Home Fitness Advice
Why Buy Home Fitness Equipment?
Why invest in high quality home fitness equipment?
Remember, that investing in high quality fitness equipment may seem expensive initially, however, you will save money, time and effort in the long term. Moreover, since staying fit and healthy should be a life-time objective it pays to purchase equipment that will last a life time and not just for short term weight loss, for example. Also, higher value equipment tends to be more enjoyable to use, which means that you will use it more, and it tends to have more features and programmes to keep you interested and motivated. So it pays to invest in high quality equipment.
The convenience of exercising at home
Exercising at home is fast becoming the most convenient and practical way of achieving your fitness goals. Due to our busy daily lives we find it difficult to visit the gym or attend fitness classes and the British weather does not help! When we have fitness equipment at home we can exercise virtually when we like, even if we have children to look after! And remember if you only have a spare 10 minutes it is better to do something rather than nothing. So keep it up!
Benefits of Fitness
Improving your level of fitness through exercise will give you many benefits. We know that regular exercise helps you control your weight and lose weight, but there are numerous other benefits. Increasing your level of fitness:
- enables you to work harder both physically and mentally;
- it reduces stress;
- builds self-confidence and increases your concentration levels;
- helps you sleep better;
- slows the effects of ageing and enhances your sense of well-being;
- makes you feel more energetic;
- makes you feel more sociable because you feel more confident and energetic;
- makes your heart and lungs more efficient, improves circulation and helps to stabilise your blood pressure.
- The risk of heart disease and other diseases, such as diabetes diminish and consequently your life expectancy increases;
- helps to maintain suppleness when you stretch as part of your exercise programme;
- tones and strengthens your muscles which results in further benefits, for example, strengthening your back and stomach muscles will reduce the risk of back problems;
- strengthens bone tissue, keeps muscles in good condition and diminishes the risk of osteoporosis;
- helps to maintain a healthy digestive system.
All advice given on this site is provided with due care. You are strongly advised to consult your medical doctor, before commencing any exercise if you have any disease, condition or disability which may cause you any further harm as a result of exercise. In addition, you should consult your medical doctor before exercising if you suffer from any of the following:
heart disease, or diabetes, or high or low blood pressure.
In addition, you should consult your medical doctor:
- If you are pregnant, or
- If you are over 35 and you have not exercised for some time, or
- If your physical condition is poor, or
- If you have injuries to or problems in your muscles or bones, or
- If you have any illness or health problem, or
- If you suffer from dizziness or faintness associated with minimal effort, or
- If you are taking any drugs or other medication, or
- If you suspect that exercise may be harmful to you for any reason, or
- If you are unsure.
Achieving Fitness Goals
N.B. This advice applies to healthy individuals generally and may not apply to certain individuals because of specific health problems, risk factors, diseases, conditions or disabilities. You should read the Disclaimer section before continuing and before exercising. You are advised to consult your medical doctor before exercising if you have any disease, condition, disability or for any of the reasons listed in the pre-exercise questionnaire in the Disclaimer section.
It is strongly recommended that you consult a professional personal trainer who can accurately assess your fitness level in various aspects of your fitness.
At Newbody Fitness we can give you general guidance over the telephone or by e-mail.
We can contact your nearest qualified personal trainer who can give you professional expert guidance and one-to-one fitness training. Your trainer will help you establish your present level of fitness and your fitness objectives.
How to establish your fitness goals:
1. Ask yourself what you want to achieve from your exercise regime. What are your personal fitness goals? The most common objectives are the following:
a. To lose weight
b. To tone up
c. To increase stamina or cardio-vascular fitness
d. To increase strength
e. To recover from an injury or condition
f. To increase or maintain suppleness or elasticity
g. To increase performance in your chosen sport
h. A combination of the above
2. Be specific about your fitness goals or goal. For example, if you want to lose weight, note how much weight you aim to lose and by what date? Give yourself an easy goal to start with.
3. Choosing the right way to exercise depends on your goals; the table below shows how effectively these particular sports improve different areas of your fitness, i.e. choose one or a combination of these activities in order to achieve your fitness goal in the least time.
| |
Endurance fitness |
Muscular strength |
Elasticity & suppleness |
| Brisk walking |
** |
* |
* |
| Running |
*** |
* |
* |
| Cycling |
*** |
** |
* |
| Rowing |
*** |
** |
* |
| Swimming |
*** |
** |
** |
| Cross-country skiing |
*** |
** |
** |
| Aerobics |
*** |
* |
*** |
| Football |
** |
* |
* |
| Tennis |
* |
* |
** |
| Weight-lifting |
* |
*** |
* |
| Golf |
* |
* |
* |
***= very efficient **= efficient *= less efficient
4. Obviously it is important to maintain a healthy well-balanced diet, especially if you are dieting and exercising to lose weight.
5. FIVE RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL TRAINING REMEMBER F.I.T.T.A, WHICH STANDS FOR: FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, TIME, TYPE & ADHERENCE
FREQUENCY, I.E. HOW OFTEN? It is good to exercise at least three times per week, but once a week is better than not at all. Try to increase the frequency of your workouts, for example, start with one or two sessions per week and gradually make time for three or more sessions per week.
INTENSITY, I.E. HOW HARD? It is important not to exercise too hard too soon. In fact, this could be dangerous for some people. If you are unfit it is important to check with your medical doctor first (see Disclaimer section), otherwise, check with a qualified trainer who can set the safest and most effective level at which to exercise. This level should be set according to your correct heart rate in beats per minute; consequently, you should select training equipment that has a heart rate measuring device so that you can exercise at your optimum level that should be safe and effective. Heart rate controlled equipment is even better because once you have entered your correct heart rate the equipment will keep you at that optimum heart rate; so that, for example, if your heart rate starts to climb the equipment automatically reduces the exercise level for you. Ask one of our consultants for further details.
TIME, I.E. HOW LONG? Again, if you are unfit it is best to ask a qualified trainer for specific advice. As general guidance, start for just 5 minutes and increase this work-out time gradually as your fitness level improves. Once your condition has improved you can train for 30 to 60 minutes depending on your goal.
TYPE, I.E. WHAT TYPE OF EXERCISE OR FITNESS EQUIPMENT? As already mentioned it is important to choose equipment which best suits your personal fitness goals (see the table above), however, it is also important to choose equipment that you will enjoy using.
ADHERENCE, I.E. STAY MOTIVATED!! It's easy to start exercising and even easier to stop! However, in order to achieve life-long health and fitness it is essential to make a habit of taking regular exercise. Here are some suggestions to help you stay motivated:
Choose high quality exercise equipment which you find interesting and motivating to use;
Set yourself realistic goals that are easy to achieve initially; set yourself a year goal, monthly goals and then weekly goals because this makes the task less daunting!
Progress week by week, keeping a diary of your achievements: record the exercise time, the distance or the number of calories that you burnt up and gradually try to improve on these achievements at each work-out; make a note of your weight and your resting heart rate each week. Your results will start to improve within a few weeks of commencing regular exercise and you will feel great!
Remember to have fun when you are exercising!! Work out with friends, listen to music or watch T.V.
Choose a balanced variety of exercise equipment so that you remain interested: it is important to combine cardio-vascular exercise with some strength training and if you have at least two cardio machines you can exercise with a friend or change machines frequently.