I hope to have the space and money for a versatile home gym one day. In the meantime, however, I can only plan what would go in my perfect home gym. This article outlines my ideal home gym in all its simplistic grandiose.

My view on fitness training favors simplicity. I think the general theme should favor utility and stay away from clumsy infomercial equipment.

I plan on updating this list when I change my mind but here it is for now.

1. Dumbells

I think dumbbells are superior to barbells in almost every aspect. The extra balance and control required makes more supporting muscles involved in dumbbell lifts. Dumbbells also often result in a larger range-of-movement — for example, chest press with a barbell stops at chest whereas dumbbell chest press you are able to go slightly below chest level. And dumbbells are easier to use if you workout without a spotter — for example, when doing squats to muscular failure you can just drop them safely.

A set can be very expensive and take a lot of room. I would love to have something like a SelectTech dumbbell, an adjustable dumbbell. I’ve never used one, however, and in pictures they look bulky and unwieldy so maybe they are not worth the high price.

2. Incline/decline bench

No barbell rack, it is not needed — see next item. If one wanted a revised list I’d probably just stick with 1 and 2. You can use dumbbells and a bench for a very good full body workout. For example, legs would include dumbbell lunges/squats/side-squats and step-ups onto bench/step.

3. Rubber olympic weight set

The amount of weight — for me — would probably be around 500lbs to ensure I have enough 45s for heavy squats. The rubber ones are more expensive but allow you to drop the weight easily if need be. Although dumbells are all that I think one needs barbells ad the ability to do a lot of classic lifts: bench press, squats, deadlifts, etc. And to do a larger variety of exercises.

4. Power rack

If used correctly this is like having your own spotter. You can also do pullups and leglifts in this thing, and with some clever rigging or attachements, dips.

5. Elliptical

I love this for cardio. Treadmills just jar my body — mainly knees — too much but ellipticals are very easy to do.

6. A step

Adjustable height. You can do a lot of very cool leg exercises with this and they are fairly cheap.

7. TV and/or stereo

For me, distraction is a must during cardio. Some people are good at drifting off to some happy place inside their mind, but I’m just not there yet.

And of course I’m very interested in what your ideal gym look like so please chime in with what the perfect home gym for you would include.