There are a tremendous number of benefits to be gained from Home Bodybuilding, as opposed to training in a commercial gym.

In this article I'm going to briefly explain those benefits, but even if you train at home right now, this will be of interest to you because the article also looks at how to construct a good bodybuilding routine that will get you real results - fast.

From there, I'll explain the equipment you need to get started in home bodybuilding - and it's not anywhere near expensive as you probably think it is.

The first benefit of home bodybuilding is that it puts you in control. You train when you want, not when whichever piece of equipment you want to use is free, or when your gym happens to be open.

In a commercial gym, you can be fully warmed up and raring to go, only to find that the bench press station or whatever is already in use, and by the time you can use it, you've cooled right down, so you not only lose momentum, but you may even get injured as you're no longer warmed up.

If you train at home, you're not subject to the really bad advice that's often handed out, by folks who don't have a clue what they're talking about. You need to find out what really works for you, and you need to learn the right exercises to do, and the right technique to use when you do them.

Most of the advice given in gyms is clueless, and that includes advice coming from people who claim to be qualified coaches. Even worse, sometimes you might be pressurised into buying expensive bodybuilding supplements that you don't need, or absolute worse case, bodybuilding steroids, which you should avoid at all costs.

If you train at home you won't be subject to any of these bad influences.

Now lets look at what you need to consider when you start home bodybuilding;

First, you'll need a spare room, ideally at least eight feet square, in which you can train. Next, consider what equipment you'll need to get started - and this will be influenced by the exercises you'll be doing.

Lets look at the best exercises to do.

You need to plan your bodybuilding schedule around the big, multi joint exercises, because these will stress the largest muscle groups more efficiently than small isolation movements.

Golden rule of bodybuilding number one - the quickest way to get bigger is to build the biggest muscles in the body first. This is another common fault I see and read about in so many commercial gyms all over the place.

Most commercial gyms are full of people training on the wrong exercises, doing things like pec deck flyes, tricep kickbacks, lateral raises and bicep curls. This is largely a waste of time.

You need to plan your routines around exercises like the dead lift, squat and bench press for example.

Exercises like the lateral raise etc are toning and shaping movements - but you can't shape or tone a muscle that you don't have! The quickest way to shape a muscle is to build a muscle, but so many people don't get this.

Did you know that around 70% of your muscle mass is in your legs and back? This is why you need to focus on building your legs and back - these are the largest muscles in the body - if you build them up first, this is the fastest way you'll get bigger.

To do dead lifts, you need a barbell and some plates. In an ideal world you'd dead lift using a trap bar, because this takes some stress off the lower back, and makes the dead lift technically easier to perform, but the dead lift with a normal straight bar is a terrific exercise too.

To do squats, you'll need either a stable pair of squat stands, or even better a power rack, for safety reasons. You need to be able to safely finish a set when you're tired - this is vitally important.

If you have a barbell, some plates and a power rack or squat stands, you can do dead lifts, squats and overhead presses, which are sometimes rated an even better exercise for building upper body muscle that the bench press.

If you just concentrated on doing these three movements, adding weight to the bar in small amounts whenever you can, and keeping your exercise form tight, you'd be light years ahead of the folks in commercial gyms day after day, spending hours on the pec deck!

As time goes on, you can of course add to this list of equipment, but this is all you need to get started.

Good luck.