Pilates DVDs

Pilates Workout at Home

By:  Cipta Jaya

Pilates workout technique was first developed by Joseph Pilates during World War I.  He was an English boxer and got captured by the Germans.  Using his in depth knowledge on Roman and Greek history, and also yoga and Zen philosophy, he developed the early stages of Pilates workout technique.  Today’s modern Pilates have many different styles, like Stott Pilates or Winsor Pilates.  But no matter what style that you’re interested in, I can assure you that Pilates workout is good for you.

Home Workout

What exactly do you need for a Pilates workout at home?  Only 2 simple things:  Pilates DVDs and a mat.  Just put the DVD in the player, and before you know it you have started exercising.  The best thing about Pilates technique is that you don’t require much space to do it.

Who should do Pilates?

If you’re one of these:  overweight, have back problems or joint problems (arthritis), trying to recover from an injury, or pre-natal or post natal (pregnant woman), then Pilates is perfect for you.  By doing Pilates, you’ll have better abs, burn fat and increase overall muscle strength.

And for pregnant women, you might want to build strength before giving birth.  There are not many workout techniques out there that are safe for you to do, but Pilates could deliver results that you want.  And after giving birth, want to get that beautiful body back again?  Pilates is the answer for you!

Pilates Workout benefits

Pilates is a low impact, high result workout.  It aims for strength and balance.  Some of the best benefits of Pilates are:

Increased Strength, Flexibility & Balance

Improved Alignment

Improved Muscle Tone, Energy & Mental Concentration

Injury Prevention & Recovery

Enhanced Breathing & Circulation

Pilates is a great way to trim your abs, making it leaner.  It is also a great way for weight loss program.  Overweight people might not be comfortable going to the gym for their exercise, and therefore would prefer to do their exercises at home.  Well, Pilates is the perfect solution for you.  And in relation to overweight, back problems or joint problems could also hinder people from doing exercises.  Not with Pilates workout!  And if you’re trying to shape up your body, want to get that slimmer and better toned body muscles, Pilates is also for you.

Furthermore, you get to save time by doing it at home.  It’s not very costly, just like I’ve explained above.  Basically you just need Pilates DVDs to guide you on your exercises.

And so once again, if you’re looking for an exercise program that you can do at home, or as a supplement for your home gym, just get Pilates DVDs and you’ll be on your way to a better and healthier lifestyle right from the comfort of your own home.  And if you’re a parent, you can have your kids to do this as well.

Home Gym Exercise Equipment

Home Gym Exercise Equipment : In Depth

By:  Cipta Jaya

A lot of people today have become “health-conscious”, meaning that they are more and more concern about their well being and fitness.   The 2 factors that come in people’s minds are exercises and nutrition (food).  I will not be discussing about nutrition, but I will try to explain more about fitness and exercises.

There’s only 2 ways that you can have a proper exercise, and that is either do them at home or sign up at a gym.  For a comparison between both, see my guide on exercise gyms.

I will explain more about home gym exercise equipment in here, since it seems that today people have a strong tendency of doing their exercise programs at home.

Goals

As any other exercise programs out there, the first and most important thing that you should ask yourself is about your goals.  Some of the categories below here might help you in determining what is it that you really want to accomplish by having a home gym:

1. Weight Loss
2. Build Stamina (Cardio)
3. Increase Strength
4. Body Sculpting

Depending on the current fitness level that you’re on, this will decide what sort of exercise equipments that you’ll need to get for your home gym.  If you are a beginner, you might want to start off from weight loss or building your stamina first (cardio).

Cost

Home gym exercise equipment that you’ll buy will be a long-term investment, and therefore you really should be considerate when getting one.

Read my guide on Fitness Exercise Equipment if you want to get a picture of how much it might cost you and how you should prepare a budget for it.

Space

Some of home gym exercise equipment might take up a large space.  You should measure up your available space to see if they would fit.  Length, width and height all play an important factor, don’t underestimate them.  If you don’t have enough space, find out if the equipment that you want can be folded or not.  I’ve seen people bought their equipment that fits the available width and length, but not the height!  You can guess what happens next…

Space is also about flooring support.  Remember that equipments like treadmills, elliptical, exercise bikes, and weight training machines are quite heavy!

Warranty

If you buy used home gym exercise equipment, warranty might not be available.  Check for any defects or wear and tear on the equipment.  If there isn’t any (or if it’s still acceptable for you), go right ahead and buy them.  That way you’ll save up your money for other things.

Equipments that has electronic or a computer system on it like treadmills and elliptical machines should provide you with good warranty, as these systems are easy to be broken.

Exercise Program & Nutrition

When people set up their home gyms, they get all fired up to do their exercises.  But after a while due to boredom, people started to stop their training.  Why?  Simple really.  They are not prepared in terms of exercise programs.

Look for good home exercise programs for you to do.  Gyms could set you up with exercise programs, but if you’re exercising at home, exercise programs won’t be available to you as easy as if you’re a gym member.

Another thing about boredom is about seeing results.  When people train for about a month or so and didn’t feel or see results coming from their regular exercise, they’ll surely stop training.  Remember that results will come not only from exercises, but also needs to be supported by your diet and nutrition intake.  If you burn 500 calories and then after the exercise you eat 700 calories, don’t be surprised if you don’t see results…

Home Gym Equipment

Need To Maintain A Beautiful Body? Build Your Own Home Fitness Gym

By:  Cipta Jaya

home gym

Today, more and more people are becoming conscious of their figure. But because their so busy running their lives and their businesses, they don’t have the time for workouts. Although local gym membership is very accessible and provides all the needed equipments for workouts, still conflicts arise. It can include adjusting to the gym’s opening times, stress of traveling from your home to the gym, and pressure on the weather condition.

In case you are facing this difficulty, consider building your own home gym to achieve your fitness goals and keep you in shape. There are various ranges of exercise equipments you can utilize at home. Time and weather condition is not a problem anymore. You can do your exercises within your own set schedule. But the question is what equipments you are going to buy.

If you are starting out your venture, or becoming active again after a long break, it is advisable not to pursue your home gym. Instead you must enroll at a local gym within a short period of time. It can help you check out a number of fitness equipments available in the market today. You can ask your fitness instructor about its advantages and disadvantages and how these equipments can meet your fitness needs. Thus, you can list down the equipments that you will purchase for your home gym.

If weight training is your main focus, then the first step is to purchase a set of weights. You can buy free weights which are less expensive. The prices can be as low as 50 dollars or lower. But you need a combination of weights weighing 4.5 kg (10lb) and 9kg (20lb) which is a hand-held dumbbell with a bar. The end of this bar is replaceable with other weights for more flexibility. There are different types of bars. But it is up to you to choose whether you are going to use the plastic or metal weights. Metal weights are the traditional weights used even before but plastic weights are more modern and often are sand-filled weights.

You can consider weight machines if you want to workout specific groups of muscles including the biceps, deltoids, and quadriceps in a safer way. More over, free weights cannot provide good workouts for hamstrings and calves muscle groups. However, you need to pay the price of a weight machine. Costs and configurations may widely vary from a simple resistance machine, to an adjustable, multi-stationed weight stack. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars.

A stair stepper is another popular alternative. A simple stair stepper model can offer you a better cardiovascular workout and low impacts on your joints when exercising to build your calves and thighs. This machine is also a space saver and can cost from 80 to 150 dollars. A more complex stair stepper has adjustable speed, resistance level, speed, pedal distances and more. It also includes an HRM (heart rate monitor) as well as digital readouts for distance climbed, calories burnt, and speed. It can cost 1,700 to 2,000 dollars. Treadmills are good workouts machines too for your home gym. The prices depend on the types, models, brand, and features.

Building your home gym can cost you money. However, it is worth investing for to meet your fitness needs.