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What’s The Best Home Gym Equipment?

With the rise in two working parent families, oodles of children’s after-school activities, and the prices of gym memberships, workout clothes (you have to look good at the gym after all!) and rising fuel prices, more and more people are opting for the comfort and convenience of home gyms.

But the type of equipment that's available seems endless! How do you know what to buy so it doesn’t end up as another dust collector that takes up a lot of space? How do you determine the equipment that works best for the type of target exercise you need or that best suits your lifestyle and space requirements?

Buying home exercise equipment may save you money at a gym, but it’s a major investment that you’d rather not regret purchasing, so here are a few things to consider, before you run out and buy:

• Where will you be exercising? Is the ability to watch television important? If so, in what room will you put the equipment and how big is the room? Do you like to read while exercising? This certainly has a bearing on the size and functionality of the equipment.

• What do you want the exercise to accomplish? Are you trying to lose weight? Tone? Build muscle? Get and stay healthy?

• For toning, some exercise weights, an exercise mat (for those all-important crunches!), a work out video and or an exercise ball for core training work well and are relatively inexpensive.

• For losing weight, burning fat and improving fitness, consider a treadmill, elliptical trainer, or stationary bicycle. Make sure they’re user-friendly and have a book stand if you like to read, a water holder, variable speeds and inclines, a pulse monitor (to determine when you have reached your target heart rate) and various programs.

• Attempt to try out the equipment in a gym, or at a friend’s home, to see if it has the right “fit” for you.

• Explore on-line reviews for any equipment you are considering to see how others who own it rate it and praise/pan it.

• Look into used equipment. There can be a lot more flexing, rowing, walking and stepping left in them and you can save a lot of money in the process!