Home Gym Equipment: How to Choose Pieces You’ll Actually Use
What should you buy – home gym equipment or a gym membership? Having gym equipment right at home does motivate some people to work out more. It doesn’t do it for everyone, though. The fact that treadmills and ellipticals stand frozen in time in many homes is proof enough. Whether you should build up a collection of home gym equipment or not depends on what motivates you.
If you’re someone who finds it impossible to get motivated at home by yourself, you should think of a gym membership. On the other hand, if you’re embarrassed about your current body shape and would like to work out in private before you venture outside, a home gym is a good idea.
Before you get a home gym, though, you should make sure that you have the discipline and the motivation to work out on your own. If you do, you may get far more out of buying your own equipment than out of getting a gym membership. If you do decide to start your own home gym, here’s how you go about choosing the pieces that will make a difference to you and still keep within your budget.
Build your gym one piece at a time
Home gym equipment tends to be expensive. If you’re caught up in the excitement of starting your home gym, you may end up blowing a lot of money on equipment that is either not right for you or that you end up never using. You should buy one piece of equipment to begin and see how you feel about using it. A great start is to invest in a home gym machine. This way you will have multiple workout options, instead of just one like when using an elliptical or treadmill. You should only buy the next piece of equipment if you’re successful in making good use of the first purchase.
With at least the first piece, buy after February
To top sellers of home gym equipment, January is the best month of the year. Earnestly purposeful after their New Year’s resolution, thousands of people rush out and buy up their home gym equipment. A month or two later, they find that they haven’t used their equipment at all and put it up for sale in the classifieds. You can get such equipment cheaply. If you find that you do make good use of the first component of your home gym, you should go out and buy more new equipment from a well-regarded seller like Orbit Fitness. You’ll get equipment that’s just right for you – something you can’t usually achieve with used equipment.
Isn’t every piece of equipment right for everyone?
Elliptical trainers and other pieces of home gym equipment use patented movements – you can’t adjust them to fit your height. A machine that’s right for a six-foot man will not be right for a woman who is 6 inches shorter. You’ll have better options when you buy new equipment – you’ll be able to choose equipment that’s right for everyone in your family.
What equipment should you buy?
If your fitness aim is to lose weight, you need to be very careful about what you buy. The market is full of contraptions that don’t do much. When it comes to weight loss, nothing can equal the results that traditional equipment – treadmills, exercise bikes and elliptical trainers – offer. You need a device that lets you move naturally and work up a sweat.
If you’re serious about working out, buying a number of these machines can be a good idea – you’ll be able to give your body a varied workout.
If your aim is to build muscle mass and strength, you need a resistance exercise machine. To begin, resistance bands and a set of dumbbells are all you should need. Resistance straps are rubber straps that you can hook up to a door or other fixture to stress your muscles with. These work just as well as universal machines with light weights. You can begin to think of bench press sets when you outgrow the resistance straps.
GUEST BLOGGER: Scott Coleman has a passion for healthy living. After years as a personal trainer, he enjoys blogging about the practical ways everyday people can improve their fitness and overall health.