There is a huge variety of exercise equipment available both for
gym and home use. The range is endless and can help to improve the components of fitness:
Cardiovascular Fitness
Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance
Flexibility
It is important to utilise equipment that is specific to your health
and fitness goals. Always seek advice on this.
The most common utilised cardiovascular machines and their benefits
are as follows:
Treadmill:
With a treadmill, you can enjoy a brisk walk or you can
run up a hill, it’s your choice. They allow you to fully customise your workout giving you the flexibility to exercise
on your terms.
Treadmills are also very accommodating to even the most
out of shape exercisers. People with back pain, weak ankles, and bad knees find them a lot easier on the joints than tarmac
or concrete.
Treadmills also provide a safe environment for an individual
to enjoy a nice leisurely walk or jog without having to worry about dogs, cars, bikes or other hazards.
Most
modern treadmills come with built in training programmes that can be fully customised. You can “programme” them
according to what your physical needs and goals are.
Another positive feature on advanced treadmills
are heart rate monitors making your workouts more effective, specific and measurable. In short a treadmill
has plenty of variety for just about everyone out there.
Elliptical/Cross Trainer
Elliptical cross trainers provide a great workout for your lower body
as well as toning and building leg muscles. Grab the moving handles and work the upper body muscles for a total body workout
routine.
Elliptical trainers are programmed with different training
settings to help monitor your cardio workout routine and allow you to set one, two or all three of the following: resistance,
speed and ramp. The workouts can be very intense or relatively easy depending on the training programme you select.
The elliptical motion of the machine provides low impact because your feet never
leave the footpads. It creates a smooth and continuous movement that eliminates the stress on your joints. This provides a
totally impact free cardio workout routine.
You can challenge yourself on your high energy days or you can just maintain on other
days. The choice is up to you. Getting fit, losing weight and improving your overall health are only a few elliptical trainer
benefits.
Upright or Recumbent Static Bikes
Using a bike can help tone your quads, calves and gluteal (buttock)
muscles as well as strengthening your tendons, without any load bearing. If you’re looking to improve your legs the
bike is the perfect solution.
Another advantage of cycling is that it is a non-load
bearing form of exercise. Your whole body is not being supported during your training as it is when for example, you run.
The very action of sitting means that a degree of pressure is being taken off your joints, meaning there is a reduced chance
of injury.
Static bikes can also be programmed with
different training settings to help monitor your cardio workout routine and replicate interval sessions and hill climbing.
The workouts can be very intense or relatively easy depending on the training programme you select.
Stepper/Stair Climber
Stair climbing has been a popular way to get into shape for years.
Steppers simulate stair climbing, but instead of actual steps they use alternating pedals or platforms. In addition to the
great aerobic workout, steppers are great for toning your hips and thighs. They’ll also help you get into shape for
activities such as hiking or skiing.
Steppers are a great cross training tool to mix with other aerobic
activities such as biking or walking.
When using a stair climber by either speeding up or slowing down the stepping
rate, the user controls the amount of resistance. Thus, you are able to choose the intensity of the workout and make adjustments
as needed. As your stepping abilities increase, so will your need for increased stepping resistance.
Like the Cross Trainer a stair climber offers a low impact exercise whilst
offering a high intensity work out.
Rower
Rowing machines are perfect for people who like rowing in the real
world. They are also great for those who are seeking a great combination of aerobic conditioning and strength training.
The rowing movement involves all the large muscle groups uniformly, so energy is consumed and calories are burned. If you
are after improved oxygen intake capacity and stronger shoulder, stomach, arm and back muscles, then you should choose rowing.
It develops the heart and circulatory system and simultaneously avoids straining your joints through natural gentle and continuous
movements.
Muscular Strength and Endurance
For muscular strength and endurance training benefits it is generally
a choice between using body weight exercises, weight machines and free weights:
Types of Machine:
Weight Plates and Locking Pin
Hydraulic or Air Cylinder
Cable
Types of Free Weights
Barbells
Dumbbells
Exercise Bands
The resistance of body weight is cause by gravity. The direction
of pull is straight down. Since these types of exercises can, in most cases, be performed without purchasing any special equipment,
they are very inexpensive. Many excellent exercises can be designed using body weight. Also manual resistance can be supplied
by an opposing limb or by an exercise partner. An example is performing a knee extension exercise with your partner supplying
the resistance by holding your ankle or by yourself by crossing the opposing leg over the exercising leg.
Isometric
exercises can also be designed using this technique. Isometric exercises are when the muscle is contracted against resistance,
but no movement takes place.
Resistance machines
have the advantage of safety. There are no weights to drop. There is not a need for highly developed balance and coordination
skills that are required for free weights, which makes this a good entry level type of exercise machine.
These machines
also have some disadvantages. They often limit you to single joint and single plane of motion exercises. They do not require
the use of many stabilising muscles which takes away some of the effectiveness of the exercise. Some resistance machines cannot
be adjusted property for differences in limb lengths and sizes. If the proper adjustments cannot be made, the path of the
motion of the exercise will be incorrect and will result in an inefficient and sometimes risky exercise.
