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Introduction
Looking for home gym Christmas ideas? With the Christmas season approaching, gym additions have taken over my Christmas list. Typically gym equipment is too expensive to be gifted, and the small items that are put on these stocking stuffer blogs are filled with things we don’t actually want.
The following items are on my actual list this year, and they are all reasonably affordable. I would definitely not consider this one of those “holiday gift guides.”
So here is my list of home gym items for the holiday season, all under $100:
- Bare Steel Equipment: Selector Pin
- Koala3DDesigns: Magnet Phone Spotter
- Rogue: Knee Sleeves
- Caffeine & Kilos and Rogue: apparel
- Mag Grips
- Massenomics: Drink Spotter
- Darko: Barbell Anchor
The Home Gym Christmas List
Some of the items are a specific want/need to my space and my training preferences, while some of these items would be great for anyone with a home gym.
Bare Steel Gym Pin
After recently adding a selectorized lat pulldown to my gym, I wanted to add a new magnetized pin. I wanted to do this for 2 reasons. The first is that the pin that came with the piece does not stay in the holes tight, especially when my kids steal it. The second reason is that the Bare Steel pins look amazing, and adding small details can make big differences to your space.
There are a lot of variations to the pins (length, finishes, etc), so be sure to be specific if you are adding one to your list. You can also get them customized as well. The bare steel finish starts at $35, but more than doubles if you get a specific finish.
*Bare Steel has plate loadable pins that allow you to add extra weight to your selectorized stacks with weight plates. My lat pulldown has a heavy enough stack with a 1:1 ratio, and I don’t see a huge need to change in minor increments, so I have little need for a loadable pin. If you do, they are worth checking out.
Magnet Phone Spotter
Having a spot to set my phone that isn’t a shelf filled with a bunch of other odds and ends is something that I wanted. The magnetic phone spotter from Koala3DDesigns allows you to use the metal that already fills your gym to give your phone a designated home.
The phone spotters are customizable. You can change their colors and add a personalized logo as well. The price for the spotter is $45 from his Etsy shop.
Knee Sleeves
I used to have a pair of Rehbans (knee sleeves) back when I was just squatting for leg days, but when I started training Olympic weightlifting, I switched to wraps. With the way I train now, wrapping my knees for my 3-4 sets of squats every leg day has been inconvenient. Rogue sells knee wraps in pairs (rather than Rehbans selling them in singles) and different thicknesses.
The 5mm sleeves are $65, and they come in different colors. They are also a part of the ‘3 Ships Free’ promotion from Rogue.
Gym Apparel
Even when I’m not in the gym, I always wear gym apparel. My favorites are Caffeine & Kilos and Rogue. Caffeine and Kilos have their traditional arch design, as well as some pretty cool t-shirt designs that I continue to collect. They also are known for their coffee and other gym-related items. Rogue hoodies and joggers are very high quality, but not quite as much as expensive as Nike and other big-name brands.
Mag Grips
Mag grips are some of the most popular cable attachments and my personal favorites. The issue is that there are a lot of different variations of the grips. Last year I was gifted my two favorites, and I added another to my list this year.
The price for the grips ranges from $60-$75 per attachment.
Additions
I wanted to mention two other unique options that would have made my personal Christmas list if I were able to use them with my equipment. These are things that I wish I had the equipment to use them with, and that would fit my Christmas list budget.
Drink Spotter
From the guys at Massenomics comes the drink spotter, which is a rack-attached cup holder. With its all-metal construction and laser-cut logo, it is something that is unique and useful.
On the pricey side of a cup holder, it would be perfect to put on a gift list. The price is $60. It can be tough to buy it yourself, but it is definitely worth having and a great gift to receive.
The reason it doesn’t make my Christmas list is that this product is made for 3×3 racks, and I lift with a 2×2 rack.
Barbell Anchor
Darko Lifting recently came out with a really smart product to store extra barbells or bulky specialty barbells in the space of your rack. The Barbell Anchor allows you to store 2 barbells across the top of your squat rack. Those with safety squat bars or the Marrs Bar find it extremely convenient to store these bulky barbells.
The Barbell Anchor is $89, but you need to be able to have cross members with hardware storage (holes). You also need to have a tall enough rack where the barbells can be stored, and you can still lift comfortably underneath them, which is why they won’t work for me. While I would love to store barbells above my rack, I lift in the basement with a short rack, and my rack does not have cross members with holes for hardware.
Conclusion
These are the items that made my actual Christmas list this year, and they all revolve around my home gym. While I will likely only see 2 of these items under the tree this year, my wife likes to have options, and maybe it gave you some ideas as well.