Having an entire home gym for yourself is a dream you had at least once in your athletic journey. No more crowded space, no more waiting for the power rack to free up. Simply put – no more distractions or delays when you exercise.
But this dream is rather expensive (in the tens of thousands) and is rarely achievable for athletes with no sponsors. However, creating a home gym for knees over toes (aka functional mobility) is not and should not be that hard to achieve.
So, let’s talk about your own home gym for knees over toes, what you need to create it, and what essential gear you should get to cover all your KOT needs.
Table of Contents
the Basics of Knees-Over-Toes
Before we start building your mobility home gym, let’s quickly brush up on what knees over toes (aka KOT) actually is.
The KOT training philosophy is a method of functional training that focuses on being strong in stretched positions, especially when it comes to the lower body. KOT primarily focuses on ankles, knees, and hips (and everything related) as the foundation of all biomechanics.
As the name suggests, this exercise philosophy battles the age-old myth that your knees shouldn’t go over your toes while you squat. But squatting isn’t everything that KOT addresses. It deals with injury prevention, longevity, and the ability to move to your body’s range of motion (ROM) with power and ease.
Here are a few guides to help you start with KOT:
- Knees Over Toes for Beginners: Build A Stronger Squat with KOT
- A Quick Guide To Knee Bulletproofing
- SPLIT SQUATS: Knees-Over-Toes – Good Or Bad For You?
- ATG Split Squat, aka Knees-Over-Toes Split Squat
- FHL Calf Raises: Reach This Deep Muscle To Run Better and Jump Higher
Now, let’s get into the gear you need for your own KOT home gym.
A Home Gym For KOT - Why Get One At All?
Public and commercial gyms do not offer a lot when it comes to actual lower-body strength and mobility. While it is true that you can build your legs with barbell squats and a plethora of leg machines, true strength and mobility lie elsewhere.
Luckily, Hybrid Athlete specializes in exercise equipment that builds mobility, strength, and longevity, and that should be a part of every home gym’s arsenal.
Let’s dig in!
1. Tib Bar or a Solo Tib Bar
The tibialis trainer, aka the tib bar, is one of the best pieces of exercise equipment for injury prevention out there. It comes in a bilateral (both legs trained at once) standard Tib Bar, and in a unilateral (one leg at a time) Solo Tib Bar version. While both tib bar variations bring the same results in terms of tibialis training, the solo tib bar has more uses.
The benefits of a healthy tibialis anterior are many, with the most important being:
- Better and more controlled jumping and landing
- Development of a more synced running stride
- Better force transfer through lifts like deadlifts and squats
- Protection of the ankle and knee joints through better stabilization
- Shin splint prevention, especially with runners
Make sure to check out our Tib Bar vs. Solo Tib guide as well (if you haven’t decided yet, that is).
2. Slant Board
The slant board is another essential part of a leg-day arsenal that public gyms often don’t have. Essentially, a slant board is there to help you with heel-elevated training and things like step-ups and reverse step-ups. A solid slant board exercise program will help you with many things, all while occupying little to no space.
The biggest benefits of training with a slant board are:
- VMO (vastus medialis oblique) targeting
- Knee-bulletproofing through the strengthening of the tibialis and quad heads responsible for knee stabilization
- Development of ankle stability and dorsiflexion
3. Squat Wedges
Squat wedges are also an exercise tool for heel-elevated training, except they are like smaller, sturdier slant boards for each of your legs. In short, people who want to tackle their quads with a more customizable internal/external angle should go for squat wedges.
On top of that, the Hybrid Athlete Squat Wedges can withstand the full-on blast of a heavy barbell squat. And on top of that, they are fully portable, coming with a bag to help you pack them away and carry them around.
While the Hybrid Athlete Slant Board is also portable, we can safely say that the Squat Wedges are an ideal pick for both public and home gym training. Read more about the differences in our squat wedges vs. slant board guide.
4. Nordic Curl Strap
The Nordic curl strap does what the name suggests – it helps you with Nordic curls (and a bit more), in a home gym setting. It can be used with any working door – just slide the anchor underneath the doors (works with Swedish ladders as well), and you’re good to go.
Now, the Nordic curl is a complex and not-so-easy exercise, but the benefits are plenty:
- Lower-body power and explosiveness
- Lower risk of hamstring injuries (i.e. tears)
- Knee bulletproofing and overall injury prevention in the lower body
- Core strengthening
- Lumbar spine resilience and injury-prevention
Who Nees a Home Gym For Knees Over Toes?
The home gym for knees over toes is for a wide range of athletes.
From hybrid athletes and marathon runners to basketball players, sprinters, lifters, and OCR enthusiasts. Every athlete, pro or amateur, that wants to train injury-free should consider implementing a KOT regime into their program. While these exercises don’t look glorious at first, they are arguably more beneficial than the majority of standard “gym bro” exercises.
On top of benefits like knee-bulletproofing and mobility development, every piece of home gym gear we talked about is portable and easy to store.
Lift Heavy and Run Far with the Best Home Gym Gear for Knees Over Toes
No matter where you are with your athletic journey, do not sleep on these KOT home gym essentials. Working on your mobility, tendon resilience, stabilizer muscle strength, and overall movement biomechanics has no alternative.
So, pick your favorite and start building your own injury-prevention home gym today! And if you’re looking for a good place to start, make sure to check out our Longevity Bundle!
Cheers!
Get The Home Gym KOT Essentials Here:
GET THE BEST INJURY-PREVENTION TRAINING EQUIPMENT:
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