RV Fitness Equipment Essentials
If you are trying to stay fit on the road check out this list of full-time RV Fitness Equipment Essentials. In this blog, I will share all of the equipment and accessories we currently carry onboard our Airstream Interstate Class B RV. We run and operate our online coaching business, Irene Iron Fitness, directly from our Airstream Interstate Sprinter van so we have quite a bit of equipment within our small living space. I will give a very brief personal opinion about each item with pros and cons. Check out the video below!
Fitness Equipment
1. Hoist Adjustable Dumbbells
My number one piece of equipment is my set of dumbbells. If I were to have one item and one item only, this would be it! Dumbbells are a no-frills, no fuss piece of equipment. They are classic and they work. Weight training is the single best form of exercise to change your body composition. If you want to lose fat, gain muscle, increase your metabolism, and feel better…you need to start weight training!
So many people are slaves to cardio machines mistakenly thinking it is the best (or only) way to lose weight. Such a common misconception! I could go on and on about this topic. The bottom line is if you are serious about losing weight start prioritizing weight training.
Our adjustable dumbbells are made by Hoist and they go up to 75 pounds per dumbbell. We absolutely love them. The plates are removable and usable on their own. So while one of us is using the pair of dumbbells, the other one can do a different exercise holding plates in their hand. We believe that Hoist sold this patent to Ironmaster a few years back and are now unavailable for new purchases. We spent a few months digging around on Facebook Marketplace for a used pair to save some coin and we got lucky and found a set!
If you are looking to buy brand new we suggest the comparable Ironmaster set in Our Amazon Store. One big difference between the Hoist and the Ironmaster is the plates. The Hoist plates have a slit and the Ironmaster have a circle. It may be harder to hold the Ironmaster plates to use independently.
The 75-pound set from Ironmaster is an investment. If you are not ready to commit to such a hefty price tag and/or are new to weight training, start with the smaller 45-pound set.
2. Lebert Fitness EQualizer Bars
The Lebert Fitness EQualizer Bars are a fantastic supplement to any RV’ers fitness collection. I did a full product review that you can read about on my blog. My EQualizer Bars review will give you the full run-down. In a nutshell, the bars offer hundreds of exercise options with various modifications to suit all fitness levels. While the bars get a lot of action being used for pull-ups, presses, and dips, they are also great for stretching, endurance, and cardiovascular exercises. These rank 2nd in my top 3 must-haves! There are all sorts of super athletic moves that one can do with these bars. I am not there yet…it’s a twinkle in my eyes!
3. Stability Ball
The stability ball has many names…physioball, swiss ball, exercise ball, you get it. We purchased this Cpokoh ball after living on the road for six months. Our campsite workouts were leaving us with a void on chest day…no bench! When we first packed up our RV and left Minnesota we actually tried to get a “travel bench” on board. Even the travel size was humungous and there was no way we could bring it with.
So after doing floor presses on the dirty campsite floor we finally got smart and picked up this bad boy. Or, had Amazon bring one directly to us. It has made a great improvement to our workouts. The best part is it easily deflates for small storage. These pros make the stability ball #3 in our top 3 list. Watch our full review of this ball on YouTube.
4. Resistance Bands
We purchased these resistance bands in another effort to puff out our chest day routines at the campsites. We found ourselves craving the cable flys that real brick and mortar gyms provide. This set is affordable, compact, and versatile. It is a great piece for beginners or those with joint or mobility limitations. They are also nice because you can target both your upper and your lower body.
In all honesty, we have barely used ours. They don’t provide me with the heavyweight resistance that I crave. I will be doing some featured exercise routines using these bands because I believe they are a good choice for some people. But as long as I have my dumbbells I will choose those over these bands.
5. Mini Loop Bands
I purchased these Fit Simplify Resistance Bands many years ago while living in a traditional house setting. I was just getting into working out and thought they would be good for hotel workouts when I was away on travel for work. Well, they just sat around my house. We brought them onto the RV because it would be silly not to. They literally take up inches of space. The small size, lightweight, and low cost are the biggest advantages.
One disadvantage is they are primarily used for the lower body, leaving the upper body stranded. You will see a lot of women using these for hip adductor, hip abductor, and glute work. I get a little irritated with this (because women should not be afraid to use real weights). These mini loop bands are great for mobility work and activation/trigger work. But if you think you can actually build impressive glutes with these things…get ready to donkey kick the rest of your life and be disappointed. Pick up some real weights and do some squats! I will keep these around though because I like to add them into my beach workouts when I can’t bring my dumbbells down!
Fitness Accessories
1. Quickset Clam Venture Tent
This Quickset Clam 5-Sided Tent is our new baby and we are in love! It literally doubles our living space and gets us outside of our RV more. Plus, we don’t miss workouts on rain days anymore. While it’s miserable to run in the rain, it can be done. Getting a lifting session in is more difficult since we don’t want our dumbbells to rust out any quicker than they already will be.
The Clam Venture tent fits into our garage tightly. Once we get to a new RV Park we unpack it and unload all of our above equipment into it. Now we no longer need to unpack and pack up our gear every day to do our workout. It saves us about 30 minutes each day. And when you workout daily, that adds up to a lot of valuable time. Watch AA-Ron give his full review of the Clam tent on YouTube.
2. TaoTronics Bluetooth Headphones
Music is a great way to get a solid workout in. Putting in earphones helps you get focused and stay in the zone. Don’t be one of those guys that sit on his/her phone and scrolls social media in between sets. Listen to whatever pumps you up and gets you feeling your workout!!! This topic is short and sweet. I like headphones that don’t break the bank, because…I’m frugal.
3. Polar H7 Heart Rate Monitor
Heart rate monitors are a great metric tool to constantly push yourself. I love metrics, numbers, spreadsheets, and data. It makes me geek out hard. I like to use this monitor to track calories burned in workouts. It is interesting to find what exercises work me harder than others. I also use it for cardio if I am trying to stay in low-intensity steady state (LISS) or if I am doing high-intensity intervals (HITT).
I bought this Polar H7 a few years ago after going to Orange Theory for a while. Eventually, I had a hard time spending the money on the boutique gym (it’s spendy!) so I identified what I liked about it and practiced it on my own. This Polar version is cool because the app for your phone gives you some neat info. I have never had a Fitbit, but I hear the versions with a heart rate monitor can also give you the same cool info, as well as important sleeping data! If I wasn’t on a budget I would splurge on one of those. But for now, I will stick with my good-old-reliable.
4. Running Belt
This running belt is awesome. I absolutely need it to hold my phone, money, and keys. Even if my athletic pants do have a stash pocket (50/50 chance) I would never want to run with my phone in it. It pulls down the waist and I am constantly pulling them up. What a drag!
This belt specifically is nice because it has two pockets. One large pocket for my phone (I have a Galaxy S8, but it supposedly can hold the Apple Plus’s), and a second smaller pocket. The small pocket is great for ID, credit cards, and keys. I take my phone in and out as I run to change stations, check how much time is left in my miserable cardio session, and check in on my heart rate status. So I love the fact that I don’t have to worry about my money falling out or my keys scratching up my phone. This running belt keeps everything nice and tidy! Another bonus, it is waterproof in the rain.
Dont be shy, share your thoughts.