With exercise equipment, you can have your own home gym,

With exercise equipment, you can have your own home gym, fitness, and fun!

You have to get the exercise your body needs to stay fit and live long. If you're not working your body hard at your job, chances are that you probably aren't getting the exercise you need. You can go to a gym, but today, most people don't. Gym exercise is said to have peaked in 2006 and hasn't come back since. Why? Most people are now setting up their own little home gym. It takes but a little space and some equipment (you've got your own shower and closet). If you were going to the gym, invite some friends over when you work out at home. If you want to meet people like you did in the gym, try out the net - there's always somebody who wants to meet you on the net. (I get invitations to meet people every day, in every way, but that's another story.) In a home gym you don't have to wear the latest workout fashions, resulting in cash savings. You don't have to wear anything (!) in a home gym. And if you're a TV junkie, your can watch the tube while you work out. You can play the music you like. With a home gym and the right exercise equipment, you can have fun and get fit and healthy all by yourself.

The point of exercise is to use your muscles. When you use your muscles, you use up energy available in your blood and stored in your fat. That's why overweight people who diet and exercise lose weight faster than those who only diet. Now, you could do calisthenics and forget about the exercise equipment, but calisthenics will take you only so far. Then, too, you don't get the same feedback that you do with modern exercise equipment. It's harder to set your goals with calisthenics. Running in place for ten minutes, for instance, might use up energy and work your legs, but how fast are you running? How many yards have you run in those ten minutes? You can't tell. With a treadmill you can tell. The feedback you get from exercise equipment is its major advantage over calisthenics or isometrics or any other exercise you can do between yourself, the walls and the floor. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have calisthenics as part of your workout. Combining calisthenics with workouts on your equipment gives you the best results.

Most people make a workout on their exercise equipment the major event of the exercise period. Those who are seeking strength will concentrate on weightlifting. You can get a weightlifting set, or you can get an exercise machine that emulates weightlifting. Most like the latter because they don't have to keep adding or removing weights from their barbells and dumbbells: a turn of a knob sets the resistance in pounds for you. And, with a weightlifting machine, you don't need as much room as you do for a weight set. There's also the benefit of not marring your floors when you drop a weight and set it down. The machine absorbs it all.

For those seeking the benefits of running, you can get a treadmill, an elliptical exerciser, or a stationary bike. Any one of these will give your cardio-respiratory system all it needs. Most people prefer the treadmill for purely cardio-respiratory workouts. If you want to strengthen your legs and gluts, the elliptical exerciser or stationary bike is a better choice. If you have joint problems, an elliptical exerciser is best for you. If you want to harden your gluts, go with an upright stationary bike. For people with back pains, a recumbent stationary bike is best.

If you've got the space, you can use all of them. A folding treadmill can save you room. Whatever your choice, shop around (prices range from hundreds to thousands), choose what's comfortable for you and be sure you have enough space. Whatever your choice, be sure you use it. Use your home gym, your exercise equipment after all, that's why you're buying it! Get in shape, rain or shine!