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"How do you pick the best fitness equipment for your home gym?"

BUYING EQUIPMENT FOR A HOME GYM

With chaotic work schedules and expensive gym memberships, working out at home can be a great value and convenience. Many people would like to set up home gyms, but the equipment choices, price differences, and space considerations can boggle the mind. ACE, The American Council on Exercise, recommends these five steps for making intelligent equipment buying decisions:

1. Identify your fitness needs:

The equipment should suit your interests and fitness level. Your chosen activities should be enjoyable and yet challenging enough that your able to progress to higher levels. For example, you should be able to increase the resistance, incline or duration of a given piece of
equipment.

Every home gym should include basic components for both aerobic training and strength training along with a mat for stretching and abdominal work. Aerobic training - jogging, stepping, or cycling, for example - burns fat, raises your HDL (good cholesterol) and strengthens the heart and lungs.

Strength training uses free weights, elastic bands, or machines that resist your movement. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, boosts your metabolism, and can lower your LDL (bad cholesterol).

Stretching keeps muscles and joints flexible and helps prevent injury
and soreness.

If the goal is an aerobic workout, then the equipment's resistance should be low enough to maintain at least 20 minutes of smooth continuous motion. If the goal is muscle strengthening, then considerably more resistance is required. For this reason, it's difficult to obtain muscle strengthening benefits and aerobic benefits from the same piece of equipment. In most cases, machines that claim to do both (riders for example) are inadequate for strengthening beyond the initial level of sedentary beginners.

2. Determine your budget:

The number one rule here is that you get what you pay for. Keep in mind that high quality equipment that works reliably after several years of heavy use can't be manufactured cheaply.

There are options available for every budget. For example, if a pricey $1,500 electric stair climber is out of your reach, you may be better off buying a high quality step bench and a couple of great step aerobics tapes for under $150. This might be a wiser choice than spending $200 on a low-end manual stair climber that's almost guaranteed to break after a few months.

In some cases, the price range on a particular piece of equipment can vary wildly. It's important to do your homework and find out what the going rate should be.

If a piece of equipment is priced significantly lower than it's competitors, it could be for a variety of reasons including: manufactured overseas rather than domestically, cheaper components, less rigorous design and assembly, lower profit margin taken by the manufacturer, less overhead, or better engineering allowing for less costly assembly.

By the same token, if a piece of equipment is priced significantly higher than comparably models, you need to ask why. Does it work demonstrably better than lower priced models? Does it offer better features? Is it likely to last longer? Is it likely to require less service? Is it easier and less costly to service?

Keep in mind that it's possible to purchase used exercise equipment. If you go this route, you may be able to buy more equipment, or higher quality commercial equipment, and still stay within your budget. Try to buy from a reputable dealer and get a warranty in writing.

3. Determine how much space is available:

Take into consideration the room usage, safety, traffic flow, aesthetics, desired equipment, and future expansion possibilities. Plan for at least as much open space as equipment space.

Use the following guidelines to determine how much room you'll need:
Treadmills - 30 square feet
Bikes - 10 square feet
Single-Station Gym - 35 square feet
Stair Climbers - 10-20 square feet
Multi-Station Gym - 50-200 square feet
Rowing Machines - 20 square feet
Free Weights - 20-50 square feet
Ski Machines - 25 square feet

4. Examine the product: features, design, manufacture, safety, and serviceability:

Your body should move in a manner that is correct and safe. The equipment should be adjustable, comfortable, easy to learn, and able to fit users of various sizes.

Parts should be easily removed and replaced. The device should be space-efficient, and the components should be the highest quality in the price range.

Think about the advertising claims. They should be backed up by solid research. Look for reviews by objective consumer publications. Moving parts should mesh well. Welds should be clean and smooth and the frame should be thick and sturdy.

Check out the safety features. There shouldn't be any design flaws or weaknesses that increase the risk of injury. (For example skiers with skis that can move simultaneously in the same direction, or a machine
with poor stability.)

Look for features that enhance safety. For example, range-of-motion limiters on strength machines; weight-stack guards or any guards that protect moving parts; safety switches on treadmills.

5. Assess "bang for the buck" using a checklist as a side-by side comparison tool.

Things to consider in your evaluation:

Price
Safety
Effectiveness
Comfort and enjoyability
Space efficiency
Adjustability
Durable Design
Quiet operation
Reputable manufacturer
Written warranty
Service plan and parts availability

Article Submitted by Vicki Pierson, A.C.E. Personal Trainer, The Fitness Jumpsite

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