What is the most important piece of equipment to have in a gym? Yesterday one of my clients mentioned that he was listening to a podcast with the creator of the TRX suspension straps and he could not believe that he said they were still rising in popularity. I told him that some gyms exist that only have TRX straps. I said if I only had one implement it would be dumbbells. That was yesterday. If I had to choose today it would be kettlebells. Some days it would be resist ... ance bands. Some days it would be barbells with plates. The good thing is you do not have to choose and only have 1 kind of equipment. Why would I choose these things though if I had to?

I would choose dumbbells as you can do light and heavy exercises, you can do upper body lifts lower body lifts, and some core work. You can get some conditioning stuff in as well with things like dumbbell snatches and dumbbell carries.

Today I would choose kettlebells as they are much better for conditioning purposes in my opinion than dumbbells. Kettlebell cleans, snatches, swings, high pulls are all amazing exercises. You can still carry them, do raises, curls, 1 arm presses, bench presses, turkish getups, windmills, and a host of other exercises. A kettlebell snatch is much different than a dumbbell snatch. It feels better to overhead press a kettlebell than a dumbbell. It feels better doing a triceps extension with a kettlebell than a dumbbell. Some lifts are better with the dumbbell though like a curl.

Why would I choose resistance bands? Well they are the most versatile training tool in the world! You can put 1 in your pocket. You can have 6 or so and have an entire training arsenal in a gym bag. You can do corrective exercises, core work, upper body, lower body, dynamic stuff, power stuff, metabolic, strength, partner work. In addition the possibilities are endless and lots of them are fun. I know of at least 200 and possibly 300 band exercises. The band man Dave Schmidtz knows of over 2000. Also bands can make you much more athletic than the other implements and you can regain lost mobility especially through the hips. latest best collections dressed for prom party

The barbell is my best friend sometimes when I want to lift really heavy stuff. You cannot bench, deadlift, squat, or row hundreds of pounds with bands, and it is really hard to do those things with dumbbells or kettlebells. My biggest dumbbell is 80 pounds and my biggest kettle bell is 53 pounds. It is very rare to find a gym with kettlebells over 80 pounds and also rare to find gyms with dumbbells over 120 pounds. It would be hard to get stronger after a certain point with just bands, dumbbells, or kettlebells.

What one piece of equipment would you have and why? What do you have right now in your home gym? What do you use the most at the gym you belong to? Why do you use it?