All of those New Years Resolutions you made last week should have started this week and if increasing your fitness or losing weight were one of them this post may be something for you to pay attention to. These workout essentials would be great for you to start your home gym. If you are new to a gym they should have items 1-3 available to you, if not then you need to find a new gym. 

1. Hand weights. To add difficulty to your cardio or kickboxing workouts as you improve or for general strengthening. This Dumbbells Set with Rack includes 3, 5 and 8lb weights in order to change intensity as needed. 
2. Yoga Mat. To prevent sweating into your carpet and protect your body from the hard floor. This Yoga Mat with Carrying Strap comes in a variety of colors and a strap to allow for easy carrying from home to the gym.
3. Exercise Ball. You can do so many ab exercises with a therapy ball and you can perform wall sits, squats, lunges and push-ups on it as well. This Exercise Ball allows for a full body workout and comes in different colors.
   
4. Music. Everyone needs some tunes to help motivate them and push them through their workout. I like the very light and compact Apple iPod Shuffle which is super easy to use and clips onto your shirt without dragging it down.
5. Sweat bands. Unfortunately these Sweaty Bands are only made for women, but they come in so many cool colors and styles to add your unique personality to your workout. For men this Nike Dri-Fit Head Tie will work well to keep the sweat out of your eyes.
6. Body Glide. To prevent those irritating chafes from happening with sweaty clothing rubbing on skin or fatty thighs rubbing together. The original Body Glide will keep you comfortable and chafe free throughout and after your workout.
7. Fitness Watch. Fitness watches are fantastic for keeping track of distances, calorie expenditure and activity levels. Some have the ability to alert you when you need to start moving if you have been sitting to long and give you your heart rate like this Fitbit Charge 2. This one even connects to your phone, tracks your sleep and has guided breathing sessions.
8. Water bottle. I love S’well bottles because they are just so dang cool looking AND they keep my water cold throughout my workout and the rest of my day. The S’ip water bottles are equally as cute as the original S’well bottles and are a little bit lighter so you don’t have to lift any more weights after your workout. 
9. Sweat Wicking Towel. If you are like me and sweat a whole lot or live in a very warm climate a towel is essential during workouts. This Perfect Fitness Cooling Towel keeps you cool and dry. You wet the towel first, which keeps you cool and gives the towel the ability to wick sweat easier.
10. Muscle Roller. After long workouts to massage out some of the lactic acid that built up in those muscles of yours. This Muscle Roller Stick is compact and perfect to do the job.