21 Essential Personal Training Equipment Checklist (2024)

In this all-encompassing guide, we will not just show you the “must have” personal training equipment and why it applies, but also the best ones to purchase, reviewing costs, functionality, and reviews. You can then factor the personal training gym equipment into your fitness business plan and get your business off to the right start!

Aside from having all the necessary equipment, you also need the right qualifications! The best way to advance your knowledge is with our Level 4 Personal Trainer courses, starting with our Sports Nutrition Course.

Find out how else you can improve your service with by contacting our team and downloading our course prospectus here.

What Equipment Does a Personal Trainer Need?

Most serious fitness professional need certain pieces of apparatus to enable them to fulfil their job to the maximum and make money as a personal trainer. This applies mainly if you’re planning to deliver sessions in people’s homes, parks, beaches, in a gym or studio.

It needs to be: 

• Functional
• Cost Effective / Value for money
• Portable
• Durable
• Re-usable
• Safe

DISCLAIMER: OriGym does not partner or affiliate with any of the brands mentioned within this article and received no commission or “kick-back” from sales. This is entirely our own opinion on what we deem is the best value for money products available on the market.

Let’s jump straight into our personal trainer equipment starter kit….…. 

Resistance Bands

If you’re looking for the ultimate portable personal trainer equipment that costs barely anything, yet is functional and safe, then buying a range of resistance bands is right down your street! You can exercise the whole body, use them indoors, outdoors, in a studio, during classes or 1-2-1 sessions. Resistance bands are suitable for every type of trainer, whether you work in a gym, studio, train people in their homes or you want to use it as an piece of outdoor personal training equipment. You can use them on trees, playgrounds, other pieces of gym apparatus….the possibilities are endless!

Best Value for Money Resistance Bands:

1. Physix Gear Sport Resistance Loop Bands  

COST: £4.99

2. BESTOPE Resistance Band

COST: £6.99

Exercise Mats

If you’re a studio owner or freelance trainer a fundamental piece of mobile personal training equipment is the exercise mat! Studios and homes do not often have the most user-friendly surfaces to execute bodyweight exercises or yoga classes for example. You need a high-quality exercise mat or matts, if you intend to run workshops or classes, that are durable, comfortable, easy to grip and big enough for clients of all soma types. The exercise mat is perhaps not the most exciting in home personal training equipment, but arguably one of the most used!

1. Maximo Exercise Mat

COST: £16.97 

2. Core Balance Exercise Mat

Training Stopwatch

Every trainer needs a stopwatch! Yes, you can fiddle around with an IPad or phone, but a stopwatch is actually more reliable.  It doesn’t break easily, hardly ever runs out of battery or goes into sleep mode when you haven’t touched it for 30 seconds or so and looks more professional to the end client and those looking on when you’re training them. This is an essential piece of equipment for a personal trainer to motivate, analyse and time your clients and should be stuck to you like superglue!

See our recommended training stop watches here:

1. YONMIG Fitness Tracker

COST: £36.99

2. CkeyiN Professional Digital LCD Sports Stopwatch

COST: £18.99

Medicine Balls

Medicine balls are portable, very functional and suitable for client of every type of fitness goal and capability level.

Medicine balls utilise a high level of trunk activity and can move through more than one plane of motion so reducing the risk of injuries that other equipment can cause. They’re great for not just core based activities, but power development too through slamming and throwing in repetitions. Medicine balls are very durable and tend to have a long shelf life and suitable for all conditions so if you’re planning to take your clients outdoors their rubber exterior will be fine for snow, mud or any other terrain.  It’s made our list of essential personal training equipment as you can work almost any part of the body from legs, abs, shoulders, back….you name it!

It also makes a good piece of home personal training equipment that you can take to clients houses or place of work.

See our recommended medicine balls here:

1. Gold Coast 2kg - 10kg Heavy Duty Rubber Medicine Balls

COST: £24.99

2. FXR Sports Strength Premium Wall Ball Medicine Gym Balls

COST: FROM £19.99

You can learn more about using this equipment for your classes by reading these articles:

• Personal Trainer Challenges For Clients
• Personal Trainer SWOT Analysis
• Personal Trainer Business Checklist

Stethoscope & Aneroid Sphygmomanometer

Not all apparatus and tools at your disposal is for training purposes, you need to be prepared for all circumstances and be aware that you clients are going to be from all types of backgrounds, have various fitness levels and have varying health conditions.   

High blood pressure and heart related conditions are profound within a huge number of clients and you can help identify this through the utilisation and implementation of a aneroid sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. This fitness trainer equipment is an essential piece of the puzzle and could not just save your clients life potentially but keep you aware of exercises that they can or should not perform. 

See our recommended aneroid sphygmomanometer and stethoscope here:

1. Primacare Professional Blood Pressure Kit

COST: £19.99

2. NCD Aneroid Sphygmomanometer/Sprague Kit

Personal Training Software

This is 2024 and you need to ensure your PT business is ran smoothly, optimally and efficiently, so the next piece of personal trainer basic equipment, is not equipment in the traditional sense, it’s software!

How are you planning to manage your clients? your leads? your payment? Your programmes? You need PT software!

With personal training software you can drag and drop programmes, manage and communicate with your clients and leads, track and monitor, access extensive exerxisee libraries, take payments automatically and much, much more! See our list of the best PT software for a clearer understanding.

1. My PT Hub

COST: Sign up for FREE

2. Trainerize

COST: Sign up for FREE

Skipping Rope (Jump Rope)

It Seems skipping ropes have been around since the dawn of time and it’s not just children (and Rocky Balboa) that uses them! Skipping ropes are a cheap personal training equipment that is a great alternative cardiovascular exercise to running or cycling. Skipping helps to improve co-ordination, stamina and is less strenuous on your client's joints than running. It is applicable for all fitness levels and provided your training your client in rooms with high ceilings can be used in homes as well as outdoors. With long life spans if well maintained, the skipping rope is a go to for many new trainers on a budget and a more fun and engaging form of exercise for many clients.

See our recommended skipping ropes below:

1. Gritin Skipping Rope

COST: £6.99 

2. multifun Skipping Rope

COST: £13.99

Callipers

A key piece of essential personal trainer equipment is callipers, after all, you need to be able to track your clients physiological progress as they hit their goals. Callipers are the mlost accurate, cost-efficient and portable way of conducting body composition tests and a “must have” personal trainer equipment. 

Calliper testing does take practice but as long as you keep the variables the same every time you are testing your clients progress can be recorded. Measuring at the biceps, triceps, subscapular and superiliac, is more than enough to give you a good reading. Callipers often come with instruction guidance and are suitable for clients of every type and goal. 

See our recommended callipers below:

1. Vernier Caliper Gauge Measuring Tool

COST: £6.99

2. Digital Micrometers Vernier Caliper

COST: £22.99

Suspension Training Equipment

Another essential aspect of mobile personal training equipment is suspension straps.

Suspension Training dates back to the early 1800s and in modern form is a combination of ropes and straps that allow your client to leverage their body weight to act as the resistance.

Suspension training will help improve your clients core and limb strength as well as balance and co-ordination.  A sole TRX pulley and strap can virtually attach to anything, so whether you are looking to train clients outside, in a gym, or in your clients home it takes 10 seconds to put up and take down. This piece of apparatus does not cost much either which is why it’s made our list of key outdoor and home personal training equipment.

See our recommended suspension training equipment below:

1. Pro Suspension System Training Kit

COST: £32.99

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2. Bodyweight Resistance Training Straps

COST: £79.99

Stability Ball

This very well renowned piece of personal trainer gym equipment, which has been around for years and rightly so, is designed to develop core strength and balance. Through adapting your client’s position, you can alter the help and support offered by the ball when performing exercises. The great benefit of a stability ball is not that you can blow it up and flatten it in between sessions, making it a great piece of portable personal trainer equipment. They are also very costs effective too, probably the lowest on this list, making it essential equipment for a personal trainer, especially those on a budget!

See our recommended stability balls below:

 1. Trenas Gym Ball

COST: £18.90

2. Gymnic "Classic Plus 65" Ball

COST: £24.99

Battle Rope 

Arggh the battle rope!!.... If you have a designated functional space within a private studio or gym the battle rope should be one of the first pieces of personal training gym equipment on your check list.

Battle ropes can be utilised for tone, interval training or cardio and you can use them both within 1-2-1 workouts, as part of circuit or group PT class. They provide a dynamic workout for your clients and depending on the size of the one you purchase you can easily wrap and put into storage when you’re not using it to keep space free. When evaluating mobile personal training equipment, cost is always a factor and you can buy a decent battle rope that is transportable for under £100, making it great value for money!

Read more on the benefits of using Battle ropes here.

See our recommended Battle ropes below:

1. POWER GUIDANCE Battle Rope

COST: £54.99 - £119.99

2. Yaheetech Battle Rope

COST: £29.96

Boxing Pads and Gloves

Every client loves a bit of boxing and it’s the ideal travelling personal trainer equipment as there easy to transport, light, cheap, yet very effective. Boxing is not just fun and engaging, but it’s a great form of cardio, muscular endurance and stress relief. All you need is one pad and two gloves and you’re off, making it an essential piece of equipment needed for personal training. Whether you want to incorporate boxing into your one to one sessions with clients or run group-based training outdoors or in, make sure you grab your gloves today!

Recommended boxing Pads and gloves:

 1. RDX Boxing Pads and Gloves Set

COST: £31.99

2. Farabi Boxing Gloves

COST: £17.99

Foam Roller

Every studio and trainer needs a foam roller! They have a long-life span and are suitable to use as both home personal training equipment, gym or outdoor.

Foam rolling is like a deep tissue massage for your client’s muscles. It helps improve mobility, range of motion, relieves muscular soreness and aids recovery from intense sessions. Not just are foam rollers good for clients who are already suffering from muscle soreness, but you can use them as a cool down activity in a group environment or to correct postural anomalies. As foam rollers do not weight that much and are friendly to virtually all surfaces, they can be used as a piece of home personal trainer equipment as long as there is sufficient space. 

See our recomended foam rollers below:

1. Maximo Fitness Foam Roller

COST: £14.97

2. FX FFEXS Foam Roller

COST: £10.93

Kettlebells 

Personal trainer kettlebells are a fantastic piece of portable personal training equipment If you’re a mobile trainer who operates using the great outdoors such as parks and beaches or if you’re planning to start PT studio.

By having a light range from 2kg through to around 12kg you can transport them in your car without sustaining damage and since they are made of solid metal, they don’t lose value and are very difficult to “break”. Additionally, if you can run min Kettlebell classes or workshops making it an ideal piece of equipment for a personal training studio or freelance trainer.

Recommended Kettlebells:

1. UK Fitness Kettlebell Strength Training Kettlebells

COST: £31.99

2. JLL Neoprene Covered Kettlebells

COST: £15.99

Bosu Ball

Perhaps the most underrated piece of mobile personal trainer equipment is the Bosu ball! Often found in the corner of the gym accumulating dust!

The Bosu ball is a relatively new piece of apparatus founded back in 2008 that has now gone worldwide.  It will really help with clients that have weak cores, poor balance, movement or suffer from lower back pain. We have added this as an option to the list of essential personal trainer equipment as it offers soemthing different to your clients that not anything else on this list can match. You can easily deflate them and then pump them back up to make them easier to transport to clients homes. Additionally, they are waterproof, making them suitbale for all weather conditions, come rain, shine or sleet, which is great if you incorporate them into bootcamps or outdoor 1-2-1 sessions.

Recomended Bosu Balls:

1. BOSU Pro Balance Trainer

COST: £129

2. ATIVAFIT Half Ball Balance Trainer

COST: £62.92

Exercise Steps

Exercise steps are not just for aerobic based workouts and actually one the most crucial pieces of equipment for personal trainers for resistance training, yes, I said resistance training. Through leveraging steps at different heights and manoeuvre your clients through different planes of motion, you can transform this traditionally boring aerobic step into a dynamic, functional and challenging resistance machine.

Steps are not expensive to buy, water resistant and you only need one if you train clients at home or outdoors which is why it makes our list of essential personal training equipment.

Recommended Steps to buy:

1. TNP Accessories Adjustable Aerobic Step Exercise Stepper

COST: £10.99

2. Reebok Step

COST: £60.58

Sandbags

Sandbag training can be done from anywhere and I mean anywhere! Sandbags are fairly transportable and durable, so can be used outdoors, but they are really ideal equipment for a personal training studio or gym as they don’t take up space, can be attacked and moved if space is tight.  

Sandbag training provides variation and a dynamic resistance that mirrors real life lifting as well as building stability and can be used a suitable replacement for more traditional forms of weight training.

Sandbags would be more of an optional piece of fitness instructing equipment, but if you want to create variance they’re a nice added bonus!

Our recommended sandbags:

 1. RDX Sandbag Weight Training Power Bag

COST: £30.99 

2. Lions 10kg/15kg/20kg Filled Weight Sand Power Bag

COST: £21.99

Parallettes

If you have more advanced clients or clients you have been working with for a while, parallettes are a great way to build strength in the upper body and improve flexibility and balance.  Great thing about paralletes is that there’s a one size fits all approach with this form of gym instructor equipment, so you don’t need various different sizes. They work best on stable ground of a PT studio, gym or home, but as long as the ground is flat and hard, there’s nor reason why you can’t use them as a form of outdoor personal training equipment too.

Recommended patrallettes for trainers and studios:

 1. RAMASS Fitness Parallettes

COST: £49.99

2. SONGMICS Push Up Bar Stand

COST: £13.99

VIPRs 

ViPR is designed to Provide an effective, whole-body workout that is a suitable workout for all age groups and capability levels, that can lifted, dragged, thrown and stood on, providing true multi-functional purpose. It’s a great piece of indoor and outdoor personal training equipment as they are made from rubber, making them easy to clean, maintain and safe to transport. ViPRs provide a good alternative to barbells which are heavy, expensive, not easy to transfer or stack (without a rack).

Recommended ViPR's for purchase:

 1. ViPR 4kg Training Tube

COST: £129

2. ViPR

COST: £283

Personal Trainer Equipment Bag

Now we have our list of essential equipment for a personal trainer, you’re going to need some way of carrying that around with you from client to client and location to location. Enter, the personal training equipment bag!

You need a personal trainer equipment that is robust, durable and compartmentalised, but large enough to ensure you get all these essentials in.

See our recommend personal trainer bag for travelling PTs:

Rab Kit Bag  II

COST: £70.00

Before You Go!

There you have it, our top 21 recommended personal training equipment for getting started in the industry as either a mobile PT or if you're setting up your own gym or studio.

Aside from acquiring exercise equipment, you should gain more specialist Level 4 qualifications, starting with our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course to help your clients successfully reach their goals.

Find out how else you can expand your career by contacting our team and download our course prospectus here.