The 2021 Men's Health Home Gym Awards

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- The Editors at Men's Health

The 2021 Men's Health Home Gym Awards

When the pandemic shut down gyms around the country, Jared Padalecki, 38, found himself relying solely on a home gym that needed some upgrades and improvements. And when you spent 15 years fighting demons and monsters on the CW’s Supernatural, a subpar gym won’t cut it. “You can’t pick somebody up and throw them into a table when your legs are exhausted,” he says.

So Padalecki, who's also slated to take up the mantle of Walker (as in, Texas Ranger) in the CW's upcoming reboot of the classic Chuck Norris series this month, reimagined part of a garage at his Austin home, where he lives with his wife, Genevieve, and their three children, as a kick-ass dedicated strength-training space. He pondered the gym conundrums you’ve probably noodled about, too: How much do you really want to lean into newer tech when old-school weights work just fine? (Or, vice versa, what badass tech are you missing out on by sticking with old-fashioned weights?) And in a year that saw gym-equipment manufacturers flood the market with home gear, how much of the new stuff is actually any good?

In the end, he loaded up on a mix of high-tech fitness gear and classic strength tools that fit his needs. With the help of a few tips from Padalecki, the fitness team at Men’s Health has put together their own picks for what you’ll need to build a home-gym paradise, no matter how big (or small) your space and budget.

- Men's Health Editors

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