Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Exercise Equipment for a Home Gym

Attending a Gym or Health Club can be a very rewarding pastime. Those that go to the gym love to exercise and stay fit, they love that feeling of being fit and healthy, however most people just can’t seem to find the time or the motivation these days, with work demands or the thought of having to get off that comfortable couch and face that long drive to the gym, it’s getting more and more difficult to consistently get there.

One of the ways around those obstacles would be to invest in a Home Gym. It doesn’t have to be fancy or very expensive, just a basic Home Gym will suffice. Here are some advantages of have a home gym:

No more travelling to and from the gym
No waiting around for someone to finish their set
More time available at home
No more silly music – you can choose your own
Better concentration, no distractions
No Gym fees
You can exercise anytime day or night 7 days a week
You only need a medium sized floor space
Greater control of hygiene at home

So what Exercise Equipment do I need for a Home Gym?
That depends on your goals, your budget, and your floor space. Assuming that your budget is fair (a home gym is really not that expensive) and your floor space is a decent size, you need to consider your exercise goals. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to:

Lose weight and get Fit?
Build Muscle Size?
Build Strength?

To Lose Weight and get Fit
You’ll need a Treadmill, an Exercise Bike and a Rowing Machine. 20 minutes on each as a circuit. Increasing the resistance at every session or as you see “fit”.
The increase in resistance is important to induce an anaerobic effect, this is a great way to lose weight and build fitness.

To Build Muscle Size
You’ll need an Exercise Bike for a warm up and cool down. A Squat Rack, a Bench, Barbells, Dumbbells and weights. This is sufficient to build muscle size,
however, you will need to lift heavy weights to induce muscle growth. If you’re lifting heavy weights you will need someone there to help for those heavy sets.

To Build Strength
You’ll need the same as above for muscle size, but you could also use a Power Rack with safety pins. To build strength you’ll need to lift very heavy weights for low repetitions so safety is of great importance and you will need someone there to help when going very heavy.

You can always search the web for a more detailed exercise routine that will suit your goals. You should also, before starting any exercise program, get the go ahead from your GP or health professional.

So all you’ll really need to set up a home gym is about 3 to 4 pieces of exercise equipment with weights. You don’t need to spend thousands on a home gym when the basics will be enough for you to complete your goal.

Should I get New or Used?
It’s not that important whether the equipment is new or used or refurbished, just make sure it is of high quality and you can depend on it. Some people prefer new some used, some people prefer refurbished because it looks new and has a high quality but isn’t as expensive as brand new. It all depends on your personal preferences.

The important thing is that anyone can set up a basic Home Gym to suit your needs, it really is not that difficult or expensive. If you would like more information on Home Gyms new or refurbished, visit http://www.explosivemusclegrowth.com/Exercise-Equipment.html

Darren O'Connell - has over 20 years experience in Muscle Growth, Health, Fitness, Fatloss and Nutrition - www.explosivemusclegrowth.com/explosive-muscle.html