If you don't want to spend money on gym membership, don't want to lose time traveling to and from commercial gyms, but you like to workout at the privacy of your home, you are on the right place.
Need a home gym exercise machine? Check these categories:
Elliptical can be of great aid in burning extra calories, increasing strength and stamina, and in the end, losing weight.
But, cardio exercises on the elliptical should be combined with proper and healthy nutrition, weight and even some other exercises in order to lose weight, just keep in mind that no exercise can outrun bad diet...
Bowflex is generally considered by fitness enthusiasts as a maker of strength training equipment. However, they might be happy to know that the brand is not limited to this niche.
In the form of the Bowflex Max Trainer M3, the brand has created a full-body trainer. This entry-level trainer is reasonably priced and offers just what exercise fans love – a high-intensity workout! With its look inspired by modern sports cars, motorcycles, and aerospace technology, this machine can help them reach their fitness goals whether it’s calorie burn, fat loss or muscle building, and toning.
Many trainees monitor their walking, jogging, and running outdoors sessions using smartwatches often connected with their smartphones for data analysis later. And the data is pretty accurate.
However, when smartwatches are used at home for monitoring walking, jogging, and running sessions on treadmills, there may be significant discrepancies between data provided by the smartwatch/smartphone (Apple Watch/iPod combination, for example) and the treadmill. But, this issue can be solved relatively easily...
Rowing can burn a tremendous amount of calories, especially when one is in good shape. Strength and stamina obtained by rowing is very important for many other sports, especially when rowing is combined with running sessions and gym workouts.
A motorized treadmill is an electric device that features an electric motor that drives the tread. However, when the motor starts, it can draw excess current that can trip the electric breaker.
Even better, if the power outlet is GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) or AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter), it is possible that these outlets can trip by just plugging the treadmill in...
Sunny Health & Fitness SF-RW5639 is a lightweight and simplistic hydraulic rowing machine with a full rowing motion, suitable for warmups and light cardio sessions at home.
When folded, Sunny Health & Fitness SF-RW5639 is a compact rower, not requiring much storage space. Nonetheless, it supports users up to 350 pounds (~158 kg) despite a rather affordable price.
Many people wonder what to eat to stay fit or what to eat for a good diet - in the modern world food is available on every corner in the form of some fast food meal or similar.
Likewise, many products are advertised as "low fat", "low sugar" or "95% fat-free" or similar, but in reality "low fat" foods are usually loaded with simple sugars, "low sugar" foods are filled with saturated fat, "95% fat-free" means that remaining 5% are pure fat of some sort...
Cheat meals and cheat days during dieting are meals or periods when you consume food that is not strictly calorie-restricted or you consume food that you generally avoid during 'normal' dieting.
Depending on the type of your diet, cheating can be just a single meal or full-day (12-24 hour period). Usually, a cheat meal or cheat day is once a week, usually a weekend.
Annzoe 7ft Home Olympic Bar is a heavy-duty Olympic bar suitable for home gyms and heavy squats, dead-lifts, bench presses, and similar exercises that require a strong and durable bar with predictable flex/whip, set after set.
Annzoe 7ft Home Olympic Bar is made out of high-tension steel, with a hard chrome finish to prevent rust, prolonging the bar's lifetime. Also, the bar comes with a pair of spring clamps to prevent the plates slipping issues.
Fitness Reality Squat Rack 810XLT Super Max Power Cage is a welcome addition to any home gym - it is a strong and sturdy piece of fitness equipment, designed to support weights up to 800 pounds (~362 kg), allowing the user to train with heavy weights relatively safely at home.
Fitness Reality Squat Rack 810XLT Super Max Power Cage is also a rather configurable unit, which can be ordered as cage only, with the lat-pull down attachment, with the adjustable weight bench, or with both lat-pull down attachment and weight bench.
Published: February 19, 2022.
Home gym types:
Weight Stack Home Gyms
Weight stack based home gyms take up very little floor space, offer a wide range of workout exercises (most often entire body - chest, shoulders, back, arms, abs and legs) and usually last for a long time.
These home gyms utilize usually only one central weight stack that is used for each different exercise.
Weight stack home gyms use a pulley system to hook the weight stack with desired exercise bar.
They are very safe and durable - only problem is that with having central weight stack, only one exercise can be perform at one time.
On the other hand, multistation weight stack home gym exercise machines have multiple weight stacks, enabling several people to train simultaneously or making possible circular workouts without changing the pin settings all the time.
Of course, multistation exercise machines are much bigger, heavier and costlier. They should be positioned on the strong floors with plenty of space around the machine.
Free Weights Home Gyms
Free weights home gym normally has no pulleys or cables. Instead of having multiple benches and units, there are several stations incorporated into one large frame system around one or two adjustable benches, that requires manually loading weight plates (free weights) at each station.
Although these systems are designed to simulate a free weight workout, there are big differences between lifting free weights using barbells or/and dumbbells (harder and less safe) and lifting weights using free weight home gyms (easier and safer).
Free weight home gyms require more space than single weight stack home gyms, are heavier due to additional plate weight, but they can last a long time and are very safe to use if used properly.
Free weights home gyms enables lifter to isolate muscles more than that would be possible using free weights. This is great advantage if you have certain issues like shoulder problems and you want to bench press. On the other hand, free weights stress more muscles (main muscles and stabilizers) and if you want to bench press, you have to do it with a free, loaded bar.
Also, some home gyms use Smith cages for safer workouts (this is always open to a nice debate) and such machines can use both free weights or weight stacks, or even something else.
If you want to lift weights, go to the gym, otherwise, consider weight stack or resistance rods home gyms. Although free weights home gyms have their advantages, personally I don't like them - but that is just me.
Resistance Rods Home Gyms
In order to provide the resistance, these gym systems use different strength rods. These systems are very compact, use very little space, provide numerous exercises, but they also have some major problems - rods lose resistance over time and they have to be changed from time to time. This can be great problem if there are several people working out with the same rods.
Rods and pulley system are not maintenance free - rods can be purchased and replaced as required, just like pulleys and cables.
Single workout station machines require little space, but anything more leads to increase in size and weight, but still, they are lighter than multistation weight stack or free weights home gyms.
On the other hand, these home gyms can be great choice for occasional trainee just wanting a moderately intensive workout with moderate volume.
Other Home Gyms
This is very broad category of possible home gym exercise machines.
'Other home gyms' include home gyms that don't use classic free weights, weight stack or resistant rods. They use other means for creating resistance, for example - gravity.
Some home gyms look like Medieval torturing devices, but keep your mind open and think out of the box - best solutions are usually the most simplest one, but if you do need something specific, why not try something different.
Best Home Gym - How to Choose One?
Choosing best home gym machine can be sometimes a challenging task. Among many things to consider, two are the most important - money and trainee.
Money - price of home gyms vary significantly regardless of home gym type and so does their quality of construction, features, exercise options, maintenance etc. Price can vary from few hundred dollars/euros to thousands of dollars/euros. Of course, if certain home gym costs more, that doesn't mean that that home gym is better than some cheaper model.
Trainee - home gym machine should be bought for a trainee, not for showing off - OK, some showing off is always a good thing, but don't buy it just for that :) Elderly people and people with certain health issues don't lift heavy weights and their primary concerns are safety and simplicity - especially if they have to carry heart monitors and similar gadgets around. Compact, all-in-one resistance rods and center weight stack home gyms are recommended types for them.
Also, before buying any of these, consider few more things like quality of construction, features and exercise options, workout goals, safety features, weight and size, home gym machines maintenance etc.
Quality of Construction
Construction quality determines how strong, robust and durable home gym machines are. This highly influence the price and warranty, but good home gym can last for a long long time. When in use, good exercise machine should not move, wiggle and produce any squeaking sounds or anything similar - if they do, check if the machine is assembled properly.
Also, before buying, check if there is option to have the home gym machine assembled on the spot by a technician - these machines are not complicated as a space rockets, but why bother ...
When buying check for details, for example, if exercise machine uses bushings instead of ball bearing - some of them even go step further and instead of ball bearings use roll bearings! Plastic pulleys are durable, if made out of good and strong plastic, but steel pulleys last much longer. Cables made out of artificial fibers are strong, but they get easily damaged and stretched beyond returning to original state - steel cables are often more expensive, but much better option in the long run!
Features and Exercise Options
Again, if you are senior citizen or occasional trainee who don't want or don't have time to go to commercial gyms, maybe the weight stack or resistance rods home gym is all that you need. Don't be impressed with countless exercise options (although having a longer list of possible exercises is good thing), since just a 7-9 various exercises are more than enough for full body workout.
If you plan on working out individually and/or in pairs, single station exercise machine is more than enough. On the other hand, working out in small group have advantages, but waiting for your turn can sometimes be counterproductive - in that case, consider multistation exercise machine. Also, changing weight with a pin or resistance rod is easier and faster than loading and deloading weight using free weights.
Workout Goals
It is important to define goals before purchasing any fitness equipment, not only home gym. If you aim high, maybe you should just join local gym. Not that people using home gyms have moderate goals, but sometimes it is very hard and unsafe to train, for example, squats with 200kg at home, even if you have the best squat rack.
On the other hand, most of the goals set even by moderately advanced trainees, mostly depend on their nutrition and not so much on training methods - OK, many people will not agree with me on this one, but everything is relative. For example, if your aim is to slam dunk, but you have 30% bf, what is more important to focus on, losing weight or squatting 250+ kg? Also, if your goal is to bench press 2x your body weight, it is easier to achieve this if you have 10-12 bf% and much harder if you have 30 bf%!
Safety Features
Home gyms are usually very safe, when used properly. If you are using free weights, be careful about using and positioning of safety pins. These pins limit range that bar can travel, so position them carefully, especially if you are working out alone exercises like bench press, squat and similar exercises where you are between loaded bar and floor/bench.
Again, quality of design, used materials and exercise machine itself is very important for safe workouts - nobody likes snapped cables, pulled out pulleys, broken resistance rods etc. Not to mention that all those parts, when broken, usually have velocities high enough to hurt somebody.
Weight and Size
Home gyms can be very heavy, so pay attention where you plan to place them. Also, due to physical dimensions, be sure to have plenty of room around your home gyms, especially if you have multistation machines.
Weight stack home gym that has 4 stacks weighing 100kg, can easily reach half a ton - that is around 1100 pounds. Also, that is weight of 5 little bit bigger guys and in modern homes, such weight should not be a problem.
On the other hand, compact, all-in-one resistance rods or single weight stack style home gym can fit into a larger room, requiring very little space and practically no special flooring, although some padding under equipment is recommended.
But, if you plan on having free weights gym and you squat 150-200kg, deadlift 200+kg etc., throwing that weight off your shoulders (no safety pins, or safety pins not dimensioned properly) can have significant consequences on the exercise machine and on the floor, even if you have rubber coated plates and heavy rubber mats on the floor!
Home Gym Machines Maintenance
Maintenance depends on the type of home gym machine, its quality, usage etc. Before you do anything, read manual, at least twice.
This can help you in the long run and save you some money and time.
Lubrication should be done using recommended lubricants on a regular basis. Lubricants can be smelly and some people don't tolerate them very well - good ventilation is highly recommended in such cases.
Pulley, cables, resistance rods and similar parts should be replaced after some period of usage (read manual!) or when they show problem signs, preferably before they actually malfunction.
Of course, there are even more things to consider when buying such expensive exercise machines, but in the end it is all about personal preferences!
If you have something to comment or ask, feel free to contact us - we will really try to answer You as quickly as possible.
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