5 must-have accessories to build muscle at home

The central importance of accessories in bodybuilding

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 purpose of a strength training aid is to help you progress more efficiently than if you were to do exercises on your own. There are different shapes and types of fitness equipment to help you build muscle in all areas of your body. During a workout at home, a fitness accessory can become a first choice partner. It can even save you time on your workout. Your workout will be much less intense, but you will feel your body toning up as you work out for months.

Why use these accessories?

Mass gain, too, will be more efficient if you work out while equipped with bodybuilding accessories. Because doing bodyweight exercises will only help you stay in shape. That's why, if you have decided to start weight training, you should include at least one or two sports accessories in your home weight training program right now. 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 a few months, you will feel your body being sculpted and everyone around you will immediately see 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, it will serve as the basis for all your abdominal exercises. For a small fee, between 10 and 40 euros, you will be able to work on your abdominal muscles like you have never done before. A properly performed ab wheel exercise is the equivalent of several sets of classic abs done without the help of a bodybuilding accessory. It is very practical to have visible and prominent abs in just a few weeks. Usually, building up your abs to a flat, chocolate-bar shape takes months of training and rigor. But with this wheel, your outlook will change dramatically. First of all, it is unisex and suitable for both men and women's training.

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 called push up bars. They will give you a greater range of motion. Your arms, your back, but also your chest and your lower limbs will benefit from this exercise to develop in the same way as your pectoral muscles which will be the most solicited. Indeed, by allowing you to go down lower than usual, your body will contract all the more and a wider zone of your body will be at work. The stability of the handles gives more security to your movement and thus reinforces its effectiveness. There are 2 types of push up bars: the classic bars, and the 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 the doctor ball?

The medicine ball, or sometimes called gym ball, is a ball from 1 to 10 kg that will make your sessions much more fun and entertaining. This accessory will work your tonicity, it will allow you to burn many more calories than during a traditional exercise. Obviously, depending on the weight you choose, your exercises will be a little more difficult to perform. Much simpler than a fitness machine, the gym ball is easy to transport at home or at 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 very good for the cardio and will make you progress in record time. It allows you to work a wide variety of muscles, but also, thanks to the catching gesture, 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 its worth 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 the straps and hooks is to facilitate the grip of the bar or the dumbbell for all the exercises of pulling. more precisely when the load is pulled by the arms. They help improve strength while not straining the forearm muscles, which may be tired before the targeted muscle in question is.

As a result, you may stop the exercise before you finish your number of reps. Many people have experienced difficulty with grip on the barbell and have had to stop their workout early. In order to solve this problem, it is recommended to use bodybuilding straps. These will make it easier for you to hold on to the bar and therefore be able to work longer without feeling pain or discomfort in the palm of your hand.

Whether you work in pronation or supination, this little accessory in any fitness bag will save the day more than once. All you need to learn beforehand is how to attach it properly, in order to optimize its effect. The bodybuilding pull-up hook works in the same way, but with an easier attachment. It will allow you to maintain your positions more easily during the exercises of maintenance of the load. Your bending movement will be more fluid, without the fear of the bar slipping through your fingers. You will 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 is the arm blaster? Why use the arm blaster ?

Like the previous accessory, it is to be used in the gym or at home if you have your own gym or at least if you have a bar or dumbbells at home. When you do weight training exercises to build up your arms, this accessory can help you in the congestion of your arm muscles. It ranks high on the list of cheap weight training equipment that improves the results of working out at home. The goal is to isolate your biceps or triceps so that it works more intensely and specifically when you lift weights with a curl bar.

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.

With this, your workouts will focus on your biceps or triceps, as you choose. Thus, they will gain mass much faster. And since these muscles are essential for the figure, it is imperative to work them first. To build up your arms at the gym or in a home gym program, you need this revolutionary accessory. You can now test it during your next weight training session at home. Its price being very accessible, you will not take any risk when trying it and training with it. It is one of the most fashionable sports equipment and one of the favorites of top athletes. This accessory is available here 

Conclusion: all that is missing is rigour and motivation

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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