Calisthenics is a great way to build muscle and an impressive physique using just your body weight. Calisthenics only require a small amount of equipment and won’t cost nearly as much as traditional home gyms.

However, with calisthenics and home gyms becoming so popular in recent years, it can be hard to figure out which equipment is actually worth your money.

In this guide, we outline the best calisthenics equipment that you need for your bodyweight home gym. Whether you are just starting out or already a calisthenics master, this buying guide will have you covered.

Best Calisthenics Equipment (2023)

The FitDominium team of personal trainers and athletes has personally tested every piece of calisthenics equipment that you see on this list. The team did a combination of hands-on tests and compared specs, customer reviews, and prices to come up with this list.

Amaze Fan Pull-Up Bar: Best Pull Up Bar For Calisthenics

Best Doorway Pull Up Bar

AmazeFan Doorway Pull Up Bar

4.5

$49.98

The AmazeFan pull-up bar requires no installation and fits almost any doorway. It also has multiple grip options and a high weight capacity.

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12/21/2024 04:43 am GMT

Summary

If you have limited space, there is no better piece of calisthenics equipment than a doorway pull-up bar. Considering how foundational the pull-up is in all calisthenics programs, you need one for your home gym. The AmazeFan pull-up bar is our favorite since it has a number of grip options, high weight capacity, and is still affordable.

The great thing about the AmazeFan is that it requires no installation, just stick it in any doorway and you have yourself a multi-grip pull-up bar. Another great feature is the fact that it actually comes with two bars. One goes across your doorway while the door other extends out and up. The advantage to this is that you can take a wider grip and also have more clearance between yourself and the floor.

The main limitation of a doorway pull-up bar is that you cannot do muscle-ups as most people would bang their heads against their roofs. Also, taller people may find that they have to hold their legs up to avoid contact with the floor. That being said, this is the case with all doorway pull-up bars. It is just the price you pay for the added convenience and affordable price. We also have recommendations for free-standing pull-up bars on this list.

Overall, the AmazeFan pull-up bar is one of the most versatile and affordable pieces of calisthenics equipment on the market. If I had limited space or was just starting out, I would get a doorway pull-up bar first.

Amazon Basics Dip Bars: Best Dip Bars For Calisthenics

Best Dip Bars

Amazon Basics Dip Bars

4.7

The Amazon Basics Dip Station is highly stable and affordable. Aside from standard dips it can be used for inverted rows, L-sits, and more.

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Summary

For your chest, shoulders, and triceps there is no better calisthenics movement than the dip. While you can likely make a makeshift setup at home, a proper set of dip bars will add more stability and make your overall training experience better.

Our pick for the best dip bars was the Amazon Basics Dip Bars. In our experience with them, we found them to be highly durable, comfortable, and versatile. On top of all that, you get the added benefit of easy shipping and returns if you are a Prime member.

While dip bars are usually used for dips, you can use these for a number of other exercises as well including inverted rows, knee raises, and more. At such an affordable price, it is a no-brainer to get the Amazon Basics dip bars for your home gym.

Titan Fitness Parallette Bars: Best Calisthenics Bars

Best Parallette Bars

Titan Parallette Bars

4.8

The Titan Fitness Parallette Bars are highly durdable and stable despite being half the price of competing brands. You can do hand stand push ups and more with these parallettes.

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Summary

Usually one of the first “hard” calisthenics movements that beginners master is the wall handstand push-up. To make this exercise, and many more, safer and easier to learn a good pair of parallette bars goes a long way.

Our pick for the best overall parallette bars went to the Titan Fitness Parallette Bars. In our use, we found these bars to be sturdy, heavy-duty, and highly versatile. At the same time, these were a fraction of the cost of some of the other options.

While you technically do handstand push-ups, L-sits, and planches without parallettes, you will get more out of these exercises with the right equipment. The main advantage of parallette bars is that they allow you to take a neutral grip. This put dramatically less stress on your wrists and elbows. On top of that, the added height means that you do the same exercises with a greater range of motion as well.

If you want to increase the versatility of your home gym and speed up your calisthenics progression, the Titan Fitness parallette bars are a great option at a low price.

Titan Fitness Wooden Gymnastic Rings: Best Calisthenics Rings

Best Gymnastic Rings

Titan Gymnastic Rings

4.7

The Titan Fitness Gymnastic Rings add loads of versatility to your training at a low price. The high duty straps are also included.

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Summary

The main advantage of gymnastic rings is that they allow you to adjust the angle and width of your grip during the course of an exercise. Not only will this add more versatility to your training but it will also add the challenge of instability so that you can get more out of the same movements.

As is the case with some other pieces of equipment, we found that Titan provided the best bang for your buck with their Titan Fitness Wooden Gymnastic Rings. These have a metal core for a weight capacity and come with straps included. At their low price, we could not find a better option on the market.

If you want to take your calisthenics training to the next level, the Titan Gymnastic Rings are a great way to add some versatility and difficulty to your training sessions.

Rogue Dip Belt: Best Dip Belt

Best Dip Belt

Rogue Dip Belt

4.8

The Rogue Dip Belt provides an easy to add an extra challenge to your calisthenics workouts. With high durability and comfort, it is hard to beat.

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Summary

While the core of calisthenics is based around body weight training, eventually even exercises like the dip and pull-up will become too easy. Instead of pushing the reps and volumes higher and higher, another great option is to add more weight in the form of a dip belt.

Our pick for the best dip belt goes to the Rogue Dip Belt. Even when used with higher weight, we found that the Rogue Dip Belt was surprisingly comfortable. A common problem with dip belts is that they dig into your back if you use heavy weight, thankfully we did not experience this with the Rogue Belt as the back had plenty of padding. On top of that, this dip belt has a high weight capacity and is avalible for a low price despite coming from a more expensive brand like Rogue.

If you want to add more weight to your exercises and quickly increase your strength, the Rogue Dip Belt gets the job done.

Rogue Plate Carrier: Best Calisthenics Weight Vest

Best Weighted Vest

Rogue Plate Carrier

4.8

Unlike other weighted vests, the Rogue Plate Carrier is highly comfortable and can be used for full workouts with no issues.

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Summary

The Rogue Plate Carrier is our pick for the best-weighted vest as it is highly durable and comfortable while still being affordably priced. It can reach up to 40 pounds and provide that extra resistance to make your body weight workouts that much harder.

The main issue with most weighted vests is that once you add weight to them, they begin to dig into your skin or shift around. This makes it almost impossible to get a full workout in as you make constant adjustments to your vest.

Thanks to the Cordura fabric and strategic sticking used by Rogue, this weighted vest does not have any of those issues. In fact, I wore this for some of my longer calisthenics workouts and had no complaints.

While you may not be able to load as heavy as you could with a dip belt, the weight best is still a great option to make your calisthenics workouts harder. With such high quality and an affordable price, it is hard to beat the value provided by the Rogue Plate Carrier.

Weider Power Tower: Best Power Tower

Best Power Tower

Weider Power Tower

4.5

$189.10

The Weider Power Tower combines a pull up bar, dip station, and captain's chair into one affordable piece of equipment.

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12/21/2024 03:31 am GMT

Summary

If you want an all-in-one solution, a power tower is a great option that comes with a pull-up bar and dip station built into one piece of equipment. The Weider Power Tower comes from one of the most respected companies in bodybuilding and packs in lots of versatility at a great price.

Using the Weider Power Tower, you can do dips, pull-ups, muscle-ups, leg raises, and more. It even has anchors to which you can attach resistance bands for more versatility.

The one downside to this product is that only weighs 86 pounds so it may feel wobbly during some more explosive movements. The lighter frame also becomes apparent in the relatively low weight capacity of 300 lbs. While this is plenty for most people, it may mean you cannot do weighted dips or pull-ups if you are very strong.

Also unlike stand-alone dip bars or pull-up bars, this is a larger piece of equipment that you will likely need to dedicate some space. It is not as portable as other options.

That being said, given the amount of versatility the Weider Power Tower provides, you get away with doing most calisthenics workouts using just this power tower.

Rep Fitness Mounted Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar: Best Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar

Best Wall Mounted Pull Up Bar

REP Fitness Wall Mounted Pull Up Bar

4.5

The REP Fitness Wall Mounted Pull Up Bar provides that extra clearance needed for muscle ups and other calisthenics exercises.

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Summary

If you want some extra head clearance for more advanced calisthenics movements, a wall-mounted pull-up bar can be a great option. In particular, the REP Fitness Wall Mounted pull-up bar provides a number of grip options and is very sturdy.

The installation for this bar was very simple and required minimal drilling. Thanks to the great build quality, REP claims this bar can hold up to 700 lbs. Perfect for those that want to do weighted pull-ups without worrying about stability.

A large number of grip options also means that you can do pull-ups however you want. If you want one pull-up bar to rule them all, it is hard to beat the versatility and value provided by this REP bar.

Rogue Monster Bands: Best Resistance Bands

Best Resistance Bands

Rogue Monster Bands

4.8

The Rogue Monster Bands pull-up package allows calisthenics athletes to add or remove resistance from their exercises to add an extra challenge or perfect their form.

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Summary

Unlike other resistance options, resistance bands can be used to make movements both harder and easier. The Rogue Monster Bands provide lots of utility here due to their low cost and multiple resistance options.

If you are just starting out, you can attach these Monster bands to the bar so that you can truly master the form on dips and pull-ups. On other hand, you can attach these to the floor to make the lift progressively harder.

Aside from accommodating resistance, you can also these Monster bands for tons of other exercises like curls, extensions, rows, lateral raises, and more.

What Calisthenics Equipment Do You Need?

As calisthenics athletes ourselves, we realize that part of the fun of calisthenics is that it does not require much equipment if any at all. While this may be true, there is no denying that having the right equipment can make it easier to perform certain movements or progress on others.

Since not everyone has access to a great calisthenics park, it makes sense to invest in at least a few pieces of quality equipment. In particular, the following pieces of equipment will allow you to do most exercises easily:

• Dip bars: Dips, Inverted rows

• Pull-up bar: Pull-ups, Muscle-ups, Knee Raises

• Parallette bars: Handstand push-ups, Planches

What Calisthenics Workouts Can You Do?

For more detailed guides, check out our calisthenics workout guides:

• Calisthenics Back Workout For A Wide Back
• Calisthenics Shoulder Workout For Boulder Shoulders
• Calisthenics Bicep Workout For Huge Arms

How We Ranked And Compared The Best Calisthenic Equipment

With calisthenics and home gyms becoming so popular in recent years, lots of companies started coming out with products designed for calisthenics. However, with so many of them claiming to be the best, it can be hard to cut through the noise to determine which pieces are truly the best.

Here are the criteria we used to determine the best pieces of calisthenics equipment:

Build Quality

A piece of calisthenics equipment is useless if it cannot last more than a year. Considering that lots of calisthenics athletes also use their equipment outside, the equipment should be built with high quality materials and be able to last a lifetime of workouts with proper care.

Versatility

In the world of both calisthenics and home gyms, equipment that can be used for more than one purpose is always welcome. With this in mind, we sought out equipment where it was clear that manufacturer maximized the potential uses.

Stability

The last thing you want when doing calisthenics is for the equipment or platform you are using to be unstable. For both safety and overall performance, equipment that could remain rigid and stable even when it was being used with heavier weights was preferred.

Ergonomics

Virtually every piece of calisthenics equipment requires you to grip it in some way. However, it is clear that some products took the ergonomics more seriously than others. Equipment that was easier/more comfortable to use was preferred.

Price

At the end of the day, most calisthenics equipment is very simple. For that reason, it does not make sense to break the bank for a pair of quality dip bars or a solid pull up bar. Equipment that got the job done at an affordable prices was preferred in this regard.

FAQs

Final Verdict

In our opinion, a solid calisthenics home gym should have:

• Pull Up Bar: AmazeFan Doorway Bar or REP Wall Mounted Bar

• Dip bars: Amazon Basics Dip Bars

• Parallette Bars: Titan Parallette Bars

With just these you can start to do the more advanced calisthenics movements and build a great physique.

Michael K.

Daniel Mesa, CPT, is a trusted fitness expert and founder of  FitDominium. With his extensive experience and commitment to helping others, Daniel is the go-to source for reliable fitness advice and recommendations.