Getting fit on your New Year’s resolutions list? How to start a home gym on the cheap

Not everyone wants to exercise in public, whether that’s using a gym, going to classes, or even jogging around the block. 

As an alternative, home gyms don’t have to entail major financial investments. Experts say just a few pieces can have a big impact on your workout, even with limited space.

For Cole MacCara, a personal trainer and founder of Vancouver’s ColeMacFitness, a simple and cost-effective “home gym” could be as little as three pieces: resistance bands, hip circle bands, and a kettlebell. A hip circle band is a short, thick resistance band that goes around your thighs, and assists with lower-body exercises.

“Are you going to be able to become a body builder with that? Probably not,” MacCara said. “But is it going to allow you to get some exercise in, keep you moving, burn some calories, and maybe add a little bit of fun or competition with yourself? Yeah, totally.”

For someone with limited time and budget, bands and bells up the challenge of simple exercises at home, are versatile, accessible, and have countless online videos of workouts using them. 

You can also up the intensity for cardio just by moving faster, MacCara pointed out.

“The high impact is going to be dependent on how hard you’re willing to work, or how hard you know how to work,” he said. 

“But honestly, all you would need is those three things. If your budget is $200: one kettlebell, one set of resistance bands, one set of hip circles.”

In fact, you could potentially pull those items together for around $100.

Tina Costanza, a Toronto-based editor and content marketer, started her fitness journey at 40.

Her dad had died a few years earlier and she wanted to improve her health, starting with exercise and eating habits. She later graduated to a 10K run, and then obtained certifications as a running coach and nutrition coach.

Costanza has a dedicated area of her apartment where she exercises with a few pieces of equipment. Her favourites are dumbbells, a weighted vest, and a walking pad, which is like a slower and lighter treadmill. 

If she were recommending pieces for a home gym on a budget, she would go with resistance bands, adjustable dumbbells, and jump rope.

“You get a nice bit of variety there, and you can use those to do your resistance work, you can build your strengths,” Costanza said. 

“Rather than buying dumbbells of different weights — adjustable dumbbells, you can replace multiple weights and you can save space at the same time.” 

Jump rope is great for cardio, and if the slapping sound on the floor is an issue for others in your space, you can skip rope on a yoga mat or small rug. Jump rope is also easily portable and stored afterwards, Costanza noted. 

“As are the resistance bands,” she added. “Once you’re done with them, throw them in a drawer and you’re good to go.”

Other relatively inexpensive pieces are stability balls — sit on one while you’re working at a laptop — or the aforementioned weighted vest — wear it during chores — and if your budget is very tight, you can find secondhand options on Facebook Marketplace, Karrot or Kijiji. Or buy them on clearance during post-holiday sales, Costanza said. 

Good form takes practice and research, and MacCara preaches quality over quantity when it comes to workouts. 

If you have workplace benefits coverage, you can even do a “discovery session” with a physiotherapist to work on your form, he said.

“Physios are really knowledgeable in terms of core activation and making sure you’re engaging your core properly,” MacCara said.

“I think the biggest thing for anyone who’s learning is to know what a neutral spine looks like and to know how to maintain a neutral spine in many different positions. It’s going to be a little different for everyone.”

There are videos online that explain good form, and if you are able to exercise in front of a mirror, that is helpful. But MacCara pointed out you can also record a video of yourself and then compare your form to trainers online. 

You can compare new videos to older videos of yourself to see if you’re making progress too.

“You want to be able to see what good technique looks like, but you also want to feel what good technique is,” he said, “and that just comes through practice.”

“We’re not seeking perfection,” MacCara added. “We’re looking for good enough.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2025.