fitness exercise equipment

Exercise Equipment can be used for a variety of reasons. Three particularly important uses for exercise equipment are physical fitness, rehabilitation, and weight loss. Many types of machines can be considered exercise equipment. A treadmill, home gym, elliptical trainer, and the recumbent exercise bike are some of the more popular and well known pieces of exercise equipment. If you are looking for exercise equipment and know you would benefit from it, consider getting one of these important pieces of exercise equipment.

The Treadmill

1. The treadmill is an exercise machine consisting of a continuous moving belt on which a person can walk or jog while remaining in one place. A treadmill is the most popular piece of exercise equipment, so if you get a treadmill, you will have joined the largest single group of fitness enthusiasts. The treadmill can be used by runners training for marathons or by the average person for general health and fitness reasons. Use the treadmill to feel and look better, and you’ll get a safe and effective aerobic workout as well.

Benefits of Physical Activity:

• Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Help control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce fat.
• Prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure and helps reduce blood pressure in some adolescents with hypertension.

The Home Gym

2. The home gym is usually considered large exercise equipment, but will provide you with an excellent way to tone your muscles. Using a home gym as exercise equipment will allow you to isolate and work on particular muscles and muscle groups. When used properly, exercise equipment makes you stronger, healthier, and improves your overall feeling of well being. The home gym will quickly become an integral part of your personal daily workout routine. A home gym doesn’t necessarily have to take up much space in your home. Choose your home gym according to your specific needs, and the space available for the home gym as well.

You do not need to be a body builder to benefit from strength training. A well-designed strength-training program can provide the following benefits:

• Increased strength of bones, muscles and connective tissue (the tendons and ligaments), decreasing the risk of injury.
• Increased muscle mass. Most adults lose about one-half pound of muscle per year after the age of 20. This is largely due to decreased activity.
• Muscle tissue is partly responsible for the number of calories burned at rest (the basal metabolic rate or BMR). As muscle mass increases, BMR increases, making it easier to maintain a healthy body weight.
• Enhanced quality of life. As general strength increases, the effort required to perform daily routines (carrying groceries, working in the garden) will be less taxing.

Elliptical Cross Trainer

3. Elliptical cross trainer is also known as an elliptical trainer, or more simply as an elliptical. The elliptical cross trainer is a low impact alternative that will also provide a full body workout. Elliptical cross training equipment is very popular in health clubs, gyms and is also a great choice for home exercise. Elliptical fitness can simulate walking, running, stairclimbing, rowing, skiing and cycling combined. … while delivering almost zero impact to your joints.

Benefit:

• Regular, intensive exercise for patients with rheumatoid arthritis builds muscle strength and aerobic capacity, improves the ability to do daily tasks and fosters a sense of emotional well-being.

The Stairclimber

4. Stairclimber is also referred to as stair stepper, climber or stepper. The word stairclimber says it all. A stair climber or a stair stepper is an excellent exercise machine for the individual looking for lower body improvements. “Climbers” are complete full body workout machines. Climbers can also be used as steppers or stairclimbers . A climber is a great piece of exercise equipment specifically designed for both the professional climber and the person seeking all around fitness.

Benefits of Physical Activity:

• Reduces the risk of dying from coronary heart disease and of developing high blood pressure, colon cancer, and diabetes.
• Can help reduce blood pressure in some people with hypertension.
• Helps maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression and fosters improvements in mood and feelings of well-being.
• Helps control weight, develop lean muscle, and reduce body fat.

The Rowing Machine

5. The rowing machine is also known as a rower. The rowing machines is used by rowing and fitness enthusiasts. Rowing has an aerobic fitness level of its own and can greatly complement a personal cross training program.

Regular physical activity improves health in the following ways:

• Reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.
• Reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
• Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• Helps reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure.
• Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.
• Helps control weight.
• Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling.
• Promotes psychological well-being.
• Millions of people suffer from illnesses that can be prevented or improved through regular physical activity.

Exercise Bike

6. Exercise bike is commonly referred to as an indoor cycle, a stationary bicycle, a studio cycle or even a training bike. The exercise bike is available in a variety of shapes and sizes…. in the form of an upright bike, a recumbent bike, or even an upper body cycle. Since the exercise bike is presented in so many forms, it’s an excellent choice of exercise equipment for people of all ages and people of all sizes. Most importantly, an exercise bike delivers a great cardiovascular workout. An exercise bike can be in the form of an upright bike, a recumbent bike, or even an upper body cycle…. for people of all ages.

How can physical activity or exercise help condition my body?

• Some activities improve flexibility, some build muscular strength and some increase endurance.
• Some forms of continuous activities involve using the large muscles in your arms or legs. These are called endurance or aerobic exercises. They help the heart by making it work more efficiently during exercise and at rest.
• Brisk walking, jumping rope, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing and dancing are examples of aerobic exercises that increase endurance.

Strength Training Equipment

7. Strength training equipment is exercise equipment that is used for muscle toning. The home gym can fall into the strength training equipment category as well. Strength training equipment like a home gym allows the user to isolate particular muscles or muscle groups for targeted workouts. While some types of exercise equipment – or we should say aerobic fitness equipment (cardiovascular equipment) like a treadmill, an elliptical, a stepper, a bike, a rower and a ski machine – could also be considered strength training equipment, they remain classified as aerobic fitness equipment or cardiovascular equipment.

Staying in shape to exercise

For athletes who are training intensely for competition, the following guidelines can help reduce their odds of getting sick.

1. Eat a well-balanced diet. The immune system depends on many vitamins and minerals for optimal function. However, at this time, there is no good data to support supplementation beyond 100 percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowances.

2. Avoid rapid weight loss. Low-calorie diets, long-term fasting and rapid weight loss have been shown to impair immune function. Losing weight while training heavily is not good for the immune system.

3. Obtain adequate sleep. Major sleep disruption (e.g., three hours less than normal) has been linked to immune suppression.

4. Avoid overtraining and chronic fatigue. Space vigorous workouts and race events as far apart as possible. Keep ”within yourself” and don’t push beyond your ability to recover.

Safety Tips

The following are some things you can do to make sure you are exercising safely:

• Start slowly. Build up your activities and your level of effort gradually. Doing too much, too soon, can hurt you, especially if you have been inactive.
• Avoid holding your breath while straining — when using your muscles, for example. If you have high blood pressure, pay special attention to this tip. It may seem strange at first, but the rule is to exhale during muscle exertion; inhale during relaxation. For example, if you are lifting something breathe out on the lift; breathe in on the release.
• If you are on any medicines or have any conditions that change your natural heart rate, don’t use your pulse rate as a way of judging how hard you should exercise. Beta blockers, a type of blood pressure drug, are an example of this kind of medicine.
• Use safety equipment, such as helmets, knee and elbow pads, and eye protection, to keep you from getting hurt.
• Unless your doctor has asked you to limit fluids, be sure to drink plenty when you are doing endurance activities that make you sweat. Many older people tend to be low on fluid much of the time, even when not exercising.
• When you bend forward, bend from the hips, not the waist. If you keep your back straight, you’re probably bending correctly. If you let your back “hump” anyplace, you’re probably bending from the waist, which is the wrong way.
• Make sure your muscles are warmed up before you stretch, or you could hurt them. For example, you can do a little easy biking, or walking and light arm pumping first.
• None of the exercises should hurt or make you feel really tired. You might feel some soreness, a slight discomfort, or a bit weary, but you should not feel pain, in fact, in many ways, physical activity and exercise will probably make you feel better.

You may want to check out my other guide on: Muscle and Abs