Eventhough fitness gyms like 24 Hour Fitness, Bally Total Fitness, and Gold's Gym continue to thrive in the current health and exercise era, at home products for work-out enthusiasts are a huge industry. Not everyone has the time to get to a gym so buying home exercise equipment solves that problem. You can get exercise bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, steppers, ab machines, strength training machines, and rowing machines. They are compact and often fold down to fit under beds and in closets. Nautilus is one of the most famous home gym companies offering heavy-duty and commercial grade equipment for the complete workout. With all the choices, which types of home fitness equipment do you really need in your house? Are you looking for a cardio workout or a weight training routine? How much do you want to spend? These are all important questions to ask before purchasing anything. We will attempt to answer these and other questions below.
Elliptical trainers are the most popular equipment these days as the stress on joints is not as severe with ellipticals as it is with stair steppers and stationary bikes. A great budget elliptical trainer is the Proform 20.0 Elliptical Trainer ($799) - comes with built in speakers (hook up your iPod) and silent magnetic resistance. The Smooth CE 3.2 Elliptical Trainer ($1499) - ergonomic and pivoting foot pedal, a good service record, and an advanced LED console is a good mid-range buy. The Sole E95 Elliptical ($1700) is one of the best high end elliptcals you can buy with a 5 year warranty on parts and electronics and 2 years on service. If you are an avid user, this machine can handle the workout. Nautilus offers some ellipticals that are all priced above $2399 and although they are very nice in quality and performance, they may be too much for regular home use. We do prefer some of the Nautilus treadmills like the T718 Pro Series, T716 Pro Series, T714 Pro Series, T518 Sport Series, T516 Sport Series, and the T514 Sport Series. If you want a total gym workout at home, the top rated products are the Hoist V5, Powertec Workbench Leverage Gym WB-LS, and the Weider Advantage WESY5983. You will need more space in whatever room you put these larger home gyms into. Whenever possible we suggest using a garage for storing and using gym equipment so that there is plenty of space and so that children are less likely to get at it (injuries can result). Treadmills, although pricier than home gyms like Bowflex, get more lifetime use overall since they are easy to use and give a good cardio workout. Unless you have the room in your home/condo/apartment, joining a gym may still be the best use of your money since they offer all the equipment (they do the repairs) in one place. The internet allows you the opportunity to do some online research at sites like Exercise-equipment-review.com and Trainersecrets.com. Find out about the latest products, reviews, and innovations for ab machines, elliptical trainers, treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines, and home gyms.
Top Fitness Equipment Manufacturers:
The good news if you are in the market to buy fitness equipment is that there are dozens of brands and manufacturers to choose from. The leading brand names are Cybex, Marcy, Weider, Powertec, Hoist, Precor, York, Nautilus, Universal, and ProForm. Each company makes a variety of exercise and fitness training equipment so be sure to research their products carefully. As with any product category, you will find both high end and low end products available. Nautilus offers some luxury fitness equipment for home use while ProForm has discount fitness equipment. Some of the major players in the fitness equipment industry are listed below with their website address:
Nautilus - Top quality treadmills, elliptical trainers and their famous StairMaster. You can find them online HERE
Precor - nice stationary bikes and strength systems. Website located HERE
Horizon Fitness - Treadmills and ellipticals. Website is HERE
Used Fitness Equipment:
One thing that we found online while searching for fitness equipment is that the used marketplace for exercise equipment is much larger than even we thought. It appears that most people who purchase fitness equipment don't end up using it much after a few months and therefore you can pick up some great deals in the second hand market. Ebay or Craigslist are 2 excellent sites for buying used fitness equipment. If you are buying refurbished or used exercise equipment, make sure it has been properly maintained or repaired if broken. Your shipping costs may be the most expensive part of buying used fitness equipment from someone on Ebay or through Craigslist. Do your research and look for the best brands and models as rated by Consumer Reports and pick them up at discounted prices.
Fitness Equipment Repairs:
One of the inevitable questions that arises when people buy expensive fitness equipment for their homes is: How much does it cost to repair and maintain? You are looking at a minimum of $55/hour for repairs in your home. Parts are another expense. The better the warranty at the time of purchase, the less headache down the road. You can sometimes buy a service contract as an add-on to the actual equipment or machine which is a good decision. Getting your fitness equipment services and maintained on a regular basis will certainly make it last longer and with less problems.
Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.
