When many people hear the word gym, they usually think of a local health and fitness centre, full of sweaty bodies pumping iron, to which they have to pay costly memberships and travel to and from. Often these are the main reasons why many people do not ever get around to doing any exercise and, as a result, their lifestyles become sedentary and their health and fitness suffer.
The good news is that getting fit and healthy does not necessarily have to involve traveling to the local gym anymore. You can buy the best home gym equipment and begin a fitness routine, at your convenience, in the comfort of your home.
Having your own equipment means that you can exercise when you feel like it, without having to wait for your turn, and you can get the type of equipment that is best suited to your needs. Here are are a few ideas to help you in your quest to find the best equipment:
For those starting out on a home fitness regime, some of the best pieces of equipment to buy first are a treadmill, an exercise bike, a stair climber and a rowing machine. Any one of these will provide you with a good cardiovascular workout and will strengthen and tone both the upper and lower, parts of your body.
While cardiovascular workouts are beneficial for increasing stamina, burning calories and toning muscles, it is good to complement this with some muscle-building exercise as well. This is where a complete home gym equipment system comes in. Home gyms come in a variety of styles and brands from the very basic to fully customized models. The 3 main types are:
Machine Home Gyms
These are usually made of a single steel frame and different equipment is attached to different parts of the frame, depending on the workout being performed. There are 3 types of machine home gyms – traditional, power rack and power cage. The traditional is the most popular and the best one for multi-purpose workouts. Equipment includes at least one barbell, two dumbbells, weight plates, a bench and rack and collars.
Free Weight Home Gyms
These are made up of several pieces of equipment that are not attached to each other. This kind of equipment system can offer many types of exercise options, such as rowing, leg curls, abdomen crunches and pull-downs. Once again, these come in the traditional, power rack and power cage categories.
Plate Loaded Machine Home Gyms
These use a combination of the machine and free weight systems and also come in 3 categories – machine without weight stacks, smith machine and combination smith machine.
A few extra things to remember when buying home gym equipment are:
- Look for a system that has a 200lb adjustable weight stack for starters.
- Try it out to make sure every part is stable and working smoothly.
- Look for a sturdy frame, steel cables and good supportive padding on the seat and headrests.
Once you have decided to buy your equipment remember the reasons why you are buying it, and choose one that will suit your needs best. Cost is also an important factor to consider, and the best home gym equipment should provide quality in accordance with the price you pay.
Benefits of Home Gym Equipment
With an estimated three out of four Americans overweight, becoming physically fit is more important right now than it has ever been. We are constantly bombarded with unhealthy food choices and sometimes your best defense against it is to exercise regularly. You have a few choices when it comes to exercise. You can either visit your local gym and pay a monthly fee or you can buy a home gym equipment and exercise in the comfort of your home.
There are many benefits to purchasing home gym equipment. Not the least of which is the fact that you will enjoy an incredible amount of convenience. That means that whenever you want to exercise, the equipment will be available to you. If you are part of a gym, you would have to get dressed, get into your car, drive down to the gym, and then exercise. After you are done with your workout at a gym, you still have to drag your tired body into your car and drive back home.
Another thing that people really like about home gym equipment is that they can work out in the privacy of their own home. When we visit the gym, the last thing that we want to see is a bunch of muscle-heads staring it at us while we are trying to get fit. When you first begin your workout regimen, you may experience fatigue at lower levels than you would like. Or, if you are lifting weights, you may start at very low levels as you try to work yourself up to heavier weights. A lot of us would like to enjoy some privacy when we are in these beginning stages. Home gym equipment will allow you to do that.
Before you go out and spend $3000 on a treadmill, you should know that buying used home gym equipment is a great alternative. So, check Craig’s List online, or go out and search as many garage sales as you can and try to find some cheap equipment you can use in your home.
