- How Many Times Have You Started Going to the Gym?
- Best Fitness Equipment for Beginners
- How to Use Fitness Equipment
Fitness equipment for beginners can be intimidating. Which machines to try and how they work can be big obstacles to overcome. Fitness equipment can be complicated and even dangerous if not used properly. With a little knowledge, you’ll be able to shop for the best fitness equipment for home and be able to use it safely and effectively.
How Many Times Have You Started Going to the Gym?
We’ve all been there. You psych yourself up to get healthy and get in shape. You pick up some great workout outfits and are amped to get started. The routine starts easily with the excitement of a new gym and learning to use the best fitness equipment. You fit your workouts into your busy schedule, and everything is going great. One day something happens to throw off your schedule – your car breaks down, you go on vacation, or everyone is suddenly working from home – and you skip the gym a few times which turns into a few months. The habit can be broken so easily. It is so hard to get that initial excitement back again and return to a previously maintained routine.
Make it easier on yourself and get the equipment needed for CrossFit gym at home. You’ll be able to squeeze in a workout whenever it is convenient for you without leaving your house. No more broken routines!
Best Fitness Equipment for Beginners
There is so much equipment for personal CrossFit available, where do you start? To help you out, we asked some of our favorite fitness experts to find out what they think is the best fitness equipment for home.
1) Keep it Simple and Accessible: Josh Hewett, body transformation specialist, says to start simply. “You can do a lot at home using only body weight exercises such as lunge or step up variations, pushups, and various core exercises.” He suggests adding simple fitness equipment like a resistance band set and an ab exercise ball to add some important movements into your routine. “The resistance bands are good for introducing rowing/pulling movements and the stability ball is great for supine hamstring curls and different core movements.” As your training progresses, Hewett recommends accessories like suspension straps, parallel dip bars and a door-mounted chin up bar.
2) Machines: The owner of Johnny O’s, South Florida’s best indoor and outdoor training facility, suggests multipurpose CrossFit equipment for cheap home solutions. Johnny Olsen says his number 1 recommendation is a Smith Machine, which allows you to do 50 different exercises with one piece of equipment. Olsen also says a treadmill is important. “I do not recommend running on any hard surfaces, so if you do not have a track or a proper field, then the treadmill is extremely important.”
3) Traditional Choices: Lou Schuler, editorial director of the Personal Trainer Development Center recommends beginners start with a good set of dumbells, a bench and TRX ropes which allow you to do a variety of movements.
Larry Vinette, professional athlete at IFBB Professional League and coach at Pro Gym, adds that a workout bench is a key piece of equipment for personal CrossFit.
4) Dumbbells all the way: Schuler, Olsen and Vinette all agree that an adjustable set of dumbbells is a great piece of fitness equipment for a beginner’s home gym. Olsen says that “dumbbells are extremely efficient to where you could use one set of dumbbells from 5 pounds all the way up to 60 pounds….50 exercises could be done with these and they could be used daily.”
All of these fitness gurus agree that you should customize your equipment for personal CrossFit to your own strength level and future goals.
How to Use Fitness Equipment
Now that you’ve got the equipment, what do you do with it? It can be intimidating working out at home.
1) Hydrate: The first step to a great workout is hydration. Make sure you are properly hydrated before, during and after your workout. You’ll feel how important it is to your performance, energy levels and recovery.
2) Workout Videos: There are thousands of instructional videos available online that explain every piece of equipment for fitness. Look for videos made by certified trainers and coaches.
3) Websites: Check out exercise articles like the ones you can read on Fit After 45 where top fitness experts are consulted to give you detailed instructions on a variety of ways to use your new fitness equipment.
4) Be sensible: Start at your fitness level and gradually increase intensity. Be patient with yourself. Above all, listen to your body. There’s a difference between the burn of a great workout and the pain of an injury.
Buying fitness equipment can be a daunting task. Make sure you start with equipment you’ll use often and will be able to adapt to your increasing strength. Check out CrossFit used fitness equipment from a place like Rogue Fitness Equipment that has a wide selection for every ability level.
