I love working out and moving my body outside—it is my preferred mode of exercise, but the current climate both literally and figuratively has made that almost impossible. That, paired with my desire to do more toning and weight-lifting focused workouts has created a unique problem for me and my studio apartment. Because it’s not like I can just bring a weight rack into my fourth-floor apartment and call it a day.

So, after a lot of research, some great online guidance ( I love Rae’s Dabbler Program) and classes from personal trainers, I have narrowed down my top tiny home gym products.

First, you need a high-quality workout mat.

Why? Because life is so much easier when you’re not struggling with a cheap foam mat disintegrating below your knees while you’re in child’s pose. Trust me. I have the Lululemon yoga mat and it’s 8 years old. It’s durable, non-slip, and easy to clean.

Bands & More Bands:

With the great shortage of dumbells in 2020 still largely in effect, I was given the advice to switch to bands. Not only are they easier to store, but they are wildly more versatile and adaptable to almost any skill level. This set has accessories to attach to your door for more range of exercises and has detachable handles.

The other set is pretty self-explanatory and comes in handy on the vibrational plate when doing leg exercises.

Red Light Therapy:

I was missing Orange Theory, so I decided to invest in this… Just kidding. I love getting a full-body workout in while also giving myself some light therapy. You can read more about the benefits of red light therapy here. Because the red light I currently have isn’t the highest quality, I use it more as ambient light, not as a spot treatment. So, I love that I’m getting a full-body dose of red light while I’m working out. I am hoping to upgrade to a Gembared panel later this year.

Massage Gun:

While healing my thyroid and working on a few gut issues, I took time off from my more intense workouts. So now anytime I work out, my muscles get really sore. This helps with recovery in between workout days (I am for 3-4 days a week) and is a great ritual to do before bed. I have seen a lot of improvement with my muscle tone when I use this regularly after workouts. I have tried a lot of the more expensive massage guns on the market, and yes—they are better. But this model fit my needs and my price point. I’ve had it for over a year and it still works as well as the day I bought it.

LifePro Vibrational Platform:

I am pretty sure this is the most compact full body workout device on the market. The vibrational aspect of this device helps to challenge and ignite micro muscles you may not know are there and create a more challenging workout for those typical static bodyweight poses. Some days I just alternate between squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, and tricep dips and I am tapped out after 20 mins on that platform. LifePro has many videos to help guide you through various workouts on their machine. I decided to go with the Rumblex 4D model because it had all 3 variations of vibration and the added armband attachments for arm workouts. I spent a year researching and weighing the pros and cons of this device. I love how quiet it is, the vibrational platform does not touch the ground and it comes with a pad that you can place underneath to help muffle the sound. I keep my platform out to encourage me to use it (even as a recovery device, just standing on it), but it does have an easy roll feature to store it under your bed or couch.

The Biomat:

I jokingly call this my apartment sauna, because I get so many similar benefits from my Biomat. I wrote more info on the Biomat technology and infrared heat here. Typically, how I’ll use my Biomat is as my final recovery therapy after an intense workout. I’ll have it heating up while I work out and then immediately rinse off and jump on the Biomat and relax for 20-30 mins. Almost exactly how I would use a sauna at the gym, and yet this can fold up and fit nicely under my bed when not in use!

Online classes & Youtube are your friends:

A few of my favorite online classes and finds:

Roar Fitness posts all of her Instagram Live living room workouts onto IGTV. They’re all extremely accessible and easy to modify.
Ladies Who Lift Rae is a wealth of information and has a lot of great posture and form videos on her Instagram. Her Dabbler program is also very unique and one of the best online coaching programs out there. She has an at home and a gym option.
Sara Beth Yoga there are a lot of options on youtube when it comes to yoga, but I find Sarah Beth always has the most variety and great quality flows that leave you feeling alive and stretched out.
LifePro Workout so many great workout options on here to get you familiar with the platform and using it to your benefit. Most workouts are able to be adapted to any model of Lifepro platform.
MadFit quick, usually equipment-free workouts with a lot of variety.

Let me know in the comments if you have a life-changing apartment workout hack!