Benefits of Stretching Exercises

Stretch Trainer Machine

Most of us are aware of the importance of performing stretching exercises before and after training/workout sessions to warm-up and cool-down to help prevent the risk of injury from intensive exercise.

But there’s so much more to stretching exercises and many people could benefit from adding some simple stretching exercises into their daily routine to help with a wide range of conditions such as improving overall body flexibility and range of motion, relieving muscle stiffness, strengthening the lower back, improving blood circulation and much more.

Let’s take a look in more detail at how regular stretching exercises performed correctly could have a positive impact on your overall health and fitness:

Exercise Health Benefits

Besides helping to keep our bodies trim, regular exercise can help to improve our overall health and general well-being, including reducing our risk of developing a range of diseases and lifting our moods.

Keeping active doesn’t have to be hard work.  If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like going to the gym, don’t despair, there are plenty of other ways to introduce exercise into your daily life that won’t hurt!  Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or getting off the bus a stop earlier than you need to and walk the rest of the way.  Little activities done regularly all add up!

Exercise can be fun!  Why not try working out or going for a walk or cycle ride with friends or family to make it more enjoyable.  There’s nothing like the exhilarating feel of the fresh air outdoors but for those days when the weather’s not so good, consider investing in an indoor exercise bike or other piece of home gym equipment so you can continue to reap the benefits of exercising in the comfort of your own home.

Low-impact exercises like walking, swimming or cycling all bring great health and fitness benefits but with less impact on your joints.  Even everyday activities like housework or gardening count towards your fitness goals.  Try to aim for at least 2x or 3x 20-30 minutes of activities weekly to maintain your exercise health benefits.

Let’s take a look in more detail at how regular exercise can benefit your health:

Calories Burned Exercising

The amount of calories you could burn exercising is dependent on a number of factors such as the type of exercise performed, the intensity at which the exercise is performed and the amount of time spent performing the exercise.

Because of the difference in physiology, men naturally tend to burn more calories than women and in addition your age and weight can affect the overall amount of calories you could burn exercising.

Actual calories burned exercising can vary from person to person and the tables below are a guide to approximate calories a person could burn exercising  based on a woman weighing around 152 lbs and a man weighing around 185 lbs.

Remember to try to combine healthy eating with a sensible exercise regime to control your weight and keep your body toned.  Other benefits of exercising include reducing your risk of developing a range of diseases like heart-disease or diabetes and also helps to improve your overall mental well-being, boosting your mood and reducing stress levels.

The tables below indicate how many calories you could burn based on the type of exercise and amount of time spent exercising.  The tables are grouped into different types of exercises:  gym machines, indoor sports, outdoor sports, and everyday activities like walking, housework and gardening.  You’ll be surprised at how many calories you could burn performing simple exercises or activities on a regular basis.

Treadmill Buying Tips

Treadmills offer a great way to get fit in the comfort of your own home, but with so many different models on the market today, how do you decide which is the best treadmill for you?

In this article, we’re going to look at the different factors you need to consider before buying a treadmill to make sure you get the best one for your needs and your budget!

It’s easy to be fooled by manufacturer’s jargon and blinded by “features” but build-quality should not be overlooked when it comes to treadmills.  The most important things to consider when buying a treadmill include the motor power, size of the running deck, thickness of the belt and cushioning, speed and incline range, and user weight capacity.

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We’re going to look at each of these important factors in detail to help you decide what’s important for your exercise needs, whether you’re looking to walk, jog or run.  We’ll also look at other features that add to your overall experience on a treadmill workout.

Elliptical Trainer Buying Tips

Elliptical trainers, or cross trainers as they are also referred to, are a great way to get fit in the comfort of your own home, giving you a total body workout that’s low-impact meaning that it’s kinder to your joints than many other types of exercise.

Proving ever more popular, manufacturers are now producing a wide range of elliptical trainers for the home gym market with varying features, build-quality and prices!

In this article we’re going to look at the different factors you need to consider when purchasing an elliptical trainer and offer tips on what to look for so that you get the best elliptical machine for your needs without spending more than you need to!

Price Range / Usage Guide

As a general guide, elliptical trainers tend to fall into the following price ranges:

PRICE RANGE	USAGE GUIDE
$0 - $399	Lower end model for light use
$400 - $699	Light to moderate use
$700 - $999	Moderate to average use
$1000 - $1499	Average use
$1500 - $1999	Average to higher use
$2000 - $2499	Higher use
$2500 – $2999	Intensive use
$3000+	Commercial use

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Exercise Bike Buying Tips

There are several different types of exercise bikes to choose from including upright, recumbent, air/fan, spin or indoor cycle bikes.  Which bike you choose will depend on what you’re looking to get out of your exercise regime, how serious you are about exercising, what features you’re looking for and how much you’re willing to spend.

Upright exercise bikes are the most common type of exercise bike that most people are familiar with.  Recumbent exercise bikes offer a more laid back feel with a larger seat and backrest for support and sit lower to the ground so are easier to mount and dismount.  Air or fan exercise bikes have the addition of moving handlebars to work the upper body and utilize air resistance which works on the premise that the faster or harder you pedal the more intense the resistance will become.   Spin or indoor cycle bikes are designed like a road racing bike for more serious athletes.

See my article “Different Types of Exercise Bikes Explained” for more in-depth detail on all the above mentioned types of exercise bikes.

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Once you have decided on what type of exercise bike you want, there are several other factors you need to take into consideration, including the following:

Different Types of Indoor Exercise Bikes Explained

There are several different types of indoor exercise bikes to choose from, each geared towards a different type of athlete, so knowing a little bit about each type of bike will help you to decide on which is the best bike to choose for your own individual exercise needs.

The main different types of exercise bikes are as follows:

• Upright Exercise Bikes
• Recumbent Exercise Bikes
• Air or Fan Exercise Bikes
• Spin or Indoor Cycle Bikes
• 2-in-1 Exercise Machines

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Let's take a look at each of the above exercise bikes in detail so you understand the differences between them:

Benefits of Rowing Machines Explained

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Working out on a rowing machine utilizes all the major muscle groups of the body for a total body-workout in a low-impact way which is less jarring and easier on your joints compared to many other types of exercise.

Rowing effectively engages all the major muscle groups including the back, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, buttocks and abdomen.  As far as your back-health is concerned, rowing is one of the best low-impact exercises you can do to improve and strengthen your back muscles.

Rowing is very effective at burning calories to help you reduce body fat and lose weight.  Depending on the intensity of your rowing activity, men could burn around 196 calories for just a 20 minute workout on a rowing machine while women could burn around 161 calories for the same amount of time.

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Besides strengthening and toning the body, exercising on a rowing machine is also one of the best all-round work-outs you can do to help improve your cardiovascular health.  Improving your cardio health by exercising could help to reduce your risk of developing a range of diseases such as heart disease or diabetes.

Benefits of Strength Training Explained

Dumbbells

Strength training can include exercises like weight lifting and working out with resistance bands to tone the body and strengthen muscles.

One of the biggest advantages of weight-lifting is that it continues to burn fat even after you’ve finished exercising, making it the most effective form of exercise in burning calories.

With weight-training the fat you lose is almost all pure fat whereas with other types of exercise you lose both fat and muscle (around 25% of the weight you lose comes from muscle with other types of exercise).

It’s interesting that the more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn as the muscles contract more frequently.  Therefore the more you increase your body’s strength with muscle-training, the more lean muscle mass you will develop and the more your body will deal with calories more efficiently.

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Strength training is suitable for both men and women and offers a whole wealth of health benefits including helping to:

Low-Impact Exercise and its Health Benefits Explained

Definition of Low-Impact Exercise

Low-impact exercise is defined as any form of gentle activity/exercise that does not put your joints under stress, helping to avoid impact-type injuries like sprains or tears to joints/cartilages that are typically associated with higher-impact activities.


Examples of Low-Impact Exercises

Types of low-impact exercises or activities include walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, pilates, and playing bowls.  Even activities such as light housework or gardening are examples of low-impact activities which help to keep you fit and burn calories in a natural way.

As far as exercise machines for your home gym are concerned, exercise bikes, elliptical trainers and rowing machines all offer a very effective way of working out in a low impact way.  With these examples, the machine supports your body weight and there is no impact to your joints as there would be with a treadmill for instance.

About Home Gym Zone

Welcome to my Home Gym Zone blog.  I hope you find my reviews on home gym exercise machines and equipment helpful and interesting.

I aim to cover a wide range of both new and older home gym equipment including treadmills, elliptical trainers / cross trainers, exercise bikes, rowing machines, home gyms / strength training and more.

I aim to include information about features, differences between similar machines and other useful advice to help you decide on which is the best gym equipment for your needs and your budget!

Working out in the comfort of your own home is convenient, saves money on gym fees, and will help you reach your fitness goals.  Here are some useful fitness tips on how many calories you could burn with a sample of different types of exercise machines (based on working out for 30 minutes):


Fitness tips - how many calories* you could burn working out for 30 minutes on the following exercise machines:

	MEN	WOMEN
	APPROX. CALORIES BURNED FOR 30 MINUTES EXERCISE
TREADMILL	566	465
ELLIPTICAL	378	310
BIKE	Between 252 - 420	Between 207 - 345

*Dependent on intensity of workout

As you would expect, different types of exercise burns different amount of calories and also the intensity of the exercise will affect exactly how many calories you burn.