“Fitness saved me,” says Quinton, a professional Twitch streamer and player on CBC competition series, Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, “my love for gaming kept me inside. I’d fuel myself with large amounts of junk food; cookies, pastries, chips, soda.” Quinton was feeling defeated by his couch potato lifestyle. One day after high school, he attempted one of his first workouts. “I felt lightheaded, went to the changeroom, blacked out, hit my face on the corner of a bench on the way down and woke up covered in blood. After that day, I refused to ever be like that again.” 

It’s hard to imagine that the buff, confident man we see on TV today was once a chubby, insecure teen, “My health journey began and I started to learn how to be healthy and be proud of my body. It’s changed my life and I can’t imagine a life where it’s not a part of my day-to-day.”

Competition show players say exercise is their secret to good physical and mental health

In Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, Quinton and 19 other diverse and fit Canadians travel the country to compete in 16 awe-inspiring challenges that test their physical, mental and teamwork capabilities. 

Like Quinton, many of the players participating in the show also had stories of how fitness played an integral role in helping them overcome life’s hurdles. 

Angel was a competitive boxer until she became trapped in a cycle of addiction. “Even when I was deep in the struggle and felt completely worthless and defeated, I was able to hang on by reminding myself of the things that I missed in my life, what I wanted to get back, and envisioning the person that I could be,” she says, “strong, healthy, powerful, and living a life that could set a positive example for others.” 

“When I came out and had to leave the home I grew up in and then was diagnosed with cancer, I felt like my entire world was crumbling,” remembers Paul, now a transit worker from Vancouver. “The only steady thing I had in my life was focussing on my health and fitness. I honestly believe the drive and determination I learned through my fitness journey is what got me through that very dark period.” 

“Building a consistent fitness routine allowed me to build confidence in my body, changed how I saw myself and helped me recover from my eating disorders and body dysmorphia,” says Jac, a tiny but mighty wellness coach from Vancouver who lives with depression. “Working out consistently got me out of bed, gave me a routine, increased my energy levels and helped me with my brain fog.”

The benefits of exercise are well documented; it reduces the risk of depression, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many cancers. And yet, fewer than one in four Canadians meet the current guidelines for physical activity. 

Exercise can make you happy too

“It’s often the best part of my day and whether it’s just a quick lift or a spin class or a 90-minute yoga session, giving yourself that time, setting it aside to focus on you and your health is so mentally and emotionally beneficial,” says Paul, “the dopamine and serotonin that comes with exercising is something that I honestly don’t know if I could live without.”  

“I feel much more alert, clear-headed, and happy when I exercise,” agrees Angel, “I am also more inclined to make better food choices, as the nutrients that fuel my workouts cannot come from fast food.”

And, they say, the benefits of exercise are a lifelong investment. “I don’t struggle carrying groceries or chasing my dogs around. I’m not huffing and puffing walking up the stairs,” says Jac, “it’s about living a long, healthy life where you’re able to move functionally without pain or discomfort.”

Players give advice on how to make fitness a part of your life

The hardest part is often getting started. 

“Just do it,” says Angel, “don’t wait for the ‘right time’ to start because there isn’t one.” “Motivation often comes with action,” agrees Jac, “to set myself up for success, I make a plan, I lay out my gym clothes for the morning and play some tunes and hype myself up!”

Whether it’s walking, running, swimming, dancing, rock climbing or yoga find something you enjoy doing and stick with it. “Start slow and work your way up. Change comes from small daily choices over a long period of time!” says Quinton.

Create realistic goals recommends Jac, “Fitness is not all or nothing, it’s about finding a balance and living a life that is enjoyable, sustainable and doesn’t feel restrictive.”

According to Paul, the rest should be easy. “The daily practice of setting aside time to focus on yourself physically and mentally is self-love that is essential to success in life, love, health and happiness.”

The best home gyms offer a convenient solution to stay in shape without the hassle of commuting to the gym or waking up for those early-morning workout classes. With an all-in-one home gym setup, you can tailor workouts to fit your schedule, preferences and goals. We evaluated home gyms from the industry’s biggest brands, reviewing traditional equipment with a proven track record and newer machines that leverage technology to connect you with others. Our list includes the BowFlex PR3000 for its compact versatility, the TRX Pro3 for its budget-friendly price and the Tempo Studio for its online connectivity.

Why Trust Forbes Vetted

In addition to our coverage of home gyms, the Forbes Vetted gear team has extensively reviewed other essential pieces of fitness equipment, including weight benches and weightlifting shoes, and we’ve even outlined how to build a home gym from scratch that meets your needs.

• Gear editor Cam Vigliotta, who oversees this story, has a background in kinesiology and uses his education in biomechanics when reviewing fitness product recommendations. Likewise, Forbes Vetted contributor Leoni Jesner, who co-authored this piece, holds qualifications as an ACE CPT, Level 3 mat Pilates instructor and nutrition coach.
• We have experience with many of the fitness brands featured in this story, including Bowflex, TRX, Tempo and NordicTrack.
• This story is regularly revised to ensure all the information is accurate and each recommendation is still the best available on the market. It was last updated in May 2024.

How We Chose The Best Home Gyms

To find the best home gyms, we sought out reputable brands we have experience with, like NordicTrack, Bowflex and Tempo.

• To narrow down the best home gyms, we delved into the specs that matter most for these all-in-one machines, assessing factors like resistance levels, types of workouts offered, safety measures, dimensions and additional features.
• We then looked into the revies provided by real users who invested in these home gyms, poring over insights and opinions that paint a clearer picture of how these machines perform over time.
• The final selections were reviewed by gear editor and fitness expert Cam Vigliotta, who lent his fitness background to this guide.
• We aimed to choose a variety of home gym options to cater to different fitness levels, budgets and space constraints.

What To Consider When Shopping For A Home Gym

Space

Start by measuring the space you’d like to use to ensure there’s enough room for fitness equipment. Keep in mind that some home gyms fold away to save space, while others are permanent fixtures that shouldn’t be disassembled.

Budget

Shop for a home gym that falls within your budget. As nice as it may be to splurge on a piece of high-end equipment, you can often get by with less. Remember to consider not only the upfront costs but also any potential maintenance or subscription fees—many instructor-based home gyms require a monthly subscription to access contnet.

Goals

Consider your fitness objectives, whether it’s strength training, cardio, flexibility or a combination of all three. Different equipment caters to different fitness goals, and choosing a piece of equipment that aligns with your goals will make it easier to reach them.

Types Of Exercise

Reflect on the types of exercises you enjoy or want to incorporate into your workout routine, as this will help you prioritize specific equipment like weightlifting, cardio machines or yoga accessories.

Other Fitness Stories To Shop

The Army is fast-tracking the expansion of its Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, program as early results show soldiers in brigades recover faster, shoot better and have higher performance on critical fitness tests with the assistance.

The service began fielding roughly 20-person H2F teams to brigades in 2021, providing 28 brigades with coaches and experts on strength training, sleep, physical therapy, nutrition, postpartum recovery and mental health. By the end of this year, the Army is aiming for 50 brigades and hopes to expand that to 111 brigades by 2027, or about half the active-duty force — a goal originally set for 2030.

The H2F teams will also be integrated into some National Guard and reserve units throughout the decade. The new fitness resources will also come with a significant investment in gym equipment for the units.

Read Next: Considering Fat-Loss Supplements? New Military Study Finds Many Are Not What They Seem.

“New weapons systems are pointless if you don’t have the soldier to man them,” Col. Jason Faulkenberry, the H2F program director, told Military.com. “I love seeing this investment in soldiers because we know soldiers will always be used in any future conflict, versus investing in a technology that may or may not be used.”

Internal data over the past three years shows promising results.

Behavioral health issues in units with H2F teams are down 14% compared to the rest of the Army, according to data provided by the service. In addition, musculoskeletal injuries are down about 30%.

The service also saw increases in the rate of soldiers passing the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT; a reduction in substance abuse; and even an uptick in troops qualifying as experts in rifle marksmanship.

The positive results come amid a rise in overweight soldiers and musculoskeletal injuries in the Army. The H2F teams are efforts Army leaders have long said are obvious steps forward, setting up a structure that civilians outside of the service probably assume would already be in place.

Until now, it hasn’t been easy for a soldier in the conventional Army to get plans from a formally trained coach on improving specific parts of their fitness test, or seek counsel on improving their diet — resources that the special operations community has enjoyed for years.

Beyond the new initiative, the Army has made strides on how it keeps its troops fit for combat in recent years, with the new ACFT being at the center of that effort.

But the H2F teams and the corresponding doctrine view fitness as intertwined with metrics such as sleep, mental health, nutrition and spiritual health.

“It’s not the equipment I get excited about, it’s the subject-matter experts that come with the equipment,” Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer said at a conference on the H2F program Tuesday. “To be honest with you, later in life I found the importance of the mental and spiritual component. The longer you do this job, the longer those will be at the forefront of your mind. Then the magic pillar — sleep.”

Related: Secretary Wormuth Wants the Army Combat Fitness Test to Stay as Congress Debates Its Fate

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