Maximize Gains on a Minimal Budget: Affordable Weightlifting Tools

Looking to work out at home without breaking the bank? Here is the kit you need and a price you can afford.

It feels like everyone is talking about the benefits of lifting weights. The experts agree that lifting can offer an effective and efficient way to build muscle mass and strength. 

But don’t be fooled into thinking that all weightlifters must have bulging muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger or The Rock. Lifting also has great benefits for athletic and cardiovascular performance, burning body fat, easing osteoarthritis pain, improving joint stability, and reducing the risk of diabetes.

Luckily, you don’t need an expensive gym membership to get started on improving your body and well-being. Home workouts are more convenient, easier to fit into your daily routine, and more friendly to your bank balance. 

Here, you can learn about how to get kitted out with the inexpensive weightlifting essentials that you need, so you can start making improvements in your strength and endurance without breaking the bank.

Pre-workout to get hyped

When it comes to making gains, what you put in your body is as important as what kit you use. What you use for fuel will make a difference in the effectiveness of your workout and the results you get.

Vitacost is a great place to source the supplements and proteins you need to support your fitness journey. Whether you’re looking to get ripped or burn fat, or simply want those valuable, energy-boosting vitamins and minerals, you can find them here. 

Add the Cellucor C4 ripped pre-workout supplement to your routine to help you define those muscles and get better results than ever. It can help reduce tiredness and fatigue, so no more flagging - you can keep going for longer. With a blend of effective amino acids, natural stimulants, and energy-boosting enzymes, this innovative formula brings more intensity and higher performance to your workout.

Chalk or gripping liquid

Lifting has a huge positive effect on your physique, and your confidence, too. With the right setup and approach, you can get ripped while protecting yourself from injury.

Products like liquid chalk can make all the difference when lifting weights. Cramer Liquid Chalk offers all the benefits for your grip as dry chalk does but with extra convenience. It’s lighter and easier to carry, causes less of a mess when using it, and lasts longer than simple dry chalk does. 

This added benefit is a major factor in the rising popularity of liquid chalk among not only lifters, but also climbers, gymnasts, and other athletes. It’s ideal for a great variety of sports, including track and field and baseball.

For lifting, liquid chalk allows you to keep your hands dry and prevent skin tears while performing challenging lifts. It applies and dries with ease. In fact, one application is probably enough to last for your entire session, and it’s easily washable afterward.

You can purchase cost-effective weightlifting chalk and grip aids from Academy Sports, a leading equipment supplier with great value prices.

Logbook or a good tracking app

If you want to measure your long-term progress and see your results, a good weightlifting app will help you track how you’re doing.

Fitness Point is a great app that is free to download and only $5 for a premium subscription. It goes deep into the detail, with multiple language settings, a logbook for your exercises, weight, reps, and calorie intake, a useful workout timer, and the option to purchase over 400 extra routines

For a simple and smooth tracking experience, we like Simple Workout Log - it’s in the name! It’s free to download, very user-friendly, and you can easily export information and metrics from the app to different devices.

Otherwise, for more detailed workout logging, we recommend Gymaholic. It’s free to download with $5 payable for premium content and gets a little more creative with animated exercise demos. It also logs more sophisticated data like calories, 1RM, personal records, and more. 

You can also log any type of training or set - ideal for more experienced lifters.

Wrist wraps for support

Sometimes, even the simplest piece can improve your workout and protect you from injury. Wrist wraps should be an essential addition to your gym bag. 

They stabilize the wrist joint, reducing any unpredictable wrist movements when under heavy pressure. This added stability for your muscles will allow you to push through fatigue, as your muscles working in unison means that the smaller muscles will be able to hold up for longer.

If you’re currently carrying a minor injury, the rigidity of wrist wraps might allow you to return to lifting more quickly. Of course, make sure you seek the advice of a doctor first, but the added stability of wrist wraps can reduce any pain or discomfort you might be experiencing.

Wrist wraps can also improve your grip strength and boost your proprioceptive ability with extra muscle rigidity. And, best of all, they’re a relatively cheap piece of equipment.

If you’re looking for affordable weightlifting gloves and straps, Big 5 Sporting Goods has a great range at amazing prices.

Foam roller for proper recovery

Post-workout, you need to think about stretching out muscles to prevent injury and help you progress. This is where a foam roller comes in. It enables self-myofascial release, helping to maintain muscle and tissue flexibility after a workout. There’s nothing worse than sore or stiff muscles after lifting.

Rolling is also believed to awaken your central nervous system and promote blood flow, making you more aware and alert to your body’s physical movements. Theoretically, this should help your fluidity and flexibility. And overall, it should shorten your body’s recovery time, meaning you can fit in more training sessions for better results.

The great news is that you can buy an effective foam roller, like the GoFit 13 Extreme Massage Roller, at a really reasonable price. Perfect for aggressive deep tissue massages, this is a more firm and dense roller that can easily withstand weight and pressure. 

In other words, this is one tough roller that can effectively break down lactic acid and free up your muscles, helping to alleviate delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

You can pick one up at Dick’s Sporting Goods, always a great store for top-quality workout products at wallet-friendly prices.

Work out better

Remember, you don’t need to sign up for an expensive gym membership to get ripped and make gains. Working out should be for everyone. All you need to start is a few key pieces of kit at home. 

Complement your weights with affordable weightlifting supplements, good nutrition, tracking apps, and post-workout equipment, and you can support your health journey and make a big difference in your life.