Helpful Legion

An exercise treadmill, with its superior cardio workout capacity, is a training ally with a knack for keeping you trim and toned. This gym without the joint-jarring jolt of road running, has been shown to be more effective in weight control than many competing fitness machines. Add to that the convenience offered by a home treadmill, and it easily tops other training devices.

The heart of your exercise treadmill is its motor. If you are serious about training, choose at least a 2 CHP continuous-duty motor, rather than opting for the lesser HP rating. This will give you the power and robustness you need for long-term, low-maintenance performance.

Steer clear of an exercise treadmill that is likely to cramp your style! The treadbelt should accommodate your stride comfortably, with measurements of at least 17″x55″, to a generous 20″x60″. If you have little fitness fans at home, make sure that the exercise treadmill’s safety features have been given careful consideration, including a treadbelt that locks into place when not in use.

Jilting road running for the joint-cushioning comfort of an exercise treadmill, is a sensible decision if you are injury prone. A superb shock absorption system used in the engineering of the deck, is a vital component for continued enjoyment of exercise on a home treadmill. There is a fine balance between enough give to ensure comfort, and the necessary stability needed for a confident trot.

Once you have established a relaxed rhythm, interruptions are a no-no. Look for an exercise treadmill with an incline adjustment range of 1% to 15%, flaunting an arm-rest control. Speed adjustment is usually from 0 – 10mph. By having these buttons within easy reach, changing pace no longer equals changing gear.

Exercise treadmills sport state of the art consoles, with user-friendly features. Tracking progress is straightforward, with feedback on speed, incline, time, pace, and distance. Some treadmills even crunch calorie and carb numbers, complementing weight control programs.

An exercise treadmill is only as good as its programs. A productive training session needs to be challenging. By focusing on incline and resistance training, a strength element is introduced. Programs that target heart rate are excellent for cardiovascular fitness. Hand pulse grips, and a wireless chest strap, monitor your heart rate while you put your home treadmill through its paces.

Opt for an exercise treadmill with one or two programs you can customize according to your personal needs, and training goals. This is an important factor in keeping your routine interesting. Some models also accommodate iFit interactive training through the internet. This avenue brings you in contact with a valuable source of motivation, and expertise.

The most luxurious exercise treadmills even add entertainment in the form of music or television! Magazine racks and water bottle holders are standard equipment on most models.

The only drawback is that all the usual training excuses, such as snow and showers, and dogs and pot-holes, become obsolete once you purchase your exercise treadmill!

How do you measure success? Do you think of physical, mental, spiritual, influential, or monetary success? It is important to be honest with yourself and know that you may be very successful in one area, but not in another.

Therefore, look at your strengths and be honest with yourself about what your goals really are. There have been many successful Yogis, and some spiritual leaders, who had the clothes on their backs as their only possessions. They did not pursue material wealth, but instead, helped others until their last day.

How can I say they were successful? They chose the path that they wanted, and some have had tremendous influence without material wealth. They were men and women of conscience who humbled the powerful.

This is not to say that a Yoga teacher must live in poverty to be influential. An oath of poverty to help humankind is noble, but not for everyone. Personally, a balanced approach to physical, mental, spiritual, influential, and monetary success is easier for most of us to live with. Let’s take a look at the five successes and see how you can build on them, help others, and live the best life you can.

If you teach Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, or another physical style of Yoga, your body will be in “good shape.” Many people perceive good shape to mean muscles, but forget about the benefits to the joints, bones, and internal organs. Yoga is good for all of them and is a total health program.

Anyone who takes the time to meditate, and practice pranayama, will have better mental health. As a serious Yoga practitioner, or Yoga teacher, you should practice this daily, even if you do not have Yoga classes today. All of the other forms of success will yield mental health, as well.

Some styles of Yoga are more spiritual than others. In the west, most practitioners only think of Hatha Yoga, but there are many other spiritual Yoga styles. However, if spiritual Yoga does not fit into your lifestyle, prayers will help. Spiritual health is just as important as any other type of success.

The power of influence is a part of teaching Yoga. Therefore, never misuse it and never take advantage of your Yoga students, family, or friends. However, if you see an opportunity that will help the common good, never avoid using the influence you have acquired.

About money: Some people think, “Money is the root of evil.” I totally disagree because money is only a commodity, such as energy. If we misuse it, that is our loss, but if we help others, that is rewarding to all of us. Much like when we use energy, we are only temporary “keepers of money.”

Make use of money, and help those who you can. Strangely, more money will come back to you, as a result of being charitable. This is the cycle of karma, success, and life.

There is nothing wrong with success and self-improvement. When you take each aspect of success, and develop them all in harmony for the common good, that is also a form of Yoga. You might even refer to this method as the “Union of Success,” which could be named “Jayati Yoga.”

© Copyright 2005 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Hamstring muscles begin form the top i.e. the pelvis and extend upto the lower leg on the back of the human body. Injury to this muscle can vary from being a small strain to a major muscle rupture. Hamstring injury is normally caused during exercise or running motion and is evidenced by a sudden, sharp pain on the back of the thigh that stops all movement then and there. Sever pain and swelling is evident.

The hamstring injury usually results in locking your leg knee down and bending may be rendered impossible beyond 40 degrees. Make sure that the athlete or sports person has a medical ‘all-clear’ before carrying out the exercises. This exercise is meant to relieve your hamstring injury and strengthen the muscle to its past glory.

Causes: A Hamstring injury can be caused due to

* Poor flexibility

* Shortage of strength in the muscle

* Muscular imbalance

* Differences in lengths of legs OR

* Poor warm up procedures

Treatments: Hamstring injuries generally need rest. In serious cases, a rest of 2-3 weeks is advised with cold ice compression and leg elevation. After the pain and swelling caused due to the hamstring injury subsides, a stretching regimen is recommended to rebuild damaged muscle. Make sure you consult a therapist or a doctor before you embark on any exercise.

Recommended Exercise (Bicycle leg swing): Bicycle leg swing is a very good exercise to overcome a hamstring injury and strengthen the hamstring muscle. To do this:

* Stand on your left leg with the total weight on it (you could take support with your right hand by placing it against a wall or any fixed structure).

* Slowly raise your right leg from your hip to the knee, so that it becomes perpendicular to your body (90 degree lift). * Once your thigh is parallel to the ground, begin extending your knee until your leg is straight.

* Now start swinging your right leg in a slow arc downwards and to the back of your body and back again. Once this movement is coordinated slowly, it will simulate the slow stride action.

* Once you can do this at the rate of 75-80 swings per minute, do it in sets of two with 20-25 repetitions each for each leg.

* Fasten the pace with time. After you become comfortable with the exercise, try to do the exercise by restraining your ankle with rubber tubing at knee level in front of you. This will facilitate in strengthening your leg. Tighten the restraint over a period of time to build strength.

Always perform this exercise after a little warm up by jogging or cycling.

Prevention of Hamstring Injury:

To prevent a hamstring injury, one needs to take certain precautions:

Warm up: Always warm up thoroughly. Hamstring is the most important muscle that needs warm up prior to heavy exercise.

Stretching: Once you finish the exercise or work outs always remember to stretch out to prevent any possible hamstring injury.

Hurry: Never try to do too much in too little time.

Contantly pounding your body with heavy weights and low reps can take it’s toll on you, both physically and mentally. Squats may be the most beneficial weight lifitng exercise you can do. However, putting hundreds of pounds on your back workout after workout, always trying to better your performance, can kill your motivation.

The same goes for any of the best exercises – deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, stiff-legged deadlift, etc. So what do you do to increase your muscle mass when you find yourself grinding down on the most important exercises?

A technique that I use to break out of a rut, and one that will kickstart your motivation and new muscle mass growth, is plain old vanilla pre-exhaustion. Sure, it’s been around a long time but how many people do you see use it consistently? And why should they? Because it flat out works!

For those of you that may not be familiar with the technique, pre-exhaustion works like this. It’s nothing more than a superset, which is performing two different exercises back to back with no rest in between. However, the selection and order of the two exercises is specific to pre-exhaustion. While you could superset bent over barbell rows and bench presses, that’s not a pre-exhaust set.

Pre-exhaustion involves using a single-joint (or isolation) exercise, followed immediately by a multi-joint (or compound) exercise that works the same muscle group.

So what’s the point of pre-exhaustion and how can you use it effectively to break out of a rut and build more muscle mass?

The pre-exhaustion technique is beneficial in a few ways. First of all, it increases your level of intensity. How does it do this? By allowing you to perform more work in less time. And we know that increasing your intensity level over time leads to more muscle gain.

The pre-exhaustion technique also allows you to pre-fatigue a muscle group, thus possibly bypassing a weak link in a specific exercise, which again allows you to increase the intensity of an exercise.

For example, for many people their weak link on the bench press is their triceps. Unless you’re naturally barrel chested, a good portion of the rep on the bench press is performed by the tricep. By utilizing an isolation movement first, like the pec deck or cable crossover, you fatigue the pec muscles. This allows the fresh triceps to help fatigue the pecs even more on the next exercise, the bench press.

This technique can also help you mentally by giving you a break from the huge poundaged on the compound movements. How does it do that? Obviously, you have to lighten the load on the compound movements when you do them right after a set of the isolation exercise.

Another variation of the technique is to continue to perform straight sets but do so in a certain order. For example, you may perform three straight sets of 10 reps on the pec deck and then move on to your three sets of the bench press. You may even want to use both in different periods of time. Or experiment with both pre-exhuast technique to see which one you prefer.

Either way, you’ll get a fresh workout that can help you break through ruts and start building muscle mass again.

Free weights are the simplest and most cost effective pieces of equipment for the beginning muscle builder.

Free weights consist of barbells, dumbbells and weight plates. They are called free weights because they have no cables, pins or pulleys.

Available as normal weights or Olympic weights, be advised that Olympic weights are generally much more costly. The Olympic bar is also thicker at the ends to accommodate the larger hole present in Olympic weight plates.

Barbells come in all shapes and sizes. They consist of a bar that is usually 4′ to 7′ in length and can weigh from 20 to 45 pounds.

The Olympic bar that you find in most gyms is 45 pounds. This is the one you find on the squat rack and bench press. So, if you use this bar and add a 45-pound plate to each side, you’re bench pressing 135 pounds.

Varying weights are attached to the ends of the bar. The weights are attached using collars or sleeves. You can find barbells in a fixed collar design.

This prevents the weights from sliding off the end of the bar, but they are limiting as the weights cannot be removed. With adjustable collars you can add and remove weights to suit your own purposes.

The longer 7′ bar that is generally referred to as an Olympic bar can hold 500 to 1500 pounds. As mentioned, these are usually more costly. There are also other Olympic specialty bars available that are designed for specific purposes such as biceps and triceps.

The weight plates that fit the ends of the bar come in standard increments of:

2 1/2 pounds 5 pounds 10 pounds 25 pounds 50 pounds

If you stick with cast iron weights you are pretty much guaranteed that the weights will remain constant over time as opposed to those that are plastic encased or other metals that could warp over time.

If planning to go with the home gym, sticking with standard weights is probably best for you. One of the advantages is that you can find standard weights available as a package that will include your bars, weights and collars. Most standard weight packages also come with dumbbells.

You will also need to have a weight bench. There are varying types of benches. You can find adjustable types that you can set for different inclines. This is a good buy because by adjusting the incline or decline, you can create a number of different exercises to work out different muscle groups.

If you are lacking the money to join a gym, you can set yourself up with everything you need, just by getting some dumbbells, barbells, and a bench. Total cost can be less than $200.

Or, if it’s more convenient to work out at home, it’s simple to set up an effective gym right in your basement.

Free weights are also effective than machines when it comes to building muscle and increasing your strengh. That’s because you have to do all the work and balance all the weight yourself when using free weights.

With machines, much of the work is being done for you. You just have to lift it up and down. As a result, you use less intensity and less overload than with free weights.

Less overload and intensity means less muscle building possibilities.

So don’t worry if you can’t make it to a gym or if you don’t have the money to get certain machines for your home.

When it comes to building muscle, nothing beats a good set of free weights.

Copyright 2005 Wendy Owen

Dreams, what are they?

Dreams come from your subconscious mind as a means of processing and sorting information. But the truth is no one really knows what causes dreams and why some folk seem to have vivid colorful dreams and others have short uneventful ones.

Dreams mainly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM occurs every one and a half hours during the sleep cycle. During REM the eyes move from side to side and the body is relaxed and almost incapable of movement.

Have you ever told people, “I never dream”? Well you’re wrong. The fact is everybody dreams every night. You just may not be able to remember your dreams.

Don’t worry too much if this is the case. Not remembering dreams doesn’t mean you’re abnormal or unnatural in any way. While most people do remember their dreams, the memory is fleeting and occurs mainly when the sleeper first awakens.

If you really want to be able to remember your dreams, the best way is to ‘remind yourself’ before falling asleep. This programs the subconscious mind – the source of your dreams – to hold on to the memory.

When you wake up, try and hold the dream in your mind until you have a chance to record it. The easiest way to do this is to have a notebook and pen or a personal voice recorder beside your bed, so you can write down the dream before it disappears and gets ‘buried’ by the normal thoughts and concerns of everyday life.

With a bit of practice you’ll find little snippets of your dreams beginning to reveal themselves. This procedure will also work well for those who remember occasional dreams or those who want to remember every dream they have.

Books on dream interpretation abound and many people believe that dreams create a window into the subconscious mind where they can find answers to their most pressing problems and even see into the future.

This can be a dangerous practice. At best you can waste a lot of money buying books which lean towards the esoteric and lack knowledge in this area. Even sleep specialists know a large part of interpreting dreams is pure speculation.

At worst dream interpretation can be taken too seriously and people can depend too heavily on finding the (sometimes false) meaning of their dreams. This can lead to depression and even paranoia. It’s best to treat dream interpretation as a bit of fun and realize that there may be many different ways to analyze dreams and their meaning.

If you are having recurring dreams or nightmares, it’s best to contact a therapist experienced in this area. Don’t go down the mystical route of trying to analyze yourself by means of a book.

Nightmares can be caused by stress, so work on ways to relieve this and the nightmares should ease or may even disappear by themselves.

Have you ever wondered why you are fat and have considered going on a weight loss dieting program? If you did, then you must know why certain food makes you fat.

Most if not all of us are somewhat carbohydrate addicts. We have pastas, pizzas, white rice, spaghettis, bread, refined flour food and confectionaries in almost if not all our meals. Just look at the queues at the fast food joints on a regular day and you will know what I mean. Bread and sweet sugary drinks are the menu of the day, naturally.

Some of us are reluctant to embark on a weight loss dieting program to lose that excess baggage (body fat) because we think it is an exercise in sheer willpower and futility.

“You are asking me not to eat bread/rice/pizzas/hamburgers, chocolates and ice-creams my entire life? You must be nuts!” Sounds familiar? For those who incessantly snack on biscuits and chocolates between meals to stave off hunger while working at the office, here is why.

You unwittingly and naturally reach for such snacks because of the food you chose to eat earlier at an earlier meal. If you start the day with three or four slices of white bread spread with fruit jam or margarine and then wash it down with coffee and sugar, you can be sure you will be craving for snacks by mid-morning even though your breakfast was a filling one.

When your food made up primarily of carbohydrate, especially refined carbohydrate like white bread and pizzas, with little protein or fat, not to mention high in sugar, your blood glucose surges crazily following that meal.

To counter the effect of extreme glucose surge in your blood stream, your pancreas will pump more insulin than usual to bring your blood glucose level down. What happens then is that your blood glucose surges will then dip lower than your pre-meal level. When this happens, you start to get hungry and crave for more sweet stuff and more carbohydrate. This is why you reach for sweet snacks and drinks instinctively. Thus the vicious cycle continues again and again and you are eating more and more calories. So choosing the food in your meal is important so that you will not get hungry fast and then consume more calories to satisfy that hunger upsetting your natural weight loss dieting program.

When more carbohydrate is consumed than can be stored by your liver and muscles as glycogen, they are naturally converted to fat. So what should you do?

Well, you can start to limit your carbohydrate consumption (note that I said limit and not stop) and on top of that, choose slow digesting carbohydrates especially carbohydrate with fibers like fibrous vegetables, fruits, legumes, brown rice and brown bread, your insulin spike will not be so eccentric and therefore you will not get hungry or having your sweet tooth so often.

Now think about it, if you do not reach for your snacks and sugary drinks that often, it means that you are consuming fewer calories. So if your caloric consumption is less than your caloric expenditure, you are right on a natural weight loss dieting program without even realizing it. Better still, you are not going on a hunger and starvation diet because you will not get hungry that easily.

Just imagine now that you are losing weight naturally, what if you incorporate an exercise routine into your natural weight loss dieting program to burn off some more calories? Your natural weight loss result will be amazing wouldn’t it?

Now that you know why you are fat, let’s get started on this natural weight loss dieting program.

Garlic is a wonderful healing herb and, unlike many of the other herbs, it tastes great and can be incorporated into a variety of meals. Garlic has been used for over 5000 years as a healing herb and has strong antibacterial, and antiviral properties. But it’s health benefits extend well beyond it’s infection fighting properties. It is also reputed to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as help protect against heart disease and stroke.

And the benefits of garlic don’t stop there. A recent study has shown that taking a garlic supplement once a day can reduce the risk of getting a cold by 50% and help you gain a speedy recovery if you do happen to catch one. In fact, I tried this out recently when I felt a sore throat coming on – I toasted a piece of bread and added some raw crushed garlic to it. It was a bit pungent but I woke up the next day good as new! Aside from colds, garlic has historically been used as a remedy for infections, athletes foot, worms, respiratory ailments, some cancers of the stomach, colic, ear aches, bladder problems and high blood pressure.

Garlic is jut plain good for you too! it is loaded with vitamins and minerals including Vitamin A, B and C, selenium, potassium, calcium, zinc and magnesium. But in order to reap the benefits, you must prepare it in a certain way. Researcher say it is the allicin that is released when garlic is crushed. If you are trying to serve yourself a garlic herbal remedy by adding garlic to your foods then make sure you crush it a bit ahead of time and don’t add until the final 5 minutes of cooking. This will give the allicin enough time to develop and will insure you don’t cook all the garlic health out of it.

Cooked garlic will not have as much benefit as raw and whole garlic cloves have little benefit at all. Another way to incorporate garlic into your meals without cooking is to make a garlic bread where you crush the gloves into a paste and toast bread – butter the toasted bread and spread the garlic on it – Yum!

Garlic can have an affect on blood clotting, so don’t start taking supplements unless you discuss it with your physician first especially if you are on blood thinning medication or due to have surgery in the near future.

Perhaps you first read riboflavin at the back of a cereal box. Perhaps you first encountered folic acid from your first grade science teacher. Perhaps you first heard balanced diet from your mom. All that and more compose Vitamin B which is a group of eight individual vitamins, often referred to as B vitamins or B-complex vitamins. Vitamin B promotes normal growth and development, treats anemia and some types of nerve damage, helps mental and nervous conditions, improves resistance to infection and disease, increases appetite and energy, and improves memory. Vitamin B is also essential for the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose, breakdown of fats and proteins, muscles in the stomach and intestinal tract, skin, hair, eyes, mouth, and liver.

As mentioned earlier, Vitamin B is a group of eight individual vitamins. These vitamins are thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, pyrodixine (B-6), folic acid (B-9), cyanocobalamin (B-12), panthotenic acid, and biotin.

Vitamin B1 or Thiamine is essential for the conversion of carbohydrates into simple sugars called glucose which produces energy. This Vitamin B is also essential for the proper functioning of the heart, muscles, and nervous system. Thiamine deficiency is rare but often occurs to alcoholics because alcohol oftentimes interferes with the absorption of Vitamin B thiamine through the intestines. There are also several health implications associated with being thiamine deficient. One is beriberi, a disease characterized by anemia, paralysis, muscular atrophy, and spasms in the leg muscles. Other disorders associated with being thiamine deficient is Wernicke’s encephelopathy which causes lack of coordination, Korsakoff’s psychosis which affects short-term memory. Being thiamine deficient can also affect the mouth resulting to increased sensitivity of the teeth, cheeks, and gums as well as cracks in the lips. Vitamin B thiamine can be found in whole-grain cereals, bread, red meat, egg yolks, and green leafy vegetables. High doses of thiamine has been found not to cause adverse health effects and excess of this water-soluble vitamin b can be excreted.

Vitamin B2 Riboflavin is important in the breakdown of carbohydrates, and fats and proteins. It is also significant in the maintenance of the skin and mucuous membrane, the cornea of the eye, and nerve sheaths. Riboflavin deficiency can cause skin disorders and inflammation of the soft tissue lining around the mouth and nose. It can also cause the eye to be hypersensitive to light. Like Thiamine, Riboflavin is found in whole grain products, milk, meat, and eggs. This is also excreted because it is a water-soluble vitamin although a little is stored in the kidney and liver.

Vitamin B3 Niacin, also known as nicotinamide, is important in metabolism as well as in the maintenance of healthy skin, nerves, and gastrointestinal tract. Niacin deficiency can result to a disease called pellegra. The symptoms of pellegra are sometimes called “Three Ds” – diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia. The mouth is also affected by pellegra which causes the inside of the cheeks and tongue to become red and painful. Vitamin B3 can be found in dairy products, poultry, fish, lean meat, nuts, and eggs. Niacin can also be prescribed in higher doses as drugs to help lower cholesterol but this can cause side effects such as flushing of the skin , itching, headaches, cramps, nausea, and skin eruptions.

Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine which is also known as pyridoxal phosphate is used in the production of red blood cells and in the biochemical reactions involved in the metabolism of amino acids. It is also responsible in the synthesis of of antibodies in the immune system and helps maintain normal brain function. Vitamin B6 deficiency is rare except for alcoholics. It causes skin disorders, abnormal nervous system known as neuropathy, confusion, poor coordination, and insomnia. Inflammation of the lips, tongue and the rest of the mouth are oral symptoms of Vitamin B6 deficiency. Vitamin B6 can be found in organ meats, brown rice, fish, whole grains, fortified breads and cereals, and legumes.

Vitamin B9 Folacin is a Vitamin B-complex which interacts with Vitamin B12 for the synthesis of DNA which is important for all cells in the body. Folacin, a combination of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C, is essential in the breakdown of proteins and production of red blood cells, tissue growth, and cell function. It also stimulates appetite and formation of digestive acids. Folacin deficiency causes anemia, stunted growth, and irritation of the mouth. Alcoholics, the malnourished, the poor, the elderly, and those who have certain illnesses are usually the ones found to be Vitamin B9 deficients.Vitamin B9 is found in legumes, citrus fruits, whole grain cereals, and green vegetables.

Vitamin B12 Cyanocobalamin like all other Vitamin B-complex is essential in the processing of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Vitamin B12 is also needed for maintenance of our nerve sheaths, activates amino acids during protein formation, and helps in the perpetuation of cells and fomation of new ones. One interesting thing about Vitamin B12 is that it cannot be absorbed by the body unless combined with mucoprotein made in the stomach. Once Vitamin B12 attaches to the mucoprotein, it travels in the small intestine to be absorbed by the body. Vitamin B12 deficiency is recurrently seen in strict vegetarians who do not take vitamin supplements. A deficiency can also cause pernicious anemia which in turn causes weakness, numbness of the extremities, and fever.

Pantothenic acid and biotin are the last two Vitamin B-complexes. Pantothenic acid is used in the breakdown of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids while biotin functions as a coenzyme in carboxylation reactions. There is no known disorder associated with pantothenic acid deficiency while deficiency in biotin can cause scaly dermatitis which is a skin disorder. Pantothenic acid is mainly found in meat, legumes, and whole-grain cereals while abundance of biotin is found in beef liver, mushrooms, and egg yolk.

Exercising at home can be just as successful as training at a gym if you know what you’re doing. There are all types of home exercise equipment out on the market and every one of them claim to be answer to your prayers.

The truth is, all exercise equipment are not created equal. Some can provide great variation in your training program whilst others are quite limiting. Knowing the difference before you purchase anything can save you plenty of time and money.

The equipment you buy will depend greatly on what your goals are. If you need to lose weight then you need a cardiovascular fitness program, to build muscle you need a resistance training program, and to tone your muscles you may need a combination of these.

Cardiovascular Equipment This type of equipment includes bikes, treadmills, cross-trainers, and step machines. This is the best piece of equipment to buy if your goal is to lose weight or increase fitness. Many people are hesitant to buy cardio equipment because of the price. If this is a concern consider leasing. You should also look at garage sales, auction sites (eg, ebay), and your local newspaper as there are always bargains to be found.

One thing to remember when you buy cardio equipment is that you get what you pay for. If something is really cheap, then chances are it won’t last long.

Weights Weight training equipment is probably the most diverse of all home exercise equipment. It can be used for building muscle, weight loss, muscle toning, and injury rehabilitation. The best thing about weights is they last forever. Buy them today and your kids could still be using them in 20 years time.

The best weight training equipment to buy is a bench, adjustable barbell, and adjustable dumbbells. Most benches have many attachments that will not only ad support but also much more variety. The adjustable barbells and dumbbells mean that you don’t have to buy hand weights or bars at every weight interval (eg, 5kg, 10kg, 12.5kg, etc). You just buy the plates and change the weight as you change the exercise.

Swiss Ball / Fitball These have been used throughout Europe by physiotherapists since 1960 but have currently become the latest fitness fad. They provide great variety in your program but they should never be the only piece of equipment you buy. If you want to strengthen your abdominals they are great, but if you want to lose your tummy then you’re better off sticking to cardiovascular training.

Imagination This is probably the greatest tool you have and the better it is the less money you’ll need to spend. Use the things you have at your disposal. If you have stairs or a yard that is on a slope use those for extra cardio training. Household items such as chairs, tables, and hand railings can also be used for extra variety. If you’re not sure, buy a book or get a personal trainer to come over to your house and design a circuit using only what you have available.