The Rack Workout. The Shake Weight. The Air Climber.

These are just a few of various exercise gimmicks you might spot on a late night infomercial. And usually a fitness model or celebrity demonstrates the ease of use this simple device or apparatus when compared to doing the more traditional exercises.

If you’re ever purchased one of these devices on your pursuit for a better body, don’t fret. It’s very easy to get caught up in the claims of getting a super body.

(Photo: Brett Jordan)

But if you really want to get in shape at home, this post will highlight a they type of equipment you equipment you can use to take your physique to the max.

What The Rack Workout Tries to Offer…

One of the things “The Rack” has to offer is that your training is, for the most part, reliant on body weight training. And, that’s not such a bad thing.

I’ve gotten in some pretty great workouts sans anything other than the resistance of my own body. For anyone who is impressed with the amount of time they can manage on a treadmill, or has a pretty low body fat percentage, just a few circuits of body weight training might deflate that bit of ego.

Time under tension is key to getting stronger muscles with the one option of resistance training. And, since most of the movements are compound exercises, getting more muscles involved at one time will enable one to see their gains in record time.

Here’s a list of some pretty intense body weight exercises:

• Spiderman Pushups
• Burpees
• Alternating Split Jump Squats
• Pullups
• Pistol Squat
• Mountain Climbers
• and the all-masterful Planche

Here’s the The Rack Workout Station Commercial

That’s a pretty cheesy commercial…so here’s the infomercial featuring the Bartendaz

How to Get In Shape From Home With Real Equipment

The first few pieces of equipment I gathered together when I started building my home gym was a solid set of dumbbells. I added in a few weights, and manged to bring along the bench I used at home when I was a kid. This was the beginning of my indoor quest.

Now I use a barbell, resistance bands, kettlebells, a stability ball and the forementioned equipment in my home gym, just to name a few. One that’s not included is the rack workout station.

Having the right equipment is to use is important to get the type of results you’re after. And, that’s exactly what the people behind the celebrity endorsed exercise products try to hook you in with. Almost every single product is either “compact, lightweight or easy to use.” What I find hilarious in the infomercials are the fitness models. They demonstrate the products with ease, yet always seem to struggle with the exercises they actually use to get in shape.

I’ve Complied an Gear List to Help Build Your Own Home Gym

Olympic Dumbbell Handles:

An Olympic Barbell:

An Adjustable Bench:

These are what I believe are essential for pulling together a fine starter home gym. You can really build some strong muscle with this basic setup.

Other add-on exercise gear would be a set of chairs for dips, a doorway pull up bar to really build up the back.

If you can afford a power rack into the equation, it’s such an exceptional piece of hardware that I’d certainly stand behind that. But, there’s the price and space equation that might leave a few goers on the sidelines.

For the purpose of squats, the Steinborn Lift is one that will get you loading up on heavier weight with ease.

This is just one option to help you in your quest to harnessing a body built from home. And there plenty of other pieces of workout equipment that I have left out of this post, but I thought it would be helpful for someone being tempted with a late-night purchase to see there a whole set of better options.

And going back to the Rack workout station: the thing is priced at $160. Yes, it offers thirty pounds of resistance, but once you need more weight the especially designed set of 5 lb. plates cost $19.99 plus $5.99 s&h. I’d have to be in super sleep deprived mode before I made that call.