The Best Outdoor Training Equipment, According to Fitness Editors

If you prefer kettlebell training, this model will save you money and space. We like the Bells of Steel Adjustable Kettlebell because it’s made from metal, offers excellent weight increments, and is one of the few adjustable options with a true competition-style shape.

You can buy this adjustable kettlebell in either a 12- to 20.5-kilogram (about 27 to 46 pounds) or a 12-to-32-kilogram (about 27 to 72 pounds) version. It can also be adjusted in 0.5-kilogram increments, giving you far more precise loading options than most fixed kettlebell collections. You won’t find any dials or plastic selector pins here, either. The bell has a smooth, powder-coated steel shell and a competition-grade 35-millimeter handle. Basically, it’s built to feel like a true competition bell, just adjustable.

The adjustment process is the main pain point. To change weights, you’ll need to loosen the bolt on the bottom of the kettlebell with an Allen wrench, remove the bottom half, and then use a traditional wrench to loosen the internal screw that secures the plates. That makes this a poor fit for quick circuits or workouts that require on-the-fly weight changes. But if you want an adjustable kettlebell that feels close to a fixed bell—and sturdy enough for garage, driveway, or backyard training—it’s one of the best designs in the category.

Read More: Best Adjustable Kettlebells, Tested by Us

A solid weighted vest is a strong outdoor gym option because it adds resistance without taking up much space. Use a lighter load for power work like box jumps and broad jumps, strap it on for pushups and squats, or load it heavier for rucks and long walks. Without plates, REP’s nylon Strata vest weighs just two pounds and has a slim enough profile to hang on a coat rack or stash in a garage bin. It also has the tactical plate-carrier look that’s become popular among weighted vests, with a rugged build that looks tough and will actually hold up to regular outdoor training.

REP has become one of the leading training equipment manufacturers, and we think its because of its attention to detail. The strata features padded shoulder and back straps, a straight-forward hook-and-loop closure, and a slide lock on the side that lets you quickly adjust the tightness of the vest. There’s also a front pocket for your phone and wallet. The pricing isn’t out of the ordinary for a vest of this quality, but expect to spend between $130 and $205 (depending on the weights you purchase). You can buy both metal and soft shell plates.

Read More: Best Weighted Vests, Tested By Us

One benefit of training outside is that you can throw stuff around without worrying about your floors, walls, or downstairs neighbors. These sand-filled rubber balls, called slam balls, are built for carries, throws, rotational work, and repeated overhead slams, giving you a simple way to train power and conditioning with just one implement.

Titan’s Rubber Slam Ball is exactly the kind of tool that makes sense for your outdoor training space. The textured rubber shell gives you a solid grip even when your hands get sweaty, while the dead-bounce design means it won’t ricochet back at your face like a medicine ball. Use it for overhead slams, rotational throws, squat-to-slams, bear-hug carries, or short conditioning finishers when you want to turn a driveway or patch of turf into something much worse.

You’re not going to find a lot of variance among slam balls; just look for a durable rubber shell and a variety of weight options. We like Titan because it offers a range of weights and both smooth and textured options; lean toward textured for outdoor use. These balls are meant to take a beating, but the surface you train on still matters. Opt for rubber flooring, turf, or smooth pavement as more textured concrete will shorten the lifespan of almost anything you repeatedly spike into the ground.

Can you get a good workout without a weight bench? Absolutely. But buying one immediately opens up more exercise options, from single-arm dumbbell rows and rear-foot-elevated split squats to step-ups, hip thrusts, and seated presses. It also increases your range of motion on staples like dumbbell chest presses and flyes, making it one of the simplest ways to get more out of the equipment you already own.

Rogue’s Flat Utility Bench 2.0 is intentionally basic: it doesn’t incline, decline, roll around on wheels, or store vertically. But as far as flat benches go, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one much sturdier, which is, after all, Rogue’s calling card. The 11-gauge steel frame gives it a durable base, the wide-angle feet help keep it stable, and the pad strikes the right balance between firm support and enough comfort for longer sets.

You probably shouldn’t leave this bench outside full-time, so store it in a shed or garage, or at least keep it covered when the weather turns. At 49 pounds, it’s also far easier to move than most adjustable benches, which can creep north of 80 or 90 pounds. It’s not flashy, and that’s the point: For about $200, it’s a sturdy, portable-enough platform that makes every dumbbell, kettlebell, and bodyweight workout outside feel a little more like a real gym session.

Few training tools come close to a weighted sled for building the kind of strength and conditioning that translates to everyday life. Sled work is brutally simple. You push, pull, or drag a load for distance, training your legs, trunk, grip, and lungs in a way that carries over to hauling groceries, pushing a stroller uphill, moving furniture, or dragging yard junk across the lawn.

The roughly $800 price tag makes the TANK M1 a tough sell for most home-gym owners, but the price is partly justified by Torque’s smart design. Most notably, the M1 is an all-surface sled. Instead of metal skis grinding across concrete, it uses wheels and magnetic resistance, so you can push it on concrete, turf, rubber, and other surfaces without needing weight plates to create friction. Your neighbors will appreciate that, too, as it avoids the metal-on-concrete scraping that comes standard with most traditional sleds.

The M1 is available in two packages: the Athlete Kit and the Complete Kit. Both include the sled, console, dumbbell cradles, V-strap, tow strap and harness, and phone holder. The Complete Kit adds wheelbarrow handles for more carry-style conditioning and a wall-mounted storage system to save garage space. That’s still a big investment, but if you want sled work without needing turf, plates, or a dedicated training lane, the M1 solves a lot of problems in one very compact package.

You don’t think of a pull-up bar as much more than a tool for ripping out back-building reps, but the right model can serve as a hub for your outdoor training space. Take Titan Fitness’ Wall-Mount Pull-Up Bar as an example. Its main function is for pullups, sure, but it can also serve as an anchor point for resistance bands, a suspension trainer, or even gymnastic rings if your setup allows it.

To install it, you’ll need to drill into studs, which Titan accounted for by designing the brackets to accommodate standard 16-inch stud spacing. The 11-gauge steel frame can support up to 500 pounds when mounted correctly and provides more than 2.5 feet of wall clearance—enough room for hanging leg raises, knee raises, and certain muscle-up setups. It’s hard to replicate true vertical pulling without a lat pulldown station or pull-up bar, so consider this one of the more important additions if you’re building an outdoor or garage-adjacent training space.

Ideally, you’ll mount the bar somewhere protected from the elements so the hardware and finish hold up over time. Under an overhang is best, but you can also cover it when rain is expected. At around $90, this is about as affordable as a sturdy wall-mounted pull-up bar gets—and for that price, it can turn a bare wall into one of the most useful training stations in your outdoor setup.

Read More: Best Pull-Up Bars, Tested by Us

There are two ways to think about training outdoors. Some people want to do their normal lifting workouts with a little sunshine; others want to use odd surfaces, open space, and less polished tools for more outdoor-specific training. If you’re in the latter camp, a sandbag is one of the best ways to carry, lift, drag, and shoulder your way through a brutally effective conditioning session.

GoRuck is built around tactical, military-inspired training gear, from rucksacks and weight vests to sand-loaded tools like kettlebells, tombstones, and sandbags. If you’re going to pick one, the GoRuck Simple Training Sandbag is the most versatile and easy-to-use option. It’s available in five weights—20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 pounds—and can be filled with all-purpose sand from a hardware store. Just open the triple-lock Velcro system, load it up, and avoid super-fine sand, like playground sand, which GoRuck says not to use.

The bag has three sewn-on handles: two in the middle, set roughly shoulder-width apart for rows, presses, cleans, and carries, plus one at the top for one-handed carries and upright rows. That setup gives you more exercise options than a basic handled sandbag, but it’s still less precise than training with dumbbells, kettlebells, or a barbell. A 60-pound bag of shifting sand won’t feel like a 60-pound dumbbell, which is both the point and the drawback. GoRuck also specifies that this isn’t a “slam bag,” so even though it’s made with ultra-durable 1000D Cordura nylon, use it like an awkward barbell, shoulder it for carries, drag it when appropriate, and don’t be afraid to get it dirty—just don’t go out of your way to destroy it.