Best Workout Gear For Beginners

So you want to get fit and you figure bagging yourself a few staple pieces of equipment and a couple of pairs of decent quality leggings will encourage you to keep it up. A fantastic idea!

Now you just need to figure out which products are going to get you the best quality at the most affordable price - you know, in case in three weeks’ time you realise it’s really not for you and resent yourself for spending all that money on something you had no hope of seeing through…

Luckily for you, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve put together a small list of some great bits and pieces to help get you started that should see you through your gateway into fitness and beyond. Everything on this list is between £5.99 - £42 and many of these items bring a certain convenience and quality that may just help you stick with it a little longer this time around.

Booty Bands

If growing a booty worthy of Beyoncé is your goal - and let’s be honest here, it is for most of us gals – then a good set of booty bands is essential! These resistance bands are a great way to take leg day up a notch (or five) and can be used to increase the difficulty of a range of moves from hip thrusts to donkey kicks to glute bridges, by adding extra intensity.

You can find a great selection of resistance bands online for a reasonable price but be sure to steer away from rubber bands. Whilst these can be a cost-effective option for beginners they are not a good investment in the long run, as you’ll quickly tire of the bands sliding up your legs during exercises or snapping back as you take them off.

Instead, go for a more durable fabric-based band with a rubber grip on the inner surface, such as the Core Balance Resistance Hip Bands featured here. These bands offer 3 levels of resistance - light, medium & hard - and you can rest assured they won’t be pinging up your legs anytime soon. Available in 3 energising colours, or 3 shades of grey for something more subtle.

Buy now for £12.99 – Core Balance Fitness

Dumbbells

When we talk about strength training often one of the first images that comes to mind involves dumbbells. Adding a pair of handheld weights to your workout toolkit is a great shout – they’re effective, small enough to pack away neatly and can be used for a range of different exercises. The downside? The convenience of this handy bit of kit isn’t exactly cheap and the heavier the weights the more you can expect to pay for them.

A single pair of dumbbells could easily set you back more than £100 depending on the weight and brand. Fortunately, Argos has an affordable range to get you started. The 4kg pair pictured has a cast iron inner and is coated with non-slip neoprene for a comfortable grip. Their hexagonal shape also means they won’t roll away from you when you put them down – no one wants to be chasing runaway dumbbells mid-circuit!

Top tip – if you’re new to weight training, you’ll want to find out what weight is manageable for you whilst still being challenging but also (not wanting to sound like the fun police…) to make sure you’re familiar with how to safely perform exercises to prevent injury. A few sessions with a personal trainer is a great way to get to grips with things. Alternatively, you could go for an induction at your local gym or tag along with an experienced friend.

Buy now (from £5.99) - Argos

Resistance Cables

As we know, handheld weights can be exceedingly expensive, especially if you’re hoping to purchase multiple pairs of varying weights. Luckily, there are wallet-friendly alternatives that will help you save money and space, too. Getting yourself a set of resistance cables can be the perfect at-home alternative to expensive dumbbells.

The pictured set from FitBeast features five 48-inch cables of differing resistances, ranging from 10lb to 30lbs (colour-coded for ease). The stretchy cables have metal ring attachments at both ends for fitting the accompanying handles and accessories, which provides excellent versatility of use. Using the ring attachments, you can workout with any combination of the cables (up to 100lb if using all five cables!) to increase or reduce the strength needed to complete the exercise.

They’re great for arm and shoulder workouts, especially when using the door wedge attachment which gives a fixed point to work from, meaning you can perform lat pull-downs using your bedroom door, or rows for instance, without the need for expensive machines. You’ll also find velcro ankle straps included which can also be used with the door wedge to complete a range of leg exercises. This particular set also comes with a keep-safe bag and an instruction booklet to illustrate a range of cable exercises – a great piece of kit!

Buy now for £27.99 - Amazon

Kettlebell

If you’re after a cheap kettlebell to get you into the (ahem) swing of things, then look no further than Argos. Kettlebell swings are a great full body blast or you can use this bit of kit to target specific muscle groups by performing exercises such as upright rows, overhead presses, goblet squats and more.

Whilst there are more aesthetic kettlebells to be found online, in terms of size and perhaps colour, this was by far the cheapest kettlebell range I could find in the UK at the time of writing. For £8.99 you get a whole 4kg of kettlebell complete with vinyl handle for an easy grip - so embrace the pink and get after it!

Buy now for £8.99 - Argos

Running Shoes

The best pair of running shoes I have ever owned is hands down the HOVR Sonic 2 by Under Armour and although the RRP for these beauties is £105 you can often find them discounted to a much more wallet-friendly price. (Psst, they’re currently just £42 on Amazon!)

As the RRP would suggest, these sleek and stylish trainers are a sophisticated running pair, packed full of clever designs. They’re extremely lightweight with impressive sole and ankle support making them ideal for mid- to long-distance runs, but what really makes these trainers shine for me is the Record Sensor technology. This in-built tech tracks and analyses the data from your run, delivering real-time information to an app on your phone, such as distance, pace, stride length, etc, and provides tips for improving your technique.

In black, they pair beautifully with most casual outfits or they’re also available in 7 colours, so whatever your taste, you’re sorted.

My top tip? I like to go half a size up in running shoes for extra comfort. I’m usually a size 5 shoe but I wear these in a size 5.5 and they fit like a dream.

Buy now for £42 - Amazon

Active wear

There is a huge selection of active wear available – lots of good stuff but plenty of dud products, too. A personal favourite of mine (and one that won’t cost you an arm and a leg) is the Women’s Contrast Seamless fit from My Protein. This set is fully squat proof - I repeat, fully squat proof! - has stretch for days and is all-round flattering hugging you in all the right places. It’s also discounted at the time of writing, with the sports bra available for £12.99 and the leggings going for £16.99 – a total steal!

My Protein’s line of active wear often stands up well in comparison tests against higher end brands such as Sweaty Betty or Lulu Lemon. That said, wearing Lulu Lemons is like having a second skin - but your wallet may cry…

My Protein is one of those brands that seems to have a sale on every other week but if you’re not prepared to wait for a sale and just can’t commit to spending upwards of £30 on workout clothes then the active wear lines at H&M have always set me in good stead for a fraction of the price of official lines. Check out TK Maxx and JD Sports for top quality lines at discounted rates, too.

Top tip – wherever possible, try before you buy or read online reviews to check leggings are squat-proof!

Buy now for £12.99 and £16.99 – My Protein

This is not a paid post and I have not been gifted any of the items featured. I make these recommendations because I've found the particular products to be effective (and cost-effective) and want to share my thoughts and finds with you to help you get the most from your investments.

Stay happy, stay healthy!

Jay x