Gain Cardio Fitness With a Home Gym

By Chris A. Harmen

Exercising at home is a great opportunity for those people who want cardio fitness without a lot of hassle. There are no monthly gym memberships going to waste with a home gym. You can organize a home gym to meet their cardio fitness needs that is open 24 hours a day, with no waiting for a favorite machine. There will be nothing getting in the way of exercise, when all of the exercise equipment is available at home.

Deciding on the Right Exercise Equipment for a Home Gym

With a wide variety of home exercise equipment on the market, choosing the ideal equipment for cardio fitness can be confusing. Each piece of exercise equipment offers improved health, weight loss, and increased energy. Yet if the exercise equipment is not right for the buyer, it will sit gathering dust in a corner. To improve cardio fitness, follow a few simple buying guidelines.

First, figure out how much room is available to house the home exercise equipment. Many larger machines are easily folded and stored away after each use. However, if motivation is lacking, the extra step of setting up the machine could be enough to stop a person from beginning their daily exercise routine. For smaller areas, choose smaller pieces of exercise equipment that are easy to use and store.

Choose exercise equipment that is enjoyable and easy to use. Trudging to the home gym to use a machine that is not satisfying will quickly derail any cardio fitness routine. Treadmills are ideal for people who enjoy walking and running, while others may prefer an elliptical machine or exercise bike for a more strenuous and exciting workout routine.

Established cardio fitness goals combined with a well thought out exercise routine can point to the best exercise equipment for a home gym. If one goal were to maintain the body's heart rate at a certain level, then choosing a cardio fitness machine that measures the heart rate would be a good choice. Other features that could be useful include measuring the time, distance, or repetitions of a given exercise. This eliminates the need for keeping track while exercising, which can be distracting for many exercisers.

Ensure that the planned home gym stays within the home budget. While more expensive exercise machines offer additional features that appear impressive, they may not be right for a beginning exerciser's needs. Begin with the necessities to improve overall cardio fitness, and add additional home exercise equipment over time. Sometimes, simplicity is the best choice, as more complicated exercise equipment can intimidate beginning exercisers.