Standard gyms with standard gym equipment are becoming a dying breed, with many of the typical machine oriented gyms struggling to retain members and make ends meet.  People are moving in droves towards alternatives such as bootcamps, CrossFit and garage gyms, a trend that is seeing what would once have been considered very unconventional gym equipment such as Kettlebells appearing in large chain gyms like Fitness First and Virgin Active.

The following is a list of some great "alternative" gym equipment for gyms of any size and personal training studios, plus some ideas on how to use them.  There is an emphasis on the amount of space these pieces of equipment take up because space in any sort of training facility is usually at a premium, so equipment that is space efficient and has many uses is the smart way to go.

The Torsonator

The Torsonator is compact, relatively easy to move around (so can be stored elsewhere when not being used) and has the benefit of being able to be used by up to 4 people simultaneously (you can get extra barbell sleeves for the Double Torsonator).  It also allows you to perform a huge range of exercises and work the entire body, so is a far better use of space than a piece of gym equipment that only performs one function.

Gymnastic Rings

Gymnastic rings are a more versatile and cheaper alternative to the popular TRX.  All you need is somewhere to hang them, and as they're easy to put up/take down or simply slide out of the way they need only take up precious space when they're actually being used.  The rings are certainly a valuable piece of gym equipment for any training facility that it tight on space.

Here are some great ring training routines:

Aquabags

Aquabags are fun and easy to use.  A couple of gyms have even started up Aquabag classes because they are such a versatile piece of gym equipment and you can get a full body workout in a small amount of space.  They take up a bit more room to store than The Torsonator or gymnastic rings, but you could store plenty of them in the space taken up by a treadmill and get a lot more out of them.

Some Aquabag training ideas:

Clubbells

 

While kettlebells are becoming more and more popular in gyms, clubbells are still catching on.  Clubbells are great for building shoulder, elbow and wrist stability, strength and mobility but aren't limited to those areas - you can get a full body workout using clubs.  So, the clubbells are yet another great piece of multi-talented gym equipment that provide more bang for buck that most mainstream machines and take up a lot less space.

Here are some ways to use clubbells:

More Info

For more information on the above gym equipment or to find other ideas on alternative gym equipment click here.

Tags: torsonator Australia Torsonator The Torsonator gymnastic rings gymnastic ring training gym equipment crossfit gym equipment clubbells bootcamp gym equipment body weight Aquabags Aqua Bags Aqua Bag training