04 Dec Too busy for fitness? Not if you set up a home gym
At Home Fitness has great Christmas gift ideas
By AARON DORKSEN — AHF Fitness Editor
Does this conversation sound familiar?
GUY NUMBER ONE: “Hey, how are you?”
GUY, NUMBER TWO: “I’m OK, but I’ve been really busy lately.”
These types of comments are made countless times each day. Someone is most likely saying right now as you read this that they’ve been “busy.” Too often people use being “busy” as an excuse to let their personal fitness go downhill.
Weeks turn into months, months turn into years, and a person finds themselves overweight and out of shape.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Consider working with the pros at At Home Fitness to set up a home gym, or improve the one you already have.
At Home Fitness is Arizona’s leader for sales and service of specialty fitness equipment, with three superstores and a fantastic website.
If you have a home gym, you can exercise when you want with no added time for driving or waiting in line at a club.
Many experts recommend exercising a minimum of at least 30 minutes a day at least three times a week. With a home gym, there’s no excuse to not be able to exercise in the comfort of your own home.
The American Diabetes Association recommends getting in more than three days a week of exercise on its website: “People with pre-diabetes, diabetes, or the general adult public should aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise most days. … Anything that increases your heart rate and causes you to break a light sweat. Children and teens should aim for at least 60 minutes most days.”
The ADA points out that the Diabetes Prevention Program showed that 150 minutes of physical activity a week (30 minutes, five times a week) helped prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. The large-scale study also showed that people also lost 10 to 20 pounds by making changes in their eating habits.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Keep in mind that the ADA recommendations are general goals. For people just starting out or trying to get back into shape, they may only be able to exercise for 5-10 minutes at a time. Don’t give up if you can’t exercise for 30 minutes at a time.
It’s important to get in any exercise you can. Also, exercise can be broken up into different segments, such as 10 minutes of walking, 10 minutes on exercise bike and 10 minutes stretching.
The ADA offers some good motivational tips:
* “You won’t go from zero to thirty or sixty (minutes), in a day or week. Take one step at a time. Slowly build up to your goal.”
* “Struggling to find an activity you enjoy? Explore new options for fun, healthy exercise. There’s no one way right way to exercise. The most important thing, if you’ve been putting it off, is simply to get started.”
* “There are 1,440 minutes in every day. Set aside 30 of them to exercise!”
GIFT OF FITNESS
Why not give the gift of fitness this Christmas? This question could apply to family, friends or even you.
Here are five gift ideas to get you thinking:
- Fitness accessories – Basic gifts such as heart-rate monitors, Dr. Hoy’s pain relief gel, exercise magazines and exercise mats shouldn’t break your bank, but can be nice gifts to give.
- Dumbbells, kettle bells – Costing slightly more, give the gift of dumbbells and-or kettle bells. There are countless exercises you can do with these accessories and having them in home of the person you give them to will make it easier than ever to get workouts in..
- Exercise bike or rowing machine – At Home Fitness has great options for these cardio machines, which will be easy on your joints.
- Vibration machine – One of the best new ways to work out that I’ve come across in a very long time is vibration training.
Whole Body Vibration Training (WBV), also known as Accelerated Vibration Training (AVT), stimulates the body’s reflexes to result in alternating muscle contractions and relaxations.
Vibration machines can be used for many different physical benefits. Depending on the settings and way your body contacts the machine, a vibration machine can be used for stretching, improving balance, core exercises, strength training and even massage therapy.
These machines usually cost $2,500 or more for good quality ones, but they bring about amazing results and are really worth looking into. Some of the top brands are 3G Cardio, Power Plate and LifeSpan. - Treadmill – A top-notch treadmill probably tops my list of the top fitness gifts one could give, short of outfitting an entire home gym. Understand that you’ll get what you pay for. Good treadmills also cost $2,000 and on up, but the difference in top quality brands such as 3G Cardio, Life Fitness and Vision Fitness is easily apparent in smoothness and sturdiness.
Set up a home gym and the conversation at the top of this article will become a lot more positive.
GUY NUMBER ONE: “Hey, how are you?”
GUY, NUMBER TWO: “Great! I shopped at At Home Fitness and set up a home gym. I’m feeling really good since I’ve started exercising regularly.”
At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. Talk to your doctor before setting up a new fitness regimen. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com
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This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
RS1 Lifecycle Exercise Bike
$2,199.00 – $2,729.00 -
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
RS3 Lifecycle Exercise Bike
$2,959.00 – $3,489.00
Ahwatukee Fitness Equipment Superstore
14647 So. 50th St. located near Ahwatukee, Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe and it’s the chain’s closest store to Tucson.
Gilbert Fitness Equipment Superstore
2810 S. Market St., located near Mesa, Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Queen Creek, Chandler and Gilbert, to name a few.
Scottsdale Fitness Equipment Superstore
6969 E. Shea Blvd. located near Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Anthem and many other locations in the West Valley.