Gym Gear Guides: What to Buy and What to Skip

Every pick here is judged on what it does for a session. Where we think something is a waste of money we say so, and where the data is thin we say that too.

Fitness trackers and bands

Wrist bands that count steps, sleep and heart rate without costing watch money.
Read the guide

Training smartwatches

Full watches for people who lift and want the session logged properly.
Read the guide

Training accessories

The small things that decide whether a session runs well: grip, hydration, kit.
See the picks below

Home gym equipment

Bars, racks and flooring, ordered by what to buy first rather than what pays best.
Read the guide

How These Picks Get Made

Two rules, and they are the reason some obvious products are missing. A product only appears once someone has opened its live listing and read the specification back, so nothing here is recommended from memory. And a category stays off this page until it has either a guide or a pick worth naming, because a tile that leads nowhere wastes your click and tells you nothing.

We earn a commission if you buy through these links, which changes nothing about what gets recommended. The full disclosure spells out how that works. If you are still choosing between training at home and paying for a membership, the cost breakdown is the better place to start than any shopping list.