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This article is for those who prefer to work out their fitness at home rather than at the gym. If space and budget are limited, you can always use sports accessories that are small in size but have huge training potential. If the size of the equipment does not matter, then your choice is truly limitless. So what pieces of equipment are important to building a home gym?

The main elements of physical activity and exercise 

Before we start talking about exercise machines, let's get back to the basics. Many people confuse the two concepts: physical activity and exercise in fact, there is a difference between these concepts, since the former refers to any kind of movement, while the latter refers to more structured actions performed for specific purposes. Whether you want to lose weight, remove your tummy, or just get in shape, you need to choose the right interventions.

Effective exercise includes three aspects: aerobics, strength development, and flexibility. Comprehensive training covers all three aspects, albeit to varying degrees depending on your goals.

In general terms, the benefits of aerobic exercise include reducing body fat (when combined with an appropriate diet), lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, while increasing metabolism and overall endurance. After such low-intensity and prolonged exercises, the psychological state improves, because during slow or long workouts, the neurotransmitters of good mood - serotonin and norepinephrine are constantly stimulated. The quality of sleep even improves over time.

Strength training improves overall body function and posture. In addition, muscles are very important shock absorbers that can absorb stress while protecting bones and ligaments from injury. Another significant factor is the benefits for the cardiovascular system.

Last but not least, flexibility training helps us perform our daily movements with ease and fluency, and slows down the aging of tendons, bones and muscles. Flexibility can be achieved with constant stretching exercises.

Thus, a full range of exercises includes the right combination of these three types of physical activity: moderate to intense aerobics should be done 5 or more times a week, strength training 2-3 times and flexibility training almost daily. After a quick overview of the benefits of a perfect workout, we'll take a look at exactly which machines you need to set up your compact home gym.

Equipment for cardio training

This category of cardio fitness equipment includes treadmills, stationary bicycles, step platforms, ladder machines, elliptical machines, and rowing machines. Before buying, it is worth checking the functionality, safety and general technical characteristics of the simulators in question. An investment in equipment will be beneficial and profitable if it meets a number of requirements.

Make awkward movements.

Strength Training Equipment

When it comes to muscle tone training, there are a wide variety of equipment on the market, ranging from sophisticated multifunctional exercise machines to the most common sports benches that can be used for strength training with barbells and dumbbells. If you are a beginner, it is recommended that you do strength exercises on machines that provide locked movements and a safe posture while preventing incorrect movements. As you gain training experience, you can move on to cable machines for more freedom of movement and free weights. However, when choosing equipment, it is important to be guided by the following criteria:

Adjustments for height and weight should be easy and suitable for any trainee.

The equipment must be strong and stable even under heavy loads; when using multifunctional simulators, the load should move smoothly and without unnecessary friction;

Seats should be ergonomic and comfortable;

We recommend purchasing such devices, where specialized consultations by phone or the Internet regarding individual programs and direct technical assistance in the event of a breakdown are guaranteed;

The user manual, clearly written in the language of your country, should be accompanied by a multimedia supplement that explains how to perform the exercises correctly.

Muscle stretching equipment

In addition to a wide selection of products for passive and / or controlled stretching, there are also a significant number of stretching accessories on the market that allow you to perform stretching exercises completely safely, adding elements of creativity and fun ... What criteria should be followed when choosing between professional mats, bolsters, balance and coordination balls, stretching mats and medicine balls? To make a qualitative and functional assessment of such accessories, it is necessary to ensure that:

Digital home gym

People who want to keep fit are increasingly inclined towards the "Wellness on the go" principle, which is to work on your health and beauty wherever you are, using available tools and accessories. Often, those who go to the gym also work out at home or in nature, because this principle is based on the "spiral" movement: the more you move, the more you want to do it.

Today there are special computer applications that allow, for example, to reproduce your favorite workouts at home or to organize real tests on sports grounds or in the water. With workout programs now available on any device, you can work out at home as effectively as if you had a personal trainer with us. Thus, using videos, chats and other digital opportunities, we work on ourselves and achieve our goals, "doing the right exercise at the right time."

Final Words

So, the choice is yours: exercise at home, in the gym, in any room. Using equipment or using your body weight, in silence or with your favorite music, alone or with passionate like-minded people. It doesn't matter where and how, it is important to move, because movement is health, movement is life.

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