For those living in an apartment, there may not be space for a bench. In this case, you can still get a decent workout in using just a pair of adjustable dumbbells. You can get the fixed weight dumbbells, but you’ll need several different weights in order to work everything, and that defeats the purpose of taking up as little space as possible.

With just a pair of dumbbells and a bit of floor space, you can do bicep curls, shoulder presses, tricep extensions, lunges, squats and rows. These work many muscle groups. While you may not be able to lift as hard as you could within a proper gym, you can still build muscle tone. The chest can be worked with the old faithful of exercises, the pushup. And the abs generally do not require any fancy equipment anyways.

With a bit more money and a higher budget you should invest in a bench and a barbell. Now you can start working your chest harder. A bench also allows you to do dumbbell fly, and pull-overs. Make sure you select a sturdy enough bench to support your weight and the weight that you are lifting.

Another useful (and cheap) piece of equipment is the chin-up bar. By installing this into a crossbeam or door frame, you can focus on some of those activities that work the muscles that are harder to push with just a bench.

Finally, it is possible to blow thousands of dollars on multi-station pulley equipment or the types of things you see on infomercials. Honestly, you will get far more bang for your buck with the simple bench. If you want to work hard enough to require that much equipment, you will be better off joining a gym.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty with working out from home is maintaining the discipline required. It is far too easy to get distracted in your own house. If this is what you need to do, then you will want to have a set time that you can workout everyday. Exercise without the TV on, unless you are watching some kind of workout program, in order to reduce distractions.

The advantage of the gym is that you are surrounded by people who are there for the same reason. Thus, you can use their efforts to push yourself harder and accomplish more. There is also the added benefit of the better level of safety involved when there is someone else present.