Buying exercise equipment is a big investment, you could easily be spending thousand of dollars and you want make sure that you get the most out of your equipment. Proper care is essential for exercise equipment. Most equipment is made to withstand a lot of abuse but that does not mean that you shouldn’t treat it right. Here are a couple of things that you can do to extend the life of your equipment.
Find a good place to put your exercise equipment, outside does not count, this will ruin even solid iron barbells and dumbbells. Garages are not really ideal, because they are often not conditioned and the intense heat and cold, not to mention humidity do a number on equipment. The best place is a dedicated room in the house where you will be likely to use your equipment and it will be out of the way.
Do not keep weights on the floor. If you put them in the garage you are already compromising so do yourself a favor and put them on a rack. Weights on the floor, especially a concrete floor can absorb moisture directly from the ground. Stubbing toes, kicking, and tripping over weights is also common. And, reaching down to get heavy weights can also wreak havoc on your back. Do yourself a favor and build a rack for barbells and dumbbells.
Keep any machines clean and well oiled. Gyms have maintenance people that wipe down, dust, and oil machines every day. They also give them a look over to make sure that there is nothing wrong. You should do the same. Sweat is very corrosive and dust can cause plates to stick together or slides to jamb. Take care of your exercise equipment and it will give you a much better workout for years to come.
Don’t use your exercise equipment for other things. I realize that if you have your equipment in the garage and you need a hammer it is easy to use the 5 lbs dumbbell but this is not suggested. It will lead to your equipment degrading and it could lead to an accident. Get the ladder out instead of using your weight bench as a stepping stool. It will make your job easier in the long run and cause you not to ruin you investment.
Exercise equipment is a great investment that if cared for properly can serve you for many years to come. But it is essential that you take simple steps to make sure that you are taking proper care of your exercise equipment.
I realize that many will disagree with me here but I am convinced that treadmills are some of the best pieces of exercise equipment out there. They are elegant in their simplicity and help us do the most simple of exercises. We are built to walk and run and this will remain the best way to take weight off, despite what the so called Gurus say. You can do all of the full body exercises in the world but there will never be a substitute for walking or running.
Personally I have watched my weight fluctuate based on how far I have to walk in a given day. Not so much based on my diet or exercise but based on my lifestyle of walking. No wonder Americans are fat, we attempt to remove walking at every turn. Drive throughs, walkscelators, and remote controls. I realize that walking or running is not always practical and in those cases treadmills can come in very handy. There will never be a substitute for hitting the trail or the sidewalk, but a treadmill is the next best thing.
I know from experience that treadmills can be one of the most boring pieces of exercise equipment out there, that is why you have to make it interesting. Don’t stare at the wall while you are on a treadmill, watch TV, listen to podcasts, do something. Technology makes this easy. If you need a bluetooth headset get one, if you need a noise canceling headset so you can hear get one. If you are still bored change it up. I find that I need to be watching a certain type of TV show to hold my interest. Music doesn’t do it for me, podcast on occasion, but they have to be exceptionally interesting.
I am the poster child for someone who gets bored on a treadmill but I haver figured out that there is a way around that boredom and that has lead me to train for a marathon almost exclusively on a treadmill.
So, in my opinion treadmills rock. I know many people think I am crazy but when I compare my waist line with theirs I know who the crazy ones are. Treadmills can be your best friend or your worst enemy, what you do with this exercise equipment is up to you.
How important is fitness equipment? This question comes up a lot lately mainly due to the proliferation of body weight workouts. And, I think it is a valid question. One thing I would like to point out is that the fitness industry follows fads, just like any other industry and the current fad is body weight workouts. That said I think it is a fad that will have some staying power.
One reason is that body weight workouts are very effective. They won’t pack on the muscle but they can lean you out and make you crazy strong. Many body weight workouts use large fully body movements that utilize large muscle groups as well as the core. This is essential for real functional strength.
Anther reason they will be here for awhile is that they don’t hurt the same way some workouts using fitness equipment can hurt. Bodyweight is much easier on the joints and tendons and is much less likely to do lasting damage than weighted workouts.
So, my original question, is fitness equipment important. It really depends on what you are trying to do. If you want to pack on muscle you will need so form of resistance training, and you will need to lift heavy. This means exercise equipment and lots of it. If you are doing yoga, you need a mat.
I think that it is important to rotate through a variety of different workouts, so the full answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. At times you need to lift heavy and really challenge your body and other times you need to do high intensity body weight exercises.
I think that it is important to keep your options open in this arena. A home gym can be very effective at giving you the ability to workout whenever you want but do not limit yourself to your home gym. It should be used as a supplement. I think it is important to join different gyms from time to time to mix things up and keep things interesting, not to mention to keep learning new things.
If you have the time join a gym that has a vast array of fitness equipment because I guarantee at some point you will not have the time. Use this as an opportunity to dust of the home gym and take advantage of that opportunity.
Leverage your time and money to get the most out of the fitness equipment you have available.
