radically. For a start, it's unisex and suitable for both men and women.

Doing exercises to develop your abdominal muscles will help firm your stomach, slim your waistline and shape your abdomen. With a body like this, you'll definitely be ready to go on vacation and get noticed on the beach! Here is a kind of abdominal wheel: MITAVO FITNESS WHEEL

How to choose it?

Look at the product reviews first and get an idea of how to choose your ab wheel. There can be only one wheel or even several but this is not a selection criterion. One wheel may be enough if you are a beginner because you will not use it every day, but if you have a good level, it will be preferable to hang a double wheel solid and larger. Take a good look at the maximum weight it can support and if the rotation system is perfect. You can also think about the weight of the equipment, if you want to take it on vacation or on the road.  

The push up bar

Why use the push up bar?

The only exercise you can perform with the push up bar is the standard push ups.

How to use the push up bar?

Push-ups are one of the best known and most effective exercises in any weight training program. Whether you're looking to build volume, lose weight or even cross-train, they will make you more powerful and dynamic in all areas.  

To help you perform them anywhere and in any context, there are what are commonly known as push-up bars. They give you a greater range of movement. Not only your arms and back, but also your chest and lower limbs will benefit from this exercise, as will your pectoral muscles, which will be put to the greatest use.

In fact, by allowing you to get down lower than usual, your body will contract all the more, and a wider area of your body will be at work. The stability of the handles makes your movement safer and more effective. There are 2 types of push-up bar: classic bars, and bars with support handles.

The latter are equipped with a rotation system that facilitates and smoothes the movement. Although both are effective in their own way, it is the latter that is more specifically recommended by professionals. By rotating at the same time as the handles to be held, the wrists are no longer likely to suffer during this exercise. Lightweight and easy to carry, they can be stored in a bag and follow you wherever you go.

Pump handles available here

The medicine ball or slam ball

What is a doctor ball?

The medicine ball, or sometimes called a gym ball, is a ball weighing from 1 to 10 kg that will make your workouts a lot more fun. This accessory will help you tone up and burn many more calories than traditional exercise. Of course, depending on the weight you choose, your exercises will be a little more difficult to perform. Much simpler than a piece of fitness equipment, the gym ball is easy to take home or to the gym.  

3 exercises to do with the medicine ball

• You can use it by bouncing it against a wall in various positions, and repeating the exercise several times, faster and faster. This type of exercise is great for cardio and will help you progress in record time. Not only does it allow you to work a wide range of muscles, but also, thanks to the catching action, to work antagonistic muscles at the same time.
• If you are a couple, you can position yourselves opposite each other. Your buttocks are on the ground and your legs are up (your legs should not touch the ground). You throw the ball to your partner and the goal is to hold the ball without putting your feet on the ground. Additional difficulty, when you have the ball, you pass it on one side and on the other of your body, 1 time, then 2, then 3.... (see photo below). This will basically work your abs and arms.
• If you are an experienced sportsman, you can also use this ball of several kilos for other purposes, as for example in the practice of slam ball crossfit. Very popular in the United States, this discipline has proven itself with many American soldiers. This ball will thus open many horizons to you and, by using it appropriately and by informing you beforehand, you will have access to a crowd of new exercises and new practices which will extend considerably your possibilities of work.

But it can also be used during stretching sessions, to help you to carry out your stretching, especially at the level of the back. Its versatility is the main advantage of the medicine ball, which can be used both with or without rebound.

How to build a slam ball?

Straps and hooks for weight training

What are the hooks or straps used for in weight training?

In the gym, or even sometimes in your home gym, if you have a corner set up with some weights and bars, you'll probably be lifting iron. It's an exercise that can be tedious, mainly for the hands.

The role of straps and hooks is to make it easier to grip the barbell or dumbbell for all pulling exercises. more specifically, when the load is pulled by the arms. They help to improve strength without straining the forearm muscles, which may be fatigued before the targeted muscle in question is.

As a result, you may stop the exercise before completing your number of repetitions. Many people have already experienced difficulties in gripping the barbell, so that they've had to stop their session early. To overcome this grip problem, we recommend the use of bodybuilding straps. These make it easier for you to hold on to the bar, so you can work longer without pain or discomfort in the palm of your hand.

Whether you're working on pronation or supination, this little essential accessory in every fitness bag will save the day more than once. All you need to learn beforehand is how to attach it properly, to optimize its effect. The bodybuilding pull-up hook works in the same way, but is easier to attach. It will enable you to maintain your positions more easily during load-bearing exercises. Your bending movement will be smoother, with no fear of the bar slipping through your fingers. You'll also feel less fatigue due to the length of the session or the heaviness.

Find the bodybuilding hooks here

How to put them on?

Whether it is the straps or the hooks with scratch, it is very easy and you will have a notice when you buy. As for the straps, they are a little more difficult to hang.  

For which exercises can they be used?

Deadlift

Rowing

Pulls

high and low pulley pulls

And other exercises as well

The arm blaster

What's an arm blaster?

Like the previous accessory, it can be used in the gym or at home if you have your own gym, or at least if you have a barbell or dumbbell at home. This accessory can be used for arm muscle-building exercises. It features prominently in the list of inexpensive bodybuilding equipment that enhances the results of home exercise. The aim is to isolate your biceps or triceps so that they work more intensely and specifically when you lift weights with a curl bar.

Why use the arm blaster?

With this simple weight training machine that was popularized in the 1980's by star Arnold Schwarzenegger, your arm muscles will quickly become hard and bulky. Normally, when you perform a strength exercise, all the muscle fibers in your arms work at the same time and share the load.

Whereas with this, your muscle-building sessions will enable you to concentrate efforts on your biceps or triceps, as you choose. As a result, they'll gain mass much more quickly. And as these muscles are essential for your figure, it's imperative to work them as a priority.

Strengthening your arms at the gym or as part of a home gym program requires this revolutionary accessory. You can now try it out at your next home gym session. And with its affordable price, there's no risk in trying it out and training with it. Among the most fashionable sports equipment, it's one of the favorites of top-level athletes. This accessory is available here 

Conclusion

Now that you know about different accessories to help you in your daily approach to weight training, whether in a gym or at home, you will quickly make big progress. The good thing about all these items is that they don't cost much (you can check this out on the internet right now) and are very easy to carry around in a gym bag. So you have no excuse if you don't use them! They can all be used in very different bodybuilding exercises, and you can easily vary the exercises with them, for more fun and especially to be able to work on various areas of your body and thus obtain a homogeneous musculature. For each bodybuilding accessory presented here, versatility is indeed a major asset. Nowadays, you don't need to equip yourself with heavy, complex and very expensive equipment to be able to do varied and effective things. The only thing you need in addition to these small objects is motivation and rigor.

You must use these tools wisely, in order to gain consistency and work every day to achieve the goals you have set. Only in this way will you really progress and see, day after day, the fruit of your work!

Looking for a good weight training program?

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