All My Favorite At-Home Workout Tools for Less Than $25

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I have bittersweet news that is mostly sweet: Soon, I will have a Tonal, one of those ultra-modern tablets that attaches to your wall and uses magnets to create resistance that mimics the use of a cable machine at the gym. I'm getting it so I can review it for you, which is good news for us all, but it's going to render a lot of my other at-home workout equipment useless for a while, so I want to take some time to memorialize the inexpensive tools I have accumulated that make even the most basic yoga on my living room floor a better experience.

While I am pumped to have the Tonal, which costs about $4,000 depending on which sales may or may not be running, the truth is I got a lot accomplished with personal workout equipment that all cost less than $25. Here's what I think you should get if you're trying to level up at your exercise from home, like I've been trying to.

Pilates tools have been most useful

It's no secret that I am a diehard Peloton fan and use my Bike and the company's app every single day. It just has so much to do, from walking to running to stretching to yoga. I've thoroughly enjoyed working my way through every class category, but in the end, we are all creatures of habit and inevitably return to what we like best. For me, that's Pilates. I go to fancy reformer studios around Manhattan, take mat Pilates class at my gym, and, naturally, follow guided Pilates classes through my Peloton app and even on platforms like YouTube. It is entirely possible to find and complete classes that don't involve any equipment, but I find those boring.

Thus, the best purchases I've made toward my little at-home exercise station have been my Pilates accessories. First up, I got a cushy mat. If you are into yoga or Pilates, you know that there are pros and cons to a squishier, thicker mat. The main pro—that it doesn't hurt my butt or knees to do exercises on the floor—outweighs the cons, like the fact that I have to be slightly more careful and brace myself just a bit more to stay stable on the less sturdy surface. If stability is an issue for you, you might want a thinner mat, but I got this thick one, which is about $16.

The real success came when I got a Pilates hoop and ball.

RitFit Pilates Ring Circle (Pink)

$21.99 at Amazon

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$21.99 at Amazon

These were not entirely necessary, of course; you can do a perfectly adequate workout without them. Moreover, I went cheap—like really cheap—so I ended up having to blow up the ball with a straw and attach the grip pads to the hoop myself. Not the end of the world, but not as luxurious as I like my Pilates-related activities to be, either. That said, these did make my non-home Pilates activities better. I have brought them with me to mat Pilates in addition to using them along with Peloton and YouTube workouts, meaning I don't have to use the balls, hoops, or mats anyone else has sweated on.

The mat is multi-purpose, too. I use it when I do strength training and when I do at-home yoga. I also picked up some yoga blocks, which have helped me when I'm on my own in addition to when I take classes in a studio or the gym. Here, I hesitate to recommend my cheapies fully, though. Unlike some blocks I've used at the studio, mine aren't very dense or textured. They're a bit flat, light, and almost slippery. I did, in fact, fall off one during a hot yoga session at a new studio a few weeks back. I chalk this up mostly to operator error because I'm simply not a graceful person and that goes double when I'm covered in sweat, but I do think if I had some higher-quality blocks, it might not have happened. Keep that in mind when going cheap, though I'll say I haven't had any other issues with my inexpensive goods.

The secret home gym holy grail

I have gotten a lot of other weird, single-use, and niche home workout products and I won't lie: I don't really touch them. I got this resistance band/squat bar combo, for instance, and it's sat idle for months because it just could never replicate what I'm able to access in the gym or even by using dumbbells at home.

On the other hand, dumbbells seemed inaccessible to me for home use for a while because, as you can see, I am a cheap person and the higher the weight gets, the higher the price goes with it—at least at Target or on Amazon. Unwilling to pay more than $25, I assumed I'd be capped out at five-pound weights forever and only ever use dumbbells at the gym. But then, by pure chance, I found myself in a Five Below last week.

Reader, they have dumbbells. Do they ever have dumbbells. There are dumbbells and kettlebells up to 10 pounds and each is $10 or less. They also have resistance bands, lifting gloves, wrist weights, an ill-advised "thigh trainer," and more, all at that same price point or below. If you're looking to add a bit of spice to your home workout setup, get to Five Below because nothing there will break the bank.

Why this works

I try to get to the gym or a boutique studio at least four times per week, but that requires a lot of motivation and planning—which working out at home requires even more of, in my opinion, so when I do that, I need to buckle down and force myself. You'd think it would be easier, since I don't have to go anywhere, but it's harder because I can simply choose to stay on my couch. Having access to equipment that can enhance my time working out at home motivates me and makes the process of setting up, finding a video to follow, and actually completing some exercises feel more worth it. It wasn't expensive to build my arsenal, but if it had been, it still would have been worth it.

Covered at home or at the gym. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

And, yes, all my exercise equipment is pink. I'll do me; you do you.

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