Fitness | Home Gym Equipment for You

May 16, 2010

Home gym equipment essentials—Part 4

Cardio Equipment: Stair stepper

This piece of equipment includes one of the vital aspects to increasing intensity for a cardiovascular workout, elevation. The stair stepper is all about elevation. This provides a great cardio workout and really works the lower body.

The best way to use the stair stepper is to stand erect with your hands on the rails for balance. Don’t bend forward or use the rails to support your weight as that will decrease the effectiveness of the workout and possible injury.

While performing the exercise, the foot plates should not bang at the top of the stepping rhythm and each step to the foot plate should not sink too low. Just keep a pace that allows a natural stepping motion without banging or sinking too low.

The advantages to this machine versus running stairs are, of course, impact to the joints. The stair stepper keeps your feet on the foot plates and therefore eliminates any impact. Also, there is no descent on the stair stepper. When running stairs, much of the wear and tear on the leg muscles and joints happens on the descent which leads to increased soreness. The stair stepper greatly reduces this, which will reduce the risk of injury and allow you to continue training and achieve results.

-Dr. Mark Mylan
Creating fit and healthy bodies with home gym equipment
www.healthyhomegym.com

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May 6, 2010

Home Gym Equipment Tips to Transform Your Life—Part 24

Filed under: Home gym equipment — Tags: exercise and fitness, fitness, fitness tips, fitness woman, health fitness, Home gym equipment, home gym pics, physical fitness — info @ 12:30 pm

Strength Training: Deload 1

As your strength training progresses and you are pushing your body harder and harder, you will need to take an active rest period from time to time. This is called a deload week. It is one of the most overlooked things in weight training, but is one of the most important things you can do to keep your training progressing and keep yourself from getting injured.

What can happen when you have been working out hard for a long period of time is overtraining. This is when your body has had enough and will not work at peak performance until it gets a break. Symptoms include: elevated heart rate, problems sleeping, irritability, decrease strength and endurance, and not wanting to workout.

Once you are overtrained, it can take weeks to recover and get your training back on track. The best way to avoid this is to take one full week every 4-8 weeks and deload. This is a time to make body restoration your number one priority. Recuperation can not be overlooked. If it is, your body will pay a heavy price.

Many people get scared that they will lose strength, lose endurance, or get fat when considering a deload week. Nothing could be further from the truth, you will come back stronger and with more energy after giving your body time to recover.

-Dr. Mark Mylan
Creating fit and healthy bodies with home gym equipment
www.healthyhomegym.com

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April 25, 2010

Home Gym Equipment Tips to Transform Your Life—Part 13

Filed under: Home gym equipment — Tags: fitness, fitness tips, fitness woman, Home gym equipment, home gym exercise equipment, home gym fitness equipment, home gym pics, physical fitness — info @ 12:30 pm

The Bench Press:

The bench press is an exercise that will train chest, shoulders and triceps. It is also an exercise that can easily cause shoulder injuries if not done properly. The main thing to focus on with the bench press is to keep your entire body tight. This will help prevent injury.

To set up, the first thing you need is a firm base. So, make sure your feet are planted firmly on the floor. No feet on the bench or bouncing on your toes. Next, keep your butt on the bench, arch your back as high as you can, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and firmly place the majority of your bodyweight on your shoulder blades against the bench.

Now, grab the bar at shoulder width and squeeze as hard as you can. At the same time, imagine that you could pull the bar apart into two pieces. This may seem silly, but what this will do is keep your upper body tight and help avoid injury. To unrack the bar, take a deep breath and hold, pull the bar out from the rack firmly while keeping your entire body tight.

Do not “bounce the bar” or loosen your upper body before performing your first repetition. This can take you out of position and lead to injury. Hold the bar for a second to ensure stability. Lower the bar to your lower chest (an inch or two below your nipples, sorry for the crudeness) and keep your elbow slightly tucked at about 45 degrees from your sides. As you touch your chest with the bar, press the bar straight up.

Lowering the bar too high on your chest or keeping your elbows at 90 degrees to your sides (as many “experts” will tell you is actually better for isolating your chest) will lead to shoulder injuries. Keep your entire body tight. Always focus on being tight.

-Dr. Mark Mylan
Creating fit and healthy bodies with home gym equipment
www.healthyhomegym.com

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April 14, 2010

Home Gym Equipment Tips to Transform Your Life—Part 2

Exercise: Starting out

Exercise is the king of fitness. You cannot be healthy without exercise, period. But if you are a beginner, where do you start? You start slow and simple.

Before you join the gym, buy the latest workout machine they’re showing on television, or even buy home gym equipment from this website; start slow and simple.

Walk for 45 minutes a day, every day, for two weeks. After your walk, do 50 push ups (on your knees if you have to), 50 sit ups (or crunches) and 50 bodyweight squats.

This mini-program will accomplish two things. Number one, it will tell you that you are serious about becoming healthy. Number two, you will avoid wasting money on a gym membership or home fitness equipment that you will not use.

If you pass this first test you are ready to proceed to a training program. There are two components that are essential to any training program: cardiovascular training and strength training. Many people make the mistake of focusing too much on one of these components and virtually ignoring the other.

I have been guilty of this myself (not a fan of cardio). But in order to become truly fit and healthy you need both parts, as each has their role in your health.

-Dr. Mark Mylan
Creating fit and healthy bodies with home gym equipment
www.healthyhomegym.com

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