This goes for many little corners being transformed into a new home gym. Some of my favorite moments during this crazy time are spent in my home office/gym with the music blasting as I drop into my body and out of my head…if only for a moment to escape. Here are my current home workout faves.

Yoga mat

My 4mm of yoga mat cushion is like home to me. It’s been on many worldly adventures, it has crossed the globe, and it always comes right back to California ready to hold me when I need a good yoga practice, a meditation session or even a good cry. HOME, I tell you. If you don’t know what kind of mat you’re after, I wrote a guide to yoga mats here.

Yoga blocks

I was always that yogi who never wanted a block in class as if I was too advanced or something. HA. Ego, step down. Yoga blocks allow for correct alignment, for deepening your practice and for an all around more comfortable session. You can place them on one of three different height settings (pictured above is the middle height). A few different options present themselves here such as cork blocks or foam blocks – I choose foam 🙂

Yoga strap

Talk about deepening a stretch! Yoga straps are an extremely useful tool when it comes to flexibility. *SO* often I hear from people who want to get into yoga but can’t because they “aren’t flexible enough.” Excuse me for raising the volume but THIS IS WHAT THE PRACTICE WILL GIVE YOU. Say hello to flexibility. Straps are so versatile from stretching tight hamstrings after a long run, assisting in finding the length in a difficult yoga pose, and helping to keep your arms together in a handstand.

DumbBells

I’m always looking to increase my upper body strength and tone my arms. On a normal day, lifting bags into an overhead bin + the high to low push up during yoga is about all I get! I love these little 3 lb weights, and I’ve come to learn that you don’t need heavy dumbbells to tone, build and strengthen. Instead, the number of reps and pace are what matter. To each their own.

Resistance tube

Talk about versatility and easy ability to throw in a suitcase. This single resistance tube can work many parts of the body such as the biceps by standing on one end of the resistance band and pulling upwards, the triceps by securing the tube to the upper frame of a door, or even the back by performing delt raises.

Booty bands

These booty bands hurt so good. What I like about them (on most days lol) is that the resistance is constant, which forces me to use more muscle groups and helps to improve my coordination and balance while building strength. They also weight next to nothing, making for the perfect travel buddy.

Stability ball

I love this thing so much. So many exercises can be done with the exercise ball such as placing it between the legs for leg lifts, propping yourself on top for abdominal work, placing both feet on the ball in and out of full extension for full body workout, the list goes on. Even if you don’t want to exercise on it, try using it as an alternative office chair. It’ll work your core as you work from home. I have the 65 cm ball.

Jump rope

If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your own home for cardio, the jump rope is a perfect exercise that allows you to stay in one spot 🙂 It gets the heart rate going and the sweat dripping.

Muscle roller

If you’re into deep tissue massages, this one’s for you. I have the RumbleRoller which is a tool designed to mimic a thumb-like, deep tissue massage pressure. This effect helps to break up knotted muscle fibers, decrease muscle tension and diminish tightness. This roller is more aggressive than most conventional foam rollers and is able to get deeper in the muscle fascia to reach the toughest trigger points.