You’ve probably seen the late night informercials trying to sell you amazing gadgets that will get you fit and slim overnight. You know that’s not going to work, no matter how many easy payments they offer. But don’t let these tactics put you off the joy of investing in home fitness equipment. Whether you are 130lb and wanting to add muscle, 180lb and wanting to run a marathon or 330lb and wanting to reach a healthier weight, the right fitness equipment can help.
One of the biggest problems with any new fitness regime is waiting for motivation to strike. This isn’t going to keep you going for long, as it is very easy to find other things that are “more important” right now. So, when you are looking at your first purchase, have a serious look at your life. You can find some great reviews of different options for the right home fitness equipment on the website https://homegymreviewed.com, but first you need to have an idea of what is going to work best for you.
Where do you have room to put a piece of equipment? You need to have it somewhere easy for you to get to, removing the first excuse of exercise being too hard because you can’t get to your machine.
If you live with other people who are supportive and encouraging you have the option of putting the equipment in a public place, like a living room, where you will get positive encouragement each time you work out. However, if you have people who complain that you’re too loud and they can’t hear the TV, who will mock you for only lasting 3 minutes, or that make you feel self-conscious, then chose a location that is going to be away from unsupportive eyes.
Do you actually enjoy the feeling of a great sweaty workout? Do you want to be able to read a book while working? Or maybe you want to be able to hear the TV? Do you enjoy bouncing or would you prefer slow pushing? If you have never tried any form of exercise equipment before you might like to sign up for a free one day trial at your local gym to get an overview of what is available and see what you will like.
It is all very well for spin cycling to burn almost 1000 calories an hour (see here), if your fitness level or enjoyment of cycling means that you are only going to hop on the bike once a week for 3 minutes, it’s probably not going to be the best option for you. Whereas walking on a treadmill for 40minutes while you watch your favourite soap opera everyday will see fantastic results and you won’t feel like you’ve been exercising at all.
If you prefer to feel the ‘burn’ of using your muscles, then weight training might be more your thing. With a range of different devices and setups these don’t need to be the huge contraptions seen at boxing gyms (although they could be if you have the room). Many modern systems are designed to use your own body weight as the weight to be lifted and use a system of pullies to adjust the exertion level.
Even a mini-tramp or rebounder might be just the thing to get you moving, with a range of different exercise routines that you can usually buy on DVD or trial on YouTube. Although if you are a woman with a weak pelvic floor you may want to start Kegel exercises before you start jumping.
Motivation doesn’t work, determined discipline does. You don’t necessarily need the ‘right’ gear, or the ‘right’ time, you just need to get on and do it. Once you have worked out the barriers to you exercising – and “I’m lazy” is a valid barrier – you can start to come up with strategies to overcome those barriers. “I’m lazy, but this is fun”, or “I do HITT on the treadmill/cycle during the ad break of my show”.
Everyone is unique, and we all have our own ways to self-sabotage, and to self-motivate. These may change overtime as our habits change, but you can do this.