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Working out at home and the Dictionary of Equipment

By Paul Stephen Lubicz, The Wellbeing Manager

Looking at an exercise regime in a realistic light some times leads you to the reality of working out at home which is your best option! This may allow youto become moreconsistent with exerciseand manage your time better so that you can fit it in without adding more stress to your day bynot having to factorin travel time to the gym, or even some people feel more comfortable working out intheir homeenvironment.

So thatcreateshome fitnessas aoption .Please doRemember, in actual fact you don't need a lot of equipment to create a greathome gym that can give you a varied and complete workout! Ireally ama big fan of purchasing equipment that can be used for more than one activity. For example the Step can be used for other things thanstep aerobics, you can also use it as a weight bench the possibilities are endless as long as they are safe.

A home gym can mean anything from a set of resistance tubes to cardio and weight machines and floor-to-ceiling mirrors. So fear not because I've listed the ten basic pieces of equipment you need together with a description of the latest equipment that can be used for a multiple of exercise modes and hit many different body parts including weights, exercise balls and other important gear to help you reach your goals. Learn what you need to create a well-stocked gym to meet your ever-changing needs. Then it’s up to you to choose what fits into your area and what your budget is.

1 Dumbbells

Working out with dumbbells, you'll engage primary muscles for each movement as well as the stabilisers, which can help you, develop core body strength co-ordination especially when used in a total body exercise which will allow you to hit all your body parts with single exercises to save time. Dumbbells are available in the majority ofequipment stores both shops and onlineand they're relatively inexpensive, which makes them ideal for use at home. Furthermore, dumbbell exercises are some of the best for improving muscular endurance, size, and strength, but just because they are associated with muscles it doesn’t mean that you can’t create a cardio program that burns plenty of calories with them.

2 Exercise Ball

Exercise balls have changed the way we use the gym over the past 10 years, they can challenge your balance and your core strength when integrated into any workout. They are very flexible in not only the way you use them but the number of different uses you can apply them to, for example use it for an abdominal workout or use it as a weight bench towork thestabilizer muscles while you bench press. Use it for pushups, back extensions, lower body exercises and so on. You can even sit on while watching television or working on the computer to help use your postural muscles to keep you upright and sitting optimally.

Before you buy a ball, make sure it's the right size for your height. To test it, sit on the ball and make sure your hips are level or just slightly higher than the knees:

55 cm - 4'11" - 5'4"
65 cm - 5'5" - 5'11"
75 cm - 6'0" - 6'7"

3 Bosu Ball

One of the newest gems to hit the market is the BOSU Balance Trainer. Short for 'both sides up,' the BOSU Balance Trainer offers a unique way to work on balance, core strength and aerobic conditioning. The BOSU Balance Trainer is like an exercise ball that's been cut in half with a platform on the bottom. You can use it ball-side-up side up to challenge lower body balance and stability or use the platform to target upper body strength. You can use it for just about anything stability training burning calories, working on posture and the core or just adding an increased difficulty factor to the workout so that you don’t plateau.

4 Resistance bands

Resistance bands have the unique ability to provide resistance throughout the entire range of motion or the full movement of the exercise. When you use free weights, you don't necessarily get that continuous resistance. For example, during the lifting phase of a bicep curl, gravity works to provide your bicep with resistance, along with the weight. During the lowering portion of the movement, you lose some of that tension and often simply drop the weight. A resistance band is light can travel very easily with you and is very adaptable and with some creativity can be used to challenge the whole body and can also be used with other bits of equipment to allow you to change things up to keep your program fresh every time.

5 Steps

Step training was so huge in the 80s and has a great place in any gym still today; even the basic step ups are perfect to work the glutes and the hamstrings in a functional (real life) manner. Holding dumbbells can add some nice intensity to the movement. As mentioned before you can use the step as a bench for dips or even to help with flexibility, use it for plyometrics or adding in a balance aspect. Generally you will find that they are competitively priced and also easily stored away!

6 Exercise mat

Ideal for all mind-body workouts, you can do yoga, meditation and pilates with them or you can just use them to help give you grip in a push up or to lie on to stretch in your warm up or cooldown. I prefer a thickness greater then 15mm which offers excellent support for the spine and knees. Also if you get a mat which is either double-sided or has a good grip and will not slide on the floor.In addition if the mat is made of a substance that you can easily wipe down so you can keep it clean andHygienic, try and look for 100% recyclable and PVC-free.

7 Skipping Rope

Skipping ropes are simple no working parts all you need is some space and yourself; they can be used as a warm up tool, cardio aspect and are also great for plyometrics and co-ordination. When choosing a skipping rope try and get a length that will allow you to skip without catching it on your feet or too much slack as its too long.
8 Yoga / Pilates Block

Yoga/ Pilates Bricks are used in numerous standing and seated postures to provide lift and grounding also to help preempt muscle activation and can be used in a multiple of ways to assist to changing your workouts so that you don’t plateau and get stale.

9 Power Plate

I truly didn’t have much time for power plates until I spent time working with one and treated it as a tool not looking at it to provide the whole workout. After I changed my outlook, I suddenly found the greatestsurprise which has allowed me to work with clients in so many different ways with great feedback and results.

How does it work?

The human body has natural reflexes such as the eye-lid reflex, the touch reflex and the stretch reflex. The stretch reflex is that which occurs when a doctor taps your knee with a hammer, this causes a reflex that extends the leg. The Power-Plate generates a continuous special stretch reflex called the Tonic Vibration Reflex in all involved muscles.

Power-Plate generates 30 to 50 reflexes per second
The special vibrating platform stretches the muscles, which activate Tonic Vibration Reflexes. Because the Power-Plate vibrates at 30 to 50 times per second, these involuntary muscle contractions happen at the same speed.

Power-Plate activates 95 to 97% of the muscle fibers
Not only will your muscles contract and relax at very high speed, but also the amount of muscle fibres in every single muscle involved exceeds the amount of muscle tissue utilised in regular training. For most people in conventional training a maximum of 40% of the muscle fibres per muscle are recruited. The Power-Plate vibrations recruit between 95% and 97% of the muscle fibres. This also means that the deeper posture and stabilizing muscles, such as the spinal muscles and the pelvic basin muscle, that are normally hard to train, can be stimulated. It also will add intensity to your workout that sometimes is difficult to find with limited time and space.

10 Cable machine

If you have room and a budget to fit in a cable machine I highly recommend getting one. A cable machine or cable crossoveris an item of equipment used in weight training or functional training. It consists of a rectangular, vertically-oriented steel frame about 3 meters wide and 2 meters high, with a weight stack at each end. The cables that connect the handles to the weight stacks run through adjustable pulleys that can be fixed at any height. This allows a variety of exercises to be performed on the apparatus. The great thing is that the possibilities are limitless and can allow you to use every part of your body with the one piece of equipment and in conjunction with the other pieces of equipment I recommended can create a gym that will be as good as most you will find available to you.