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I firmly believe building better health and fitness doesn’t need to be a pricey endeavour, and these two Black Friday deals can help you build full-body strength, muscle and mobility for less than £40
Harry BullmoreSenior fitness writerMonday 24 November 2025 20:32 GMT
open image in galleryFitness writer Harry Bullmore has picked the two Black Friday fitness deals he thinks represent the best value for money (The independent)
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Your brain might know what a dumbbell is, but your body doesn’t. As long as your muscles are working hard enough and overcoming sufficient resistance during your workouts, you will reap the many rewards of strength training. This means there is no prerequisite piece of pricey equipment you need to achieve your health goals, and it puts plenty of cost-effective exercise options on the table.
Expensive exercise machines can be fun, and having a state-of-the-art gym at your disposal is unlikely to hamper your exercise efforts. However, I firmly believe neither is necessary to improve your fitness, whether that’s strength levels, mobility, body composition or the robustness of your bones.
As a fitness writer and coach, the two affordable tools that have proved their worth time and time again are kettlebells and gymnastic rings. Both can be picked up for less than £40, and both worked to improve my strength, health and fitness without the gym.
You can save a few extra pennies on these items thanks to the Black Friday sales. So, if you’re looking to get a two-month head start on your New Year’s resolutions, now could be a good time to take the plunge.
Below, you can find my two favourite deals, and a quick explanation of why I think they represent the best fitness investment anyone can make.
Keep up to date with all the latest deals with our Black Friday liveblog
Northern cast iron kettlebell 16kg: Was £46.99, now £32.89, Northerngymequipment.com
open image in galleryNorthern cast iron kettlebell 16kg (Northern)My ethos is that if I do my job well, you will have the information needed to become significantly fitter and healthier while spending as little as possible. If you’re new to strength training, that starts with bodyweight workouts, and this four-week beginner callisthenics plan.
However, without the help of a weight or pull-up bar, it can be quite tricky to develop strength in the muscles of the back responsible for pulling motions. These muscles are also key for other functions, such as posture and stability.
The kettlebell is the best tool for remedying this while also adding more variety and fun to your training. This is because, if you buy a kettlebell, you have an entire gym at your fingertips in a package no bigger than a football.
You can perform exercises like presses, squats, deadlifts and rows to develop full-body strength and muscle. Working your joints through a full range of motion in this way will also boost stability and mobility – if someone can comfortably squat, hinge at the hips to touch the ground and press a weight overhead, chances are their body is in pretty good nick.
The kettlebell’s handle being away from the weight’s centre of mass makes it great for power-building moves like swings, cleans and snatches, and these can be incorporated into circuits to have you breathing hard for added cardio perks.
This cast iron kettlebell from Northern has a robust build, a wide and textured handle for good grip, and colour-coded strips around the horns to signify the weight. It’s nothing flashy, but a good kettlebell doesn’t need to be – it just needs to be heavy and last a long time.
If you want ideas of where to start with kettlebell training, try this accessible six-move kettlebell workout, or have a read of our kettlebell training for beginners series below:
- Expert trainer names his three essential exercises for a stronger, more mobile body
- I tried ‘the best kettlebell workout’, and it was surprisingly simple yet effective in just 10 minutes
- ‘This will change your life’ – An expert strength coach shares the training method missing from your workouts
- An expert trainer says ‘this is the best thing you can do with kettlebells’ to build full-body strength and muscle
- The three short weekly workouts that can transform your fitness
Bulldog Gear wooden gymnastic rings: Was £39.95, now £35.95, Bulldoggear.com
open image in galleryBulldog Gear wooden gymnastic rings (Bulldog Gear)I’ve been told gymnastic rings look intimidating – watching Olympic athletes perform acrobatic routines on them, it’s easy to see why.
But just as you wouldn’t expect a gym beginner to squat 200kg or run a sub-20-minute 5K, those new to gymnastic rings should not immediately attempt advanced manoeuvres like the muscle-up and iron cross.
Instead, you can loop gymnastic rings around a tree or any high, sturdy anchor point, then start with ring push-ups, ring rows, assisted squats, dead hangs and hanging knee raises. Next come dips, pull-ups, single-leg squats and L-sits, and as you become stronger, you can seek out even more movement variety with the likes of pelican curls and assisted sissy squats.
Some of these exercises may not be familiar to you, but the overarching point is that gymnastic rings offer plenty of scope for your training. With variety reputedly being the spice of life, this can lead to more enjoyable workouts, and most people are far more likely to stick to a fun training plan than a boring one.
Gymnastic rings can also help move your shoulders and elbows through a more natural path during press-ups and pull-ups, reducing the risk of injury. They can also help you develop stability, as well as strength and muscle.
You can pick up a set from as little as £20, but I’ve found the clasps on cheaper pairs tend to be a bit hit and miss. These gymnastic rings from Bulldog Gear represent a quality product from a company with a solid reputation in the world of strength training, all for a reasonable price.
Buy nowRead more: Best Black Friday deals, handpicked by consumer experts
