Buying equipment for a gym whether for a personal one at home or for a commercial fitness centre requires careful thought and selection. More so, you will find in the market machines of extraordinary capability and design that tone and build targeted areas and muscles and ordinary overall weight loss machines seem lost in the melee. For instance, you have Olympic benches which, on the face of it, build chest muscles as you lie on your back and lift weights. However, they come in three variations incline, flat and decline and you need to know which builds what.
Similarly, for weight loss, you need to know the difference in the benefits of a motorised and a commercial jogger and their superiority or otherwise over the aerobic cycle. Adjusting the incline of the treadmill gives you varying angles of ascent, thereby increasing or decreasing heart activity and the subsequent fat burn, but the stress on your knees needs to be taken into consideration. An aerobic cycle, on the other hand, makes far less demands on your knees. Both these machines also increase your potential to lose weight. Each of them pumps up cardiovascular activity, resulting in some calorie burning. Another very good option is the elliptical machine. You stand with each foot on a broad comfortable step that's part of a rotating mechanism. It moves in an ellipse at a speed set by you. Essentially, you simulate running without impacting your feet and knees. Ideally, a half hour daily workout on the ellipse is good. You can vary the intensity during the workout to speed up the weight loss. You can also throw in a bit of back pedalling to tone different muscle groups. Ditto with stationary bikes. Well toned muscles enhance the effect of weight loss, visually.
Several health clubs also house sauna and steam baths, which 'melt' the fat. While many might consider it the lazy man's way to weight loss, it might give a leg up to the really obese in the initial stages. It helps to remember, though, that steam baths and saunas must not be overdone as they lead to dehydration. Also, in the long run, they give best results as corollaries to actual exercise.
Experts warn constantly, that overdoing exercises, with or without equipment is not the best way to lose weight. It has to be moderate and consistent and combined with the right sort of diet. Also, natural activities like walking or swimming are often more effective than lifting weights, but if you must pump iron, do it under expert guidance. In fact, swimming may be made more effective by the use of 'Noodles' flotation devices that require some effort (and hence burn calories) to be held under water. Another trick to increase effectiveness is to use ankle weights while walking or cycling.
A useful tidbit is that if a session at the gym is preceded by aerobic exercise, it maintains a higher heart rate through the subsequent session, making the workout far more effective. Also note; endurance training is the new mantra of weight loss.
For more information about joining a
gym, visit the Fitness First website.
