Your Gym Advice

Are you looking for a cardio workout that you can enjoy? Finding a workout that will keep you entertained is just a matter of knowing yourself. What do you like to do? Dance, swim or kick boxing? If you want a challenging workout that will get your heart pumping here are a few activities to get you started in the right direction:

Swimming: Swimming is just about the best all-around exercise that you can do. Swim about 45 minutes, three times a week and you will see your body becoming toned and fit – and after only a few weeks. Swimming at a fast pace will work your muscles twice as much as running. As with any new exercise, start slow and for shorter periods of time. Then, work your way up to swimming faster and for longer periods.

You might also try water aerobics. Do the same exercises that you do in the gym: leg lifts, squats, lunges. When these exercises are done under water, the water provides a resistance so that your muscles are required to work harder than if you were doing them out of the water. Exercising in water is also better for your joints, especially if you are older. People with arthritis or other joint disorders seem to tolerate water exercises better than gym exercises.

Belly Dancing: Belly dancing is especially good for the waistline, hips and thighs. Once you get going, the cardio benefits are enormous. Belly dancing has become so popular in the United States that most gyms have at least one class.

Yoga: Ashtanga yoga is a form of yoga that takes the most effort. It uses the regular yoga poses but it is also good for aerobic workouts. You should use a certified yoga instructor since he or she is trained to show you the correct poses that will boost your heart rate and burn calories. You can also buy videos online that will show you the poses and how to do them.

Walking. Not just walking, but “power” walking. Power walking requires more effort than plain walking. You swing your arms while walking very quickly. You can power walk outside around your neighborhood or go to the gym and walk on a treadmill. If you are just starting and you are out of shape, start with a plain walking routine until your body adjusts to the exercise. Then, start swinging your arms while walking slowly. When that feels comfortable, go on to a fast walk and match your arm swings to your walking stride.

If you power walk at the gym, have a trained instructor give you the best workout for your strength and stamina. When you are power walking at a fast pace easily on a flat treadmill, start increasing the incline level. That will really give you a workout!

Doing an exercise activity that you enjoy will encourage you to keep with it. And that is what you need to get yourself fit and to lose weight.

A great way to get that new gym you’ve been looking for is to find home gyms at yard sales. This opportunity is a great one that is often overlooked. Yet it’s quite simple to find home gyms at yard sales. This is because people often by exercise equipment on a whim and end up not following through on their New Year’s resolutions, leaving old home gyms sitting. Other people just like to upgrade in order to get the best workout possible. Whatever the reason, you can get great deals at yard sales.

The first thing to remember when you find home gyms at yard sales is to ask questions. The more questions you ask the better idea you will have of how good a shape the equipment is in. You will want to ask when they bought it and how often they used it. You may also want to ask how often they cleaned it and did maintenance on it. Also remember to ask if it has been sitting around for a while and if so, how long? These are all good things to ask. It may prevent you from buying a home gym that wasn’t properly taken care of or has been sitting around for too long and is more likely to have problems.

Once you ask questions when you find home gyms at yard sales, you will also want to look the equipment over yourself. Double-check everything that they said by carefully examining all the equipment. Make sure there are no pieces missing, including screws and rubber safety pieces that should be on sharp corners. Check how well oiled the machine is and ask to look at the manual if they still have it. This will give you a better idea as to how the original product should look. You will also be able to see from the manual what kind of care the equipment should get and be able to check and see if it was taken care of properly. Aesthetics may or may not be important to you. A few chips are not as bad as missing equipment and missing screws however. But do be sure to ask for a price break if you feel you need to.

One last thing to keep in mind when you are going out to find home gyms at yard sales is the prices. Make sure you are fully aware of how much certain machines may cost brand new. This will give you the information you need, just in case someone may try to sell it to you at a brand new price. This also gives you a starting point from which to bargain, based on the condition of the equipment at the time you buy it. Knowing the real value of certain gyms is always recommended before you go out and buy one used at a yard sale or other similar place.

When it comes time to find home gyms at yard sales, you will want to keep these ideas fresh in your mind. Many of them will help you to save not only a huge disaster but money as well. When you finally find the one that is right for you, you’ll be glad you took the time.

Looking for the best home gym? Home gyms come in many different sizes and varieties – so much so that it can get confusing.

While there’s never been a better time to buy – you want to make sure you choose a home gym that will get you where you want to go, without wasting your time or money.

Everyone is different and needs different things in a home gym.

This article will lay out the 8 key features that make up the best home gym for you. Keep these things in mind when shopping and you’ll easily be able to select the optimal piece of equipment for your needs.

The best home gym has these features:

1) Meets Your Goals

Not every type of home gym will get you where you want to go – you need one that will give you the results you want. For example, if you’re looking to get ripped and build an Arnold-type body, you might want to consider plate-loaded machines or even leverage machines like the Powertec brand.

If you’re looking to simply tone up and burn fat, you might want a power rod machine like a Bowflex.

If you’re somewhere in the middle – you want to build muscle but don’t necessarily want to go into bodybuilding, you might want a traditional weight stack machine like those made by Bodysolid or Bodycraft. The best home gyms will help you reach your personal goals quickly and efficiently.

2) Fits Your Workout Space

Gyms come in all different shapes and sizes. When shopping for a home gym, consider how much room you have available. Note the length, width and height of the room where you plan to place your gym. Some gyms are quite high or have a large footprint.

Also, when you look at the footprint of a piece of equipment, make sure you add at least 2 to 3 feet on either side of it for room to move, and an additional 12 to 18 inches in height (if it has a stationary chin up/pull up bar).

If the machine has a low pulley row station (particularly those gyms with plate stacks or free weights) and does not have a sliding seat (like some of the Bowflex machines), note where it is located. If it’s located on the outside of the machine (so you are sitting away from the machine), you will need to add at least 6ft to that size of the machine for workout space.

3) Lightweight/Easy To Move

If you’re going to be moving the gym equipment around, you’ll want to look for a home gym that is either foldable and/or lightweight. Many weight stack machines and plate loaded machines are not lightweight.

However there are other gyms like the power rods gyms that may fold up or are lightweight and easy to move around. These would be ideal for small spaces like condos, apartments or a smaller home gym.

4) Number of Exercises

When looking at equipment, keep in mind the number of exercises it can do. If you are a beginner, it’s important that the machine can give you a good total body workout (chest, shoulders, back, arms, legs), and the number of exercises isn’t as important.

But as you become more experienced, you will need to change those exercises and workout routines to prevent your body from plateauing (adapting to your training, and stop growing), as well as to fight off boredom.

5) Workout Routines

Some home gym manufacturers provide complete workouts for beginners, intermediates and advanced. As a minimum most of the manufacturers provide you a basic guide for each exercise. Some even add in DVD workouts to help you get started on their machines.

6) Weight Resistance

If you are new to strength training, you may find a typical 200lb stack or resistance more than enough to train with. But as you become stronger, you will either have to increase the number of repetitions (the number of times you do a particular move) or increase the weight.

That’s why it’s usually a good idea to pick up the additional weight if a manufacturer offers it.

7) Cardio Station

Does the home gym have a cardio station (usually a row station)? If you want a complete body workout (cardio and strength training), either make sure it has a row station, or look to adding either skipping, running, or a cardio session (kickboxing, etc) in your workout.

Warranty

A good warranty gives you an idea of the quality of the parts used in construction. This is important especially if you have a lot of moving parts, or parts that might not be available easily.

As machines become more digital, pay attention to the warranty. If they run on a digital system this piece of machinery may breakdown and make your equipment useless, unless you get it fixed. So you want to make sure the digital portion of the machine is covered by a lengthy warranty.

So those are 8 key features that make up the best home gym for you. Keep these things in mind when buying a home gym and you’ll save time, money and loads of frustration.

Perhaps you manage a fitness club, or you’re a personal trainer who wants to set up a training studio, or perhaps you are just a person who would like to own some home gym equipment. Regardless of the reason why, if you are shopping for fitness equipment, then you can save a good deal of money by taking a look at what is available in used fitness equipment.

Most of the commercial exercise equipment found at the neighborhood gym or workout center is now available as home gym equipment. Of course, some of this equipment is very large and cumbersome, so what type of equipment you can use in your home fitness center will depend to a large extent on the amount of space you have available.

Whatever kind of home gym equipment you end up selecting, the key point is to be sure that you choose the type of apparatus that you most enjoy using. If you don’t find the type of exercise regime carried out on the exercise equipment enjoyable, convenient and reasonably easy, you will end up avoiding the machinery and the exercise altogether.

While any physical workout should be challenging and push you so that you can improve, if it is more torture than exercise, then your efforts to put together a home fitness center will be futile. With so many different choices in home gym equipment on the market, be sure to take sufficient time to consider which kind of fitness activities and supporting exercise equipment for the house you are most likely going to use for the long-term.

While there are many fitness fads that come and go, as well as a constant parade of “breakthrough” fitness equipment options, the real trick is to find the type of activity that you can effectively incorporate into your lifestyle. This is what will lead to success in the long run, long after the newest gadget or fad has been forgotten.

If you are looking at home gym equipment, then it is obvious you are also the kind of person who prefers the use of gym exercise equipment to support you in your exercise and fitness routines. Most fitness equipment is classified according to they type of exercise or the area of the body which they are designed to target.

Because there are so many different choices in home gym exercise equipment, the decision can be daunting. It is best to first decide what type of exercise you want to primarily focus on and this in turn will help you to decide on the best equipment to purchase.

There are two basic approaches to selecting an exercise gear for your house. Part of the final decision will be based on the budget that you have and the amount of space you have to work with in your house. Then, you can focus on equipment that targets one specific area of your body, or you can look for in home fitness equipment that is intended to work virtually all parts of your body.

Additionally, you can choose exercise equipment that has been designed for overall aerobic workouts, like treadmills and stair steppers.

One of the major benefits of home gym equipment created for a total-body workout, is that it is going to take up significantly less space in your house. Purchasing multiple machines for your home fitness center often makes it hard to have sufficient space to properly use the fitness equipment. On top of that problem, you will often end up paying more for multiple pieces than you would for a single unit that has multiple capabilities.

Buying a home gym? A home gym can help you build muscle, produce an attractive body, rev up a sluggish metabolism and shave years off your age.

If you choose wisely, you’ll have all the tools you need to accomplish these goals (and more). But not everyone knows where to start or how to get the most from a home gym.

When clients ask me about buying a home gym, here are 5 things I tell them to get the most from their purchase:

1) Buy a Well Rounded Piece of Equipment:

Unless you have hundreds of square feet in your home to dedicate to multiple pieces of equipment, you should look for a home gym that covers all the major exercises (including the ones you don’t like), such as chest, back, abs, legs (hamstrings & quadriceps), shoulders, biceps and triceps.

2) Buy A Home Gym That Is Stable:

There’s a saying, “You get what you pay for.” Most of the inexpensive home gyms you buy from a local department store have very narrow bases, so they tend to rock when you use them. Stay away from home gyms that do not have a good stable base.

For a basic rule of thumb, look at home gyms that are more “square” or “as high as they are wide”. As an example, you won’t want a home gym that 10ft high x 2 ft wide x 2 ft deep, unless you are going to anchor it to a concrete floor.

3) Put Your Gym In A Place You’ll Actually Use It

If you leave your home gym in a room you normally don’t go into to, odds are high that you aren’t going to use it.

The more inviting the room where you place your equipment, the more likely you will use it (how many of us really want to work out in a dungeon?).

If there’s only one place you can place your home gym, then work on the room. Maybe add a coat of paint or put up pictures that inspire you.

Add a stereo system or a wall mounted television. By making the room inviting and inspiring, you’ll ensure that workouts will be enjoyable.

4) Make A Simple & Short Workout Routine

Don’t go using those “Mr. Or Ms. Olympia” home gym workouts. That’s the first big mistake that people make when they first get their equipment.

Instead, start by making a workout that is only 30 to 45 minutes long. Most people can do this and it will build your confidence.

Do this workout 3 to 5 days a week. Remember to work all your muscles (not just the ones you like) for optimum results. It helps to keep a record of your workouts on paper so you can see just how far you’ve come.

If you’re stuck on what to do, don’t worry. Many home gyms come with beginner workouts. But again, don’t go crazy and kill yourself over the first few workouts – start from where you are and build on it. Consistency is key for a killer body.

5) Write Down Your Workout Days On The Calendar

Like any important appointment, make an appointment with your home gym. If you’re really serious about getting in shape, you need to make the effort to put yourself, your body and your health first – especially at the beginning stages.

Experts tell us it takes 3 to 6 weeks before actions become habit. Once you’ve built the habit of working out, it will get easier.

To help you stick to your exercise appointment, get loved ones to encourage you and make you accountable. Once you get past the 8 week mark, you’ll feel (and look) so great you’ll wonder why you didn’t get a home gym sooner.

So those are 5 ways to get the most out of your home gym equipment. If you’re buying a home gym, taking the time to find the right equipment for you will pay huge dividends in the future!

Weider home gyms are some of the most popular home gyms on the market. How do they measure up against other home gyms on the market? Here’s a quick overview of Weider home gyms to help you decide if one is right for you.

Weider makes both weight stack home gyms and crossbar (or crossbow) home gyms (these are similar to the Bowflex Power Rod gyms).

Weider is a subsidiary of ICON Health and Fitness, one of the largest producers of fitness equipment in the world. Icon also manufactures brands like Proform, Golds Gym, Free Motion, Nordic Track, Epic and Reebok.

Most Weider home gyms use bendable bars (crossbow or crossbars) to create resistance.

The advantage to this (vs. using a weight stack with pulleys) is a more affordable, space efficient home gym that still gives you a wide variety of exercises to work your entire body including abs, back, legs and arms.

Weider has several crossbow home gym models, the most popular are the:

Weider Platinum – Offers resistance of up to 340 lbs. and 75 exercises

Weider Advantage – Offers resistance of up to 240 lbs (upgradable to 440 pounds) and 65 exercises

Weider Max – Offers resistance of up to 240 lbs. and 65 exercises

Another unique feature found on the Weider Platinum (and Platinum Plus) model is the Digital Resistance Control. This means you can change your resistance with the touch of a button – there are no manual adjustments needed.

Advantages of Weider home gyms are that they are space efficient, more affordable than weight stack gyms, and can give you an overall total body workout. They offer lots of exercises (65+) to work your major muscle groups. They can also be a viable (and more affordable) alternative to the more expensive Bowflex Power Rod home gyms.

It’s also important to note that while the warranties on the machines themselves tend to be short, there is a lifetime warranty on the crossbars.

Disadvantages to Weider machines are that, for the most part, these are economy machines (especially the Weider Max and Weider Crossbow Advantage).

They are not built with the same high degree of construction as other home gym brands and as such may not hold up over the long run as well as other brands.

Also, some people do not like the type of resistance that the Crossbow models give you, claiming that a weight stack machine with pulleys, give you a better range of motion and a more sophisticated type of resistance.

Because of this, a Weider Crossbow home gym might not be the best choice if your goal is to get ‘ripped’ or ‘huge’. (You might want to consider free weights or a leverage home gym for that).

A Crossbow home gym would be more suitable for toning and strengthening your muscles.

Bottom Line:

If you’re on a tight budget but still want a decent home gym that will give you a wide range of exercises to work your entire body, Weider home gyms give you good value.

They’re affordable, space efficient and can be more lightweight than a standard home gym. The Weider Advantage and the Weider Max have fairly positive user reviews behind them and they give you a large range of exercises, making these models a good value for the money.

The disadvantage is that these are economy gyms. They may not hold up as well over the long term as other gym brands – a fact seen in generally shorter warranties.

However, considering what you get for the price tag, most Weider home gyms – especially the Crossbow models – offer good value.

Lifestyle changes have had an effect on people. They often tend to make time for everything except for maintaining their health and fitness. And the result is the onset of various diseases and discomforts. There are numerous health centers and gyms which promise to help you stay fit, but how much they really achieve this is a billion dollar question. Even if they are useful, finding a convenient time is often difficult. Do away with all these obstacles. Buy a home gym and work out your own fitness at your own convenience.

Home gym and fitness

Home gyms offer a lot of exercises that help us to remain fit. With this, there is no need for you to travel all the way to your gym and then wait for your turn to workout. Exercise when you feel like it. There is no restriction at all. They offer almost everything you could get by going to a gym center. What’s more, your whole family can benefit too.

Home gyms are of three types:

Machine home gyms:

These are constructed of a single steel frame. Different training equipment is attached to different parts of the frame. These come in three types: traditional, power rack and power cage.

Traditional types are the most common and best suited for multi-purpose workouts. They include at least one barbell, two dumbbells, weight plates, a bench and rack and collars to prevent weight plates from falling. Power rack is suitable for people who do heavy exercises. Power cage is almost similar to power rack except a few minor differences.

Free weight home gyms:

These consist of several pieces of equipment that are not attached to each other. These are further divided into three categories; traditional, power rack and power cage.

Traditional types are the most commonly used and suited for all workouts. Power rack and power cage are intended for those who perform heavy exercises.

Plate loaded machine home gyms:

These combine machine and free weight features. These come in three categories; machine without weight stacks, smith machine and combination smith machine

There are various brands available in market.

Bowflex is the top brand that offers fitness equipments. You can perform 60 exercises by Bowflex. It is not a cheap in terms of cost, but it is worth it.

Nordic track is also one among the top most manufacturers of fitness equipments. They are well known for the superior quality they offer.

Cybex offers stylishly designed equipment that is easy to use. It will last for many years.

Nautilus offers top quality at a reasonable price. It is a very good piece for home users.

Weider is one of the top quality brands that offer effective equipment.

What to look for when buying a home gym?

Once you decide to buy a home gym, first concentrate on your purpose for buying it. You may be buying it for body toning, fitness, muscle building or some other reason. Choose one according to your needs. Like, if you wish to have one for maintaining fitness you can opt for some traditional types. If you are intending to use it for heavy workouts, you can go for power rack or power cages. Cost is an important factor to consider when buying. So first decide your budget and go for the ones that offer what you need in your price range.

Summary:

Lifestyle changes have had an effect on people. They often tend to take out time for everything except for maintaining their health and fitness. And the result is the onset of various diseases and discomforts. There are numerous health centers and gyms where you can workout to remain fit. But investing in a home gym is always a better option in the long run.

Exercise has become an integral part of everyday life of most people. An individual spends at least some part of his life in exercise. Exercise can be done with equipment or without equipment. Training equipments helps in exercising a specific part or group of muscles or organs of the body. Today a wide range of gym equipment are available in the market.

The most common equipments for training are multigyms, treadmills, swiss balls, dumb bells, bar bells, rowing machines, exercise bicycles, balance boards, abdomen exercisers resistance bands and punching bags. There are various facilities, equipment associated with gym equipment like heart rate monitors, sauna baths, swimming pools etc.

A multigym consists of incremented weight plates that move up and down on steel guides. It usually consists of attachments for exercise of chest, arms, thighs, calves, shoulders and pectorals (sometimes called wings or pecs).

Treadmill is an equipment used for running without moving any distance. It consists of a conveyor belt which slides on rollers on which the individual can run or walk.

Swiss ball or yoga ball is a rubber ball of 50 to 85 cm which is used to develop balance and exercise the abdominal and back muscles.

Dumbbells and bar bells are the traditional gym equipment. They consist of variable or fixed free weights attached to a small or long bar. They are lifted against gravity to tone muscles like biceps, triceps, forearm muscles, chest and shoulder muscles etc. They usually come in pairs.

Rowing machines are gym equipment designed to stimulate rowing in water. They are used to exercise pecs and back muscles.

Exercise bicycles are stationery bicycles with resistance discs for wheels. They are used to exercise thigh and calf muscles. Balance board consists of a board fixed on a bearing. It is used to develop balance. Abdomen exerciser consists of an inclined board with leg rollers for doing sit ups. It is used to exercise the stomach and abdomen muscles. All the above equipment except free weights have attached electronics to monitor number of cycles and other parameters. Resistance bands are elastic bands and in these the resistance of the band to stretching is used to exercise muscles like quadriceps and deltoids.

Punching bag consists of sand filled cushioned bags or other rugged material bags for practice by boxers. They are either hung from the ceiling or fixed on a stand.

Most professional gyms have the above mentioned equipment along with other facilities like swimming pools, sauna baths, steam baths etc.

For a home gym, a multigym with a few dumbbells and barbells are sufficient for workout of the entire body. The starting price of a multigym is around 1500$. The cost of other equipment varies according to the make.

If you have decided to get serious about bodybuilding or just getting serious about your health then you most likely will want to join a bodybuilding gym or a fitness center. This is a great choice and will help you get better results if you put in the time and effort it requires to keep your body fit.

In this article I will show you some of the things to look for when selecting the right bodybuilding gym or fitness center for you.

If you are a bodybuilder and are selecting a bodybuilding gym you will most likely want to pick a gym that is close to your house and is dedicated to the sport of bodybuilding.

For instance if you are a bodybuilder then you have heard or most likely at one time or another belonged to a Golds Gym. This gym is dedicated to the sport of weightlifting and now a days has many different classes and many different kinds of equipment for many different kinds of people.

If you are not into bodybuilding then a place like 24 hour fitness which is a fitness center is a great place to start looking. Many of these places give you tours of there facilities before you buy a membership.

Many different places have different equipment and different classes for the average person to the pro bodybuilder it just depends on what you are looking for and what kind of fitness you would like to get into.

Both bodybuilding gyms and fitness centers have trainers that can either help you get started on a fitness program or help you where you left off if you already were into bodybuilding. If you are not a bodybuilder you can join a bodybuilding gym and vice versa it just really depends on what you are looking for.

Many bodybuilders join bodybuilding gyms because they have the support of other bodybuilders. Some are even on bodybuilding teams together and train and go to competitions together.

Whatever one you choose make sure that you like the cleanliness the people and the staff because this is where you are going to go to do something amazing with your body and for your health.

Whether it is a bodybuilding gym or a fitness center the real choice is up to you and what your personal needs are. Only you know your body and can make this choice.

So go and check out a couple bodybuilding gyms and fitness centers today and get started on that great body you are about to have.

A daily exercise regime is as important for our body as a well balanced diet is. But for people with a busy schedule, it is extremely hard to consistently keep up with one. Then there are people who do not like jostling in crowded gyms or waiting for their turn to get access to a particular piece of equipment. A home gym promises you the most convenient mode of working out in the privacy and quiet of your home. In your own home, according to your convenience, at the time of your choice, the working out session becomes a matter of enjoyment in the absence of any worry relating to time. Thus working out in a home gym yields better results than working out in a traditional gym. The reason is simple, you feel more relaxed in your home than in a gym where you have to work out in the middle of a bunch of strangers. At home you can create the right ambience and work out with the equipment of your choice for a time that is decided only by you, not the other members waiting in a queue.

The success of creating a well equipped home gym depends on how well you know your mind, that is, how clear you are in your expectations from a home gym. First take out a piece of paper and list out your expectations as to what is your final goal? Losing weight or just to gain in energy? Build some extra muscles or simply maintain cardiovascular health. The types of equipment you will select to create an efficient work station depends on the answer to these questions.

At the time of shopping for your home gym, keep in mind that your home gym is going to be the replacement of a traditional gym. So buy the equipment that helps you to do an all round work out. For that reason, any one piece of equipment will not complete the work station in your home. To make it versatile, you have to invest in some basic equipment that helps on the one hand with aerobic and cardiovascular exercises, and on the other with power training and endurance.

In creating a personal home gym, ambience has a crucial role to play. In your home, it is you and your family who are using the equipment. So use your imagination to decorate your gym room in a way that always looks warm and inviting. So create the home gym in that corner of your home where it usually remains quiet. The room should be well lit as well as well ventilated. Place the workstation before the window and it will be great if the window opens onto a lawn or swimming pool. Adorn the walls with pictures of beautiful men and women whom you adore. Place some fresh indoor plants in one corner of the room, keep the floor and the mat clean. The total ambience will only strengthen your determination.

You can consider seeking professional help in setting up a well equipped home gym. The gym should commensurate your unique expectations and requirements, the size of your budget and the interior of your home and lifestyle. There are countless benefits of having a gym in your own home, but it should be created in a way so that it helps you to realize your dreams.