Bodybuilding Online Guide

Iv been looking for a some workout equipment for my home but cant make my mind up on what to get… Could anyone help?

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Home Bodybuilding is the perfect solution for those who want to look and feel fantastic without having to go to a gym or health club. Former Muscle & Fitness editor Robert Wolff shows you how to achieve the fitness level you desire, with his three-step program of: · Gym-free exercises · Powerful eating strategies · Inspiring life lessons to help you focus your energy – Learn how to tone and shape your deltoids, quads, hamstrings, glutes and abs… More >>

Home Bodybuilding: Three Simple Steps to Building Your Body and Changing Your Life

Ohiyo!

Hello again from the Far East on the West Coast, and greetings from the DOJO. This week, before I get in to the nuts and bolts of the treadmills and the ellipticals I work on, I’m going to start with a quick guide to how to choose a treadmill — well, how to choose a residential / home grade treadmill. Choosing a commercial treadmill tends to be a bit simpler — go Star Trac, Matrix, Landice or Life Fitness and, in spite of their fantastic ellipticals, avoid Precor treadmills. Precor is a fantastic company, they just don’t quite have treadmills down as well as the other companies. With the commercial treadmills it’s kind of like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus. It’s all about bells and whistles more than performance…they’re all fantastic machines and we’ll talk about them another time.

Home treadmills are a tough sea to navigate for most buyers — there are so many different brands and they all look alike to outsiders. Luckily, over the past 20 or so years, I’ve had to repair just about every treadmill ever made. In other words, my pain will be your salvation!

My first piece of advice is: avoid anything and everything from Icon Health and Fitness. They’re the manufacturer of the units you’ll find at places like Sears — nothing against Sears, but the treadmills they sell tend to be on the lower end of the quality scale. Their treadmills seem to have specs that are too excellent to be right for their cost and, truth be told, they are. The ancient proverb, “you get what you pay for” comes in to play with them. Small motors with high RPMs to give them a perceived higher horsepower (most of their motors should really be rated at under 1.5 HP regardless of what they tell you — a motor the size of a soda can should not be powering a full sized treadmill!), lots of plastic pieces, tiny rollers, and generally unstable machines are par for the course for the Icon brands like Proform, Weslo, Healthrider and Image. Just stay away from them! There are better treadmills even at the more affordable prices that Icon tempts the unlearned consumer with.

On with translating the arcane lore that is treadmill purchasing for the lay person.

Let’s start with the motor. The first thing you want to do is make sure the motor is rated with “Continuous Duty.” Any sales person or manufacturer who gives you a “Peak” rating is trying to sell you a bag of magic beans. Peak is best described as the maximum a motor will perform at before it breaks down. What’s more imporant is: how the heck is that motor going to perform when you’re really using it? Another thing a shady salesperson might mention is that a common home circuit (120v/15amps) will only let you run about 2.5 HP and any motor larger than that is a waste of money. Technically that is right (about the amps vs. HP, not the waste of money), but the larger motors will tend to last longer as they are not running at the higher RPMs of a smaller motor. And, if nothing else, the larger the motor, the smoother the “ride.” A larger motor will allow you to run or walk on it without slipping.

The next thing to look at is the size of a treadmill’s rollers. The larger the rollers, the longer your belt will last and the better the running experience.

Next, and this is my favorite thing — especially when recommending cardio equipment to my in-laws — the warranty. Like anything else, the better the warranty the more piece of mind you will have. The 5 year parts warranty on Spirit treadmills, for example, is one of the best in the business. For me, the more faith a manufacturer has in its own product (i.e. the warranty), the more faith I have in that product. Of course, doing repairs I absolutely like the lower end warranties as it means more paying work for me!

What’s next? The weight and stability of the machine. There is nothing worse than getting on a treadmill and having it go back and forth, or shake, or, even worse, creak as you run on it. The heavier the unit the longer it will last. If you’re used to running on a treadmill at your local gym and then get on most home units, you’ll immediately notice the difference. You don’t want to be running around on something that feels like it is going to fall apart now do you? Don’t answer, that was a rhetorical treadmill question.

The tread and the deck are where most problems for treadmills happen. When the friction from your running builds up between the deck and the tread, the badness starts. Stick with the 4-ply belts/treads that help to reduce the amount of friction, and look at units with reversable, phenolic wax coated decks. Reversable decks let you flip over your running surface to use the opposite side when the original wears down. It’s like having a free second deck if you wear out the first one.

Programs. Don’t be fooled by this. Most people only wind up using 3-4 programs. If the treadmill has 20, that’s cool, but you’ll rarely use them. If you do heart rate training, then heart rate control is fantastic. If not, it’s just an extra you’ll never use…like the clock you’ve never set on your VCR.

Speed and Incline are worth talking about. Most treadmills can go up to about 10 miles per hour and a 10 degree incline. Don’t let speed or incline become a deciding factor unless you’re doing a lot of high speed or high incline training. Obviously, electronically controlled speed and incline are the way to go. If those feature are manual just go on.

Finally, test out the shock absorbtion. You want to make sure you aren’t running on a hard surface. This is a “feel” thing more than a “scientific” one. If the deck is bouncy, go on. If the deck feels like running on concrete, go on. If the deck moves from side to side, go on. You want to find a deck that feels excellent, with just enough give and small to no lateral motion.

Beyond that fans, speakers, cup holders, magazine racks and even television sets on the treadmill’s console are all just icing on the cake. It’s better to get a excellent treadmill without a fan or TV and spend $50 to buy your own than to get a crappy, fully loaded treadmill which will eventually just become an expensive coat rack for dirty clothes.

Now, I know I alread typed “finally” but there is one last piece to consider: PRICE. You can only get what you can get but don’t be fooled into buying a lemon. There are decent (and some downright Fantastic) treadmills at just about every price point. I’ll go over some of the best, at least in my experience, treadmills in the under $1000 range in the next week.

Don’t despair, there is a excellent treadmill out there you can really afford

It seems like many people have similar goals about their bodies – lose weight, build some muscle or tone up, but fewer and fewer people are opting to join gyms to try and reach their goals. Some people don’t live close enough to a gym to make that option feasible and some people just simply can’t afford the monthly dues. If you have a goal of getting in better shape, but for one reason or another can’t or won’t join a gym there are several viable options you can have at home to help you achieve all of your fitness goals.

Treadmills

There are few activities that burn calories as well as running, if you’ve got some extra weight that you want to lose or if you just want to get into the best cardio vascular condition that you possibly can – than running is an obvious choice to get you to your goal. Running (or walking for that matter) is an activity that nearly anyone can do without a gym or fancy equipment. The problem with outdoor running is that weather conditions can ruin your workout.

A treadmill can be an inexpensive way to be able to do your running/walking workout without having to worry about the weather forecast. Rain or shine; wind or cold – it makes no difference, with a treadmill you’ll be able to get a fantastic workout without leaving your home.

Ellipticals

Elliptical machines offer a cardio workout that can rival that of a excellent run or walk. Elliptical machines can cost a bit more than a lower end treadmill but they do offer one unique advantage – next to no impact. If you’ve had a history of joint pain or problems that preclude you from high impact exercises like running than an elliptical machine may be just the thing you need to get a fantastic cardio workout.

Exercise Bikes

Exercise bikes come in all shapes and sizes and are another fantastic low-impact alternative to running for cardio workouts. Biking is an brilliant activity to burn calories and build overall health, but it’s wise to “try before you buy” if at all possible. All exercise bikes may not be comfortable to all people and the last thing you want when trying to get a excellent workout is to be stuck atop an uncomfortable apparatus. If the store has a show model, give it a quick spin and make sure that there are several adjustments to accommodate people of different heights and sizes.

Home Gyms

If part of your goal is to build a bit of muscle, then a home gym might be the right piece of equipment for you. There are literally dozens of different brands and models to choose from, each with different accessories and attachments to accommodate even the most complex workout routines in a limited amount of space. It’s a excellent thought to read some customer reviews before buy to try and gauge the ease of use of each home gym.
Some system come with resistance bands, weight stacks or resistance wheels – you want something that will be user friendly so completing your workout is a pleasure rather than a hassle.

Spinners

Spinners are like a newer, more advanced version of an exercise bike. Some models offer wide ranges of adjustable resistance and tons of extra added amenities that you wouldn’t normally find on a run of the mill indoor cycle. Spinners are designed to give you the feel that you are really out cycling and riders can get ride along DVD’s that virtually place you in different locations and situations while working out. If you reckon that traditional indoor cycling is too dull to hold your attention, than a spinner might be a better choice.

Whatever your workout or fitness goal is, with the types and varieties of equipment available – you certainly don’t need to spend the money or waste the time traveling to a gym – you can get an brilliant and tremendously effective workout right in the comfort of your own home.

Health and fitness is now becoming a way of life. Young and adults alike seem to be placing pounds of attention on their well-being, sculpting bodies into admirable contours. It may not have gotten into other peoples list to invest on this leisure activity and what better way to get into shape in a practical way than to have a personal gym at home?

The best choice that you can install in your home are those equipments that are used for basic exercises, this home fitness system is practically best for beginners. These four basic home workout equipments are, the treadmill, bike (stationary or exercise), stair climber, and the rowing machine.

1. The treadmill is one of the most well loved equipment used for many years now and they say that it is by far the simplest workout. A treadmill exercise will give you the three most essential workout that had been invented – walking, jogging and running. To achieve the calories that you want to burn as well not jeopardize your safety during workout, buy a treadmill with brilliant shock absorption system. This system aims to protect your knees and ankles from sliding or slipping especially when you’re placed in a running mode.

2. Stationary bikes. There are two well loved model of stationary bikes that you can choose from – the upright kind or the recumbent exercise bike. Just like an outdoor bike ride, it can also give you the same motion and leg work but its better because it’s minus the dirt and mud than really biking outside the house. This equipment doesn’t take too much space and is programmable to allow a sufficient resistance for a worthwhile exercise.

3. For simple cardio exercise equipment at home, an brilliant choice would be a stair-climber. This machine provides a workout similar to an aerobic exercise, which increases the heart rate and toning the lower body through stepping motions. During a workout, a basic climber targets your hip and gluteal muscles, thighs and calves. You can also try the other version of the climber that comes with an upper arm exercise tools which allows you to work on both the upper and lower parts of your body.

4. The rowing machine is a machine you wouldn’t want to miss and a lot of people are not aware of its extreme benefits. It really provides one of the best total workouts that you want for your body targeting both the upper and lower parts in your body. This equipment works out the muscles in the chest area, back area and arms by placing resistance along these areas of the body. The motions involved while doing this exercise will help your thigh and legs burn higher calories and it’s not always simple to get a excellent burn in the lower body part.

With regular workouts, your equipments will also have to endure the same tearing and burning. Before you buy a home fitness system, always work up your mind on how you can gain the quality budget yet durable and useful performance of the machine. Know the features of the machine and its maintenance so it will last longer and function effectively. Choose what is best for your body’s needs.