Home Exercise – What Equipment Do You Really Need?

January 3, 2012 by admin
Filed under Articles, Exercise & Fitness, General

If we want to lose some weight, or start a new exercise program, then joining a gym is a great idea. So we join up, pay our fees and buy all the gear, and then can’t seem to find the time to go! There’s always something else to do. Looking after the kids, take the dog for a walk and cleaning the house. Well, at least we are doing something healthy, as all those things count as exercise anyway! But it’s not enough is it? If we want a proper workout, we have to set aside some proper time. It doesn’t have to be an hour or more at a time– breaking it up into six sessions of 10 minutes is just as good and still gets us our 1 hour of exercise.

One problem most of us have is we don’t have a room we can use exclusively as a gym. We need exercise equipment that can be tidied away when it’s not in use, but is easy enough to set up when we do want to use it. Well thankfully, there is a good range of this sort of home exercise equipment on the market these days.

Cardio Exercise Equipment for Home Use

Cardio-vascular exercise is the type that makes you breathe hard and work up a sweat. Whichever cardio vascular exercise you choose, it should be done for a minimum of half an hour a day to give significant health benefits, but again, this can be broken up into shorter sessions if you prefer. Remember, though, that you will need to warm up and cool down each time to avoid potential injury or strain or just stiffness the next day. This means that a 10-minute session might include two or three minutes at the beginning and end when you are not working hard enough for it to count as cardio. For this reason you might find the most time-effective way to do your cardiois in one session.

Stairs or a low bench can be used to do your cardio, with similar results to using a machine, but not all of us can put the strain on our knees that this usually entails. So a low-impact machine can be a godsend. Treadmills are lower impact than running on a pavement but elliptical exercisers, bikes or rowers are even better. Also, most of them also measure the number of calories you burn, which is a good incentive. Start off with a 10-15-minute session every other day to start off, and this will help to ease you into the habit. You will then find it easier to stick with it than if you start off to hard and fast.

Weight or Resistance Training at Home

In addition to the cardio, and to improve the look of your body, you will need to do some resistance training as well. You can begin this training without special exercise equipment, by using your own body weight, which is a safe option, as long as you are in the right position for all exercises. There is plenty of advice available on this online. Curls, the safe alternative to sit-ups, are great for stomach muscles. For the chest, arm and shoulder muscles, try push-ups. And leg lifts or squats are usually sufficient for most people to achieve initial strength improvements to the legs.

By combining these two forms of exercise, the cardio as often as you like, but having one rest day a week, and resistance work every other day, it won’t be long at all until you start seeing results!