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Top 5 essentials for your home gym
Tired of spending so much on your gym membership? Instead spend the money on some key pieces of gym equipment to give you an all-round body work out in the comfort of your own home.
Here are our top 5 recommendations for essential equipment:
1. Treadmill
Calories burned per hour: up to 700
Good for: Overall fitness
Particularly useful in the winter when it’s cold and dark outside, treadmills are perfect for overall fitness and shedding those extra calories in the process. Treadmills are dead easy to set up, all you have to do is jump on and hit go. If you want to simulate outside running, many treadmills can be programmed to offer hills and different speeds throughout your run.
Treadmills with LCD screens and dashboards usually calculate calories burned, distance travelled, and they can help you keep to a particular speed throughout your run; brilliant when setting targets for yourself and pushing yourself just that little bit harder. Choose a foldable treadmill if you are struggling for space in your home and a manual/magnetic version if you’re on a budget.
2. Cross Trainers
Calories burned per hour: up to 500
Good for: Cardiovascular or body toning work
Cross trainers are perfect for people who are worried about injuries, as they simulate walking or running with very low impact on the body’s joints. They provide an upper and lower body workout, as well as toning of the stomach muscles by twisting and turning whilst flexing the legs.
Choose a cross trainer if you are looking for cardiovascular or body toning work, as apposed to build muscles.
3. Rowing Machines
Calories burned per hour: up to 600
Good for: Overall workout
Rowing machines are excellent for burning calories fast, with up to 600 calories per hour on a moderate setting. This is because they provide a full workout, working the legs and upper body in tandem. Choose a low cost rower with little resistance if losing weight is your aim.
When looking to build muscle strength, go for a rower with adjustable resistance levels as this will make your upper body work harder on each row. There’s three types of resistance features to look out for: Magnetic, which offers a smooth rowing action, Hydraulic, the cheaper less realistic option, and Sculling, which uses a swinging lever as opposed to a bar and cable.
4. Exercise Bikes
Calories burned per hour: up to 560
Good for: Toning legs, overall fitness
Along with treadmills, exercise bikes are very easy to use and require no real technique or prior experience. The simplicity and small size make them perfect for indoor use, which tones the legs, and if used enough can improve your heart, muscle, lungs and general fitness.
If you are looking for a vigorous workout, up the resistance levels and stay seated for as long as possible, this works the legs harder. To replicate a spinning session double your speed every 5 minutes for as long possible and then come back down to an easier speed. Try to vary the resistance throughout to increase your heart rate.
5. Multi-Gyms
Calories burned per hour: up to 350
Good for: muscle building, strengthening or toning
When looking for muscle building, strengthening or toning you will need to use some weights to complete your fitness regime. A simple set of dumbbells will do, however if you want to add in a variety of different exercises such leg presses, bench presses, arm curls, low rows or lat pull downs, a multi gym is the perfect choice.
These exercises mean you can work both the upper and lower body, which when incorporated with some cardiovascular work is the perfect way to get fit.
