Hey,
I train at home and I only own the basic stuff: squat rack, barbell, bench, pull up bar and weights.
It gets the work done, but it gets pretty stale and not very exciting.
So what are some affordable items that allows for some variation?
Same situation here. Home gym for the last 4 years.
I typically try to get the variation and excitement into conditioning and accessory lifts. And sometimes I have to do completely different programming for a little while. 1. Kettlebell HIIT is a lot of fun and killer. I focus on power based movements such as snatch, hang clean, jump squats, push press. Power movements are fun. KBs are not really cheap, but you really only need 1 KB if you get the right weight. I have an Amazon basics 35 lb KB ($40). At this point, it is a bit on the light side and I wish it were heavier. However, it was definitely the right weight for learning the movements. At the end of a HIIT, it gets pretty heavy.
2. I also made a sled that I can pull with a strap outside. This only cost me time since I pulled the supplies out of scrap material.
3. Dip station, $50 bucks for free standing or $38 if you can screw them to a wall (Amazon.com : Goplus 2 Pull up Bar Chin up Station Wall Mounted Home Gym Exercise Workout Equipment (2 Pieces) : Sports & Outdoors)
4. A decent set of bands can be had for ~$20 and really opens up some more varied accessory work. Most things that can be done with cable machines can be done with bands. A little fussier than cables, but a lot cheaper.
5. I also find doing a variation of the main lifts for a few weeks a few times a year helps. For example, switch to front squats and incline/decline bench exclusively for 2 or 3 weeks. Cost is zero if you just prop your regular bench.
6. For slight programming variation, I dont know why, but the experience of doing 8/6/6/4 reps is very different than doing 4 sets of 6. I’m sure if that is optimizing training time with the alternate rep scheme, but it is certainly better than not getting the work done because you are bored.
A 200lbs set of spinlock dumbbells off Amazon is pretty cheap. Ezcurl bars are inexpensive too. You can make a pulley system for your rack to do pulldowns and such for like $80 between pulleys, cable and attachments.
I would also add sandbags if that’s your thing. I’ve got a few of them that I like to take outside for conditioning work. I also have cones I don’t know your living situation but for me I use them outside for agility work and it adds a nice change of pace. Other than that I just have the squat rack as a deadlift platform with band attachments (see Alan Thrall’s video on YouTube for how to make each of those)