Home gym equipment
Exercise bike, yoga mat, wall mirror, adjustable dumbbells, stairmaster, fitness ball, and first-class home exercise equipment for a great leg workout – and I feature 7 gym machines in this post. Do you think a man can’t write about home gym equipment for women?
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Let’s see if I’m totally wrong or just a little. Will it be about fitness equipment or about women? I’m not sure yet. Let’s start not with equipment itself but with ambiance. After all everything we do is to feel good. Isn’t it? So, forget about equipment, clean your home gym studio, buy some flowers, play your favorite music and stop thinking about your husband. You’re worth more than his sophisticated ego problems. Just exercise.
Home Exercise Equipment: Bike
Exercise Bike
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I’ve chosen the most expensive exercise bike offered by Life Fitness. The only problem is that the name is longer than the previous phrase: Platinum Club Series Upright Lifecycle Exercise Bike. It’s even longer than the name of my friend from Uruguay: Antonio Jimenez Gonzalez Ufarte de Gomelez Macondo. The price is exactly $5.000 minus $1. The funny thing is that on the manufacturer’s website you can choose a console for this model, apart from the color of the frame of course. So I’ve chosen the TV panel connected to iPod, etc. Looks nice? I don’t know exactly why women exercise on bikes at home more often than men. I wait for an answer in comments. There’s only one thing I can recommend regarding buying bikes – don’t do it too late. I know, you’re 28 years old and you still think you’re young, but I remember when my grandmother received an exercise bike, she was 87. She was very happy but for some reason never used it. Lack of TV screen? Maybe. Ok, there is so much info about this model that I don’t even want to start to read it. I’m afraid that the manual is an 87 page book, so let’s forget about technical information.
This home exercise equipment is so expensive that it would be hard to believe they didn’t include everything possible. There’s even Kilimanjaro, air forces and around the world built-in. You don’t know what am I talking about? It’s about the names of the programs included. I recommend Kilimanjaro because you can imagine you are on holidays in Africa. Just close your eyes and turn off the TV screen. One more thing about this exercise bike. I’ve written $5.000 less $1, but I see there’s also MSRP* after the price so probably one has to divide the price by 3, or multiply by 4, than add federal taxes and exclude VAT. I have no time to calculate it, sorry.
Yoga mat
Round Yoga Mat
I’ve been practicing yoga for more than 10 years, so I could write a book about yoga mats. The book would consist of only one page and one phrase. Here’s my book: an old yoga mat is always better than a new yoga mat. There’s only one reason: on the old one you don’t slip as much as on a new one. However you’re probably reading this because you want to buy a new one and you’re wondering where to shop. So I have a proposition: forget about traditional yoga mats. I’ve found something I really like, or more exactly, two things. The first thing: there are round yoga mats on the market! Look at the photo. As you know when doing yoga postures, particularly sitting or laying, draw a circle on the ground rather than a rectangle.
Yoga Mat
There’s also a subtle psychological effect when you exercise in a circle, and not in a square or rectangle. Round forms always give tranquility whereas rectangles are more defensive. They are not so much aggressive like triangles, not so stable like squares, but rectangle always closes and circle opens. Opens what? Mind, breath, peace and so on. The second thing: there are some mats with printed designs. At the moment, I haven’t found a design which satisfies my taste for form and color, but the idea itself is simple and excellent. I would recommend very soft, symmetrical or lightly unsymmetrical motifs without strong color contrasts. Let’s imagine a round mat with a printed beach pattern, waves on the border and a palm in the center. Or a white lotus in the center and a green jungle background, or water. Nature, symmetry, space. Ok, I’m dreaming about a beach in Thailand I’m afraid. If you are interested in stretching seriously try one of the pilates machines. Ah, I almost forgot. I recommend Yoga Accessories, an online shop where you can find round and printed yoga mats. Unfortunately there’s still no round printed 2 in 1. I don’t remember the prices however yoga mats are generally so cheap that there’s nothing to write about, nothing exciting, only two digits, sometimes one digit, if you know how to speak Chinese. And now something completely different: self promotion. If you are a manufacturer of round, printed yoga mats looking for a designer just drop me an email.
Exercise wall mirror
What? Exercise wall mirror? Isn’t this about home gym equipment? Of course. We, fitness addicts, like bodies. We like to watch. We like to watch bodies. We like to watch pretty bodies, and to watch ourselves. We are a little bit vain. At least I am. And this is not the worst feature of my character. Fitness doesn’t exist without a mirror. This is the first law of fitness. I have large wall mirrors in my house for many reasons. I like duplicated objects, long, infinite tunnels when two mirrors are on the opposite walls. I like elevators with mirrors around, inside. And I have a large mirror in my home gym studio. Apart from vanity, it offers the possibility to watch if your moves are smooth. And if you have invited a guy from yesterday’s meeting of Revolted Young Poets from the Manhattan Roofs you can discretely watch if his poetry comes from his physical strength or weakness. Both possibilities are interesting, but life with the first one will be a little different than with the second one. I’ve found a company from NY, Mirror and Glass Depot, they install large wall mirrors in home gyms but have such a bad website that I don’t want to use their photos. If you live in London, there’s an English company called Mirrors for Training, one of the photos I include comes from them. The price? I have no idea, you can check it yourself.
Adjustable Dumbbells
Dumbbells are absolutely underestimated. I guess about 90% of all fitness exercises, particularly if we talk about bodybuilding, can be perform using dumbbells. All the machines we use are big sophisticated dumbbells and nothing more. But we have money, we have to do something with our money, so we like expensive things, we need expensive things. I have a Porsche, not because I need it, but because I satisfy my ego in this way. And at parties it’s easier to quote Buddhist wisdom like “things are worthless” when you are rich, than when you are frustrated and on the bottom of the social scale.
Dumbbells
For all other people who are not so egocentric as I am, dumbbells are for sure more appropriate than machines that cost from $5.000 less $1 and up. Adjustable dumbbells are for people who don’t like to have 20 different dumbbells of different weights. A small technical trick, nothing more. I recommend the middle way, something between adjustable dumbbells and traditional ones from Bowlex. They are simply so pretty that I couldn’t resist. You can easily adjust the weight. Don’t worry if you see a man with a 50 kg dumbbell hanging on by his baby finger in the photo. Good, sexy price: $600 less $1. $600 for a pair of dumbbells, I really like it. But let’s change the subject a little. I’ve found something more exciting, funnier: shake weight. To understand the joke you have to watch the video which I attach somewhere on this site. Or visit Shake Weight website. Very funny toy. A little bit perverse, but who is totally free of a shadow of perversion? Catholic monks? Maybe. Price of the toy: $20 less 25 cents. And they say 32 minutes with dumbbells is worth 6 minutes with shake weight, so 24 minutes more for hairdressing, playing piano or traveling by Tube (if you’re not in London, then “traveling on the subway”), or whatever you like.
Stairmaster
Fitness Mission
I’ve already tried to write something about stairmaster in the post about home gym machines, this is the second attempt in this matter. Manufacturer: Stairmaster; model: StepMill® SM916 (do they really need this “R” inside?); price: “Contact a sales rep”. The good thing is that they have installed TV screens on the panel. What movies with stairs in the main role do I remember? “In the Mood for Love” of Wang Kar Wai. Do you know this one? Very romantic story. They don’t even touch each other. Or maybe a movie about climbing? Like De Niro in “The Mission”? It’s a movie about fitness in some way, the hero climbs with a huge weight attached to his shoulders, if you remember those scenes. If not you can always upload the movie to your stairmaster. The main question remains open: when you climb, where do you go exactly? First of all, you get on it to burn calories. So this is not a toy for model type ladies. I’m sure that going upstairs has a positive effect on the butt, if you want to take care of this part of life. Men usually do. The manufacturer says that there is a motivating program included in the price. I would buy this machine just out of curiosity for this program. Of course this is a piece of home exercise equipment only for ladies living on the first or second floor. If you live on a higher level you can always stop to use the elevator instead. Well, it’s up to you!
Fitness ball
Fitness balls are my favorite subject. Some time ago I didn’t know: what are they used for? When I saw women exercising on a fitness ball I understood: it’s about the butt! When I was a child and didn’t know anything about this beautiful part of life I was very attracted by women’s eyes, lips, voices, hands… One day, I became a man, and the problems started: woman’s butt… Manufacturer: Ball Dynamics; the biggest ball: 75 cm; seller: Ball Dynamics or Walkers Warehouse (only 65 cm). Ok, I was joking about butts. Serious manufacturers say it’s about stability and flexibility. And honestly, writing and seeing women’s exercises performed on a fitness ball I feel I want to have one too. It would help me to diminish my stupid seriousness, would help me to change the expression of my face from irritated to smiling, and all that, only for $20 or something. Less than psychotherapy. So even if you don’t have a huge home gym studio you can always have two fitness balls at home and when he visits you for the first time, he’s a little bit shy, but a good man, he doesn’t drink alcohol or take drugs, and after an hour you feel that all the subjects of conversation are played-out then: fitness balls! Just to check if he knows how to laugh. If he doesn’t accept the idea of exercising together on the balls tell him goodbye, close the door and forget about him as fast as you can. Why because he’s probably a sick writer, future priest, politician or something of that sort. Run away from him as fast as you can. If you don’t believe me, ask my wife. I didn’t accept the idea of exercise on the fitness ball during our first evening. Is she happy today? Yes, but not with me. That’s why fitness balls are a must in your home gym studio. And if you are afraid that your butts looks like on the picture above try one of the discount supplements.
Leg Workout Equipment
The nicest home gym equipment for leg workout exercises that I’ve found during my research comes from Hoist, the model is called V Rox, price: contact the sales rep again, so it has to be hell expensive, exactly what I’m looking for. I’ve explained why I don’t like cheap things in a previous post. Well, this is not only about legs. This is a multigym useful for almost all parts of your body.
Home Gym Equipment
Very sophisticated home gym equipment. And this is something for true fitness addicts, like me, useful if you appreciate, not only your well-being and health and burning calories or getting a cute but, but also gaining strength and endurance. If you’re serious about exercises equipment that offers you a good leg workout, chest workout, arms workout, abdomen shaping, and back sculpting, this is the machine you’re looking for. On the website you will find not only the long specification lists, manuals, amazing photos but also a nice, large poster to download with about 30 main exercises explained in a compact manner. I’ve written about such things like getting a good new yoga mat, why buy a wall mirror, the purpose of a fitness ball, why to use an exercise bike or stairmaster, and about the uses of adjustable dumbbells, however the most serious thing is this, last one, V Rox. This is the end of today’s post, I’m off to the gym. My plan for today: an intense leg workout. If you search for something more affordable try discount home gyms.