Bench + weights. Cardio is easy without a machine, weightlifting is not. If you’re not into weightlifting, then yeah, small treadmills/walking pads are great.

Whatever you are going to use regularly and not get bored with. Consistency is key.

I’m torn between rower (as lots of people here have said) and one of those pull up station racks that also has dip bars. I love rowers for the efficiency of movement and you get lots of big muscle groups at once but the first thing that got me consistently working out was body weight exercises in my local park. I started with bands on a pull up bar and worked my way up to different pull up variations.

Only cardio machine you need is a rower - it’s full body and is different from all other cardio which is simply an augmentation on something you probably already have access to already (bike, stairs, the ground) - most don’t have a rowboat/canoe. Also a fantastic workout and my personal go-to. But you can just walk and get all the cardio you need with less wear of your joints/free.

For strength exercise, you can use a combination of bodyweight, bands, kettlebells, adjustable dumbbells, rings and a weighted vest to get massively strong. I’d recommend an adjustable bench and a strong cross bar to hang things off to do rings and pull-ups. Rubber matting also makes things a bit nicer. You can build a home gym in a couple of meters of space if that’s all you have. I say this even though I have a vast array of gym toys (rack, barbells, FT, plyo, leg sled, leg extension/curl, rings, dip bars, bike, rower, treadmill, pool, kettlebells, dumbbells, vest etc) but I started off small with just rings and kettlebells.

Bondage swing set.

Rowing machine.

Free weights. Especially something with changeable plates and a bench. Take up the same space as a machine but allow a higher range of exercises.

Weights and a bench like many have said, and what a lot of people don’t realize is that lifting (even low weights) can be very cardio intensive.

Put the money back in you pocket and use YouTube and the muscle wiki to do a combination of body weight training and yoga.

If you gotta buy something, get a good workout mat, sneakers, and wireless headphones.

Some personally experienced and psychologically supported things to consist

• Unless you’re getting into serious weight training, marathon running, or a very specific physical shape, any large purchase is just going to exist as a guilt bank if you don’t get the results you want out of it.
• Any machine you get is going to fail you if you don’t have proper form and thus either hurt your progress or body if you don’t spend enough time up front getting that form.
• Are you making this your passion? Most people work out for a goal and when you hit that goal you’re going to find it a lot harder to justify the space the equipment takes when you’re working out for maintenance instead of progress.

On the counter to that, body weight training uses nothing, can be done everywhere, and focuses on form. Combining it with yoga and you either get a perfect rounded workout that will get your results with minimal recovery time, or you will figure out where you need the most help while building that form you need for a machine. Then you will already know what you need to buy and have an understanding your body instead of the advice of a pool of strangers who don’t know you, don’t know what you need, and don’t know what you’re expecting.

Personally, after that I’d use the money for a local martial arts program, which will also give you a support community to encourage you to keep working at it.

If you’re getting free weights, I’d get an adjustable bench as well. If you already have a bike, you can get a bike trainer to ride inside when weather isn’t cooperating. I’d avoid a treadmill since as you mentioned, the outside is accessible, and if you’re not in a climate with snow and ice, a little rain sometimes feels good during a run.

But like others mentioned, dumbbells and a kettlebell will be all you need to do a lot of strength exercises. An adjustable bench allows you to expand on that. You can get dumbbells that use plates, so you dont need a full set, just the bars and plates. In the future you could get other bars for different strength training if you feel the need and you can just use existing plates.

Otherwise as someone else mentioned, you can do a lot with just bodyweight traing too. A good mat will go a long ways for that. You can supplement that with resistance bands that take up minimal space.

Get the cushioning matting and use it as a general exercise area.

Get free weights, medicine balls, etc.

Do squats, press ups, all sorts of body exercises, augment them with weights.

If any machine… mount a chin up bar to a wall or get a free standing one.

Rower is my choice

If you’re set on a machine i think a rowing machine.

Does arms legs core and cardio.

after my wife had knee surgery we got one of those cross country ski things where your arms and feet move sorta counter to each other left right with an incline mode. We got it because she needed something that would be almost zero impact. Its likely the best thing you can get if you want to excersise when you have limitations.

Dumbells and a bench