Gadget guru

T3’ s tech sage dishes out the solutions to all of your life’s problems. Whether you actually want to go through with them, though, is up to you…

AStart by considering your space, your motivation and your budget. Wasting money on a gym membership you never use (but which gives you access to a wide selection of non-rickety machines) might actually prove to be better value than filling a room with metal.

If you’re sure, you’ll want to cover the main food groups of sweating: cardio, strength and flexibility. Naturally, start with the options we’ve reviewed on p76. Beyond those, an elliptical trainer, used in both forward and reverse, does wonders for your heart and lower regions in equal measure. Sole’s excellent cross trainers are a great choice; you can sync the E25 (£1,149) with your phone to set up workouts and track progress, and virtually boost its incline for a ramp up in intensity.

For strength, a set that gives you the big four (squat, deadlift, bench and shoulder press) is the ideal – essentially, you need a barbell and a bench, and everything else is just dressing. Body Power’s brightly coloured rubber and chrome 160kg Olympic set (£420) won’t let you down, though you could spend half that and get something just as effective, such as Gorilla Sports’ £75 bench, which folds away and supports a 200kg load.

Flexibility – your warmup, your stretches, all that good stuff – is the result of coaching and discipline rather than heavy machinery. To the App Store, then, for something like Seven (free with IAP) which challenges you to seven-minute workouts a day for seven months, and guides you through every step.

If you’re sure you want to start a home gym, you’ll want to cover the main food groups: cardio, strength and flexibility