If you're interested in building muscle for a particular sport, or even just as a way to keep fit, it's important to include regular resistance training in your workout plan.While commercial gyms can be a great place to start, the monthly membership fees and lengthy cancellation clauses in contracts often make joining impractical and too expensive for many people.If this is the case, working out from home is often the next best thing.Although you won't usually have access to the same level of equipment, you can guarantee you won't need to wait to use any machines or free weights, and you only end up paying for what you'll actually use.If you haven't already created your own home gym, it can be difficult to know where to start. Whichever equipment you decide to buy should always be focussed around helping you achieve your own specific fitness goals, and not just what you read about in the monthly magazines.But if building muscle is your goal, a great place to start can be with a simple weights bench and adjustable dumbbell setup.In choosing your weights bench, you should always look for a design that offers a wide range of back support and seat positions, also known as a 'FID' bench (Flat, Incline, Decline).This not only allows you to perform a wider variety of exercises, but will also keep you better supported, allowing you to lift more weight as a result.In terms of dumbbells, you will probably want to avoid any of the fixed weight sets, or those that rely solely on weight plates.When you build up a collection of fixed weight dumbbells you'll find it becomes difficult to find storage space, takes too much time finding a matching set mid-workout, and ends up costing twice as much as an adjustable set.A quick browse through some of the popular online review and shopping sites will show that the Bowflex and Powerblock dumbbells are the most popular sets. This is due to their high build quality, high maximum weight limit (Powerblocks offering up to 130lb per dumbbell), and quick-change design.It's worth bearing in mind that the price of the dumbbell and bench combination will vary, depending on the quality and range of weight settings / adjustment options you're looking for.While a lower quality combination will set you back no more than a few hundred dollars, a high quality FID bench and top of the range Powerblock set can cost anything up to $1000.Once you have this basic setup, you should be able to perform over 30 different upper and lower body exercises, even with very little space in an apartment, spare room, or garage.You can then start to add various equipment as your training progresses.