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As temperatures begin to drop around the country and COVID-19 cases are on the rise once again, your return to the gym might be short-lived. Continuing to focus on increasing your physical health and boosting your immune system remains more important than ever before, which is why you should start to think about building a home gym of your own. However, a common mistake many homeowners make when they decide to designate a space for a gym is to only fill it with strength equipment like weight benches, squat racks, and dumbbells. You also need to save yourself some room for cardio equipment in your home gym if you want to get in the best shape possible. Here are the different pieces of cardio equipment you need in your home gym that you can get at Precor Home Fitness.
The first piece of cardio equipment you’ll need is an obvious one: a treadmill. When people first think of cardio, running is the first activity that comes to their minds, and no machine is better for it than a treadmill. While you could run outside, a treadmill is easier on your joints than asphalt. It can also be tough to trust the weather conditions when you run outside, but with a treadmill, you can run or walk whenever you want in the comfort of your own home.
One reason people stay away from treadmills is that they feel you don’t get as effective of a workout without the inclines or declines of the road, but this is far from the truth. Treadmills also come with a variety of settings that let you customize your workout and adjust the incline of the machine to simulate different terrains you can encounter.
What’s great about cardio is that you aren’t limited to running if you want to find ways to get your heart rate up. An elliptical machine is another option available from Precor Home Fitness that you can try. Like treadmills, ellipticals are kind to your knees compared to running on asphalt, but the machine offers some other advantages, too.
Elliptical trainers for home come with a wide variety of features, such as heart rate monitoring, time tracking, and more, located on the backlit displays. In terms of the workout an elliptical can give you, there’s a lot to like. Not only is an elliptical a great way to fit cardio into your routine, but it also targets body fat, works your upper and lower body, burn lots of calories, allow you to exercise after an injury, and improves your balance.
Next up, we have a climber or, as some people call it, a stair stepper. What some people may not realize is that going up and down the stairs in your home can be a good workout, but a climber can take that to the next level—and also makes it much safer.
A climber in your home gym allows you to get a high interval intensity workout because you can watch your heart rate as you continue to use the machine. While climbers primarily work out your legs, they can still give you a full-body workout in the process. Climbers also come complete with rails on the sides that you can hold onto and typically have an adjustable safety belt to prevent a serious fall. Reach new heights and give yourself more variety in your home gym by getting a climber.
Like running outside, it can be difficult to go for bike rides when the weather doesn’t cooperate, which may happen more or less frequently, depending on where you live. But during those rainy or snowy days, an exercise bike machine can keep you on track.
At Precor Home Fitness, our selection of exercise bikes range from upright to recumbent styles to suit whatever level of fitness you currently have. Exercise bikes also typically come with displays that allow you to track your progress as you burn calories, increase your heart rate, and experience the joy of riding your bike in a controlled environment.
The next piece of equipment that you should think about adding to your home gym is a rower. You may be unfamiliar with the various health benefits that come from a rower since you might not have ever used one before. Rowing can be an incredible cardio exercise that challenges every muscle group in your body.
A rowing machine workout is also full of intensity, but with its adjustable levels of resistance, it doesn’t put a lot of impact stress on your joints. A rower is also incredibly easy to use—you simply need to get accustomed to the rhythm of the machine and continue to push through.
Precor Home Fitness also has a selection of lateral trainers that you might benefit from in your home gym. Lateral trainers are similar to climbers and ellipticals, but they serve their own purpose with a slightly different movement. As the name suggests, a lateral trainer will move your lower body laterally, and by doing this, you not only get a good cardio workout in, but you also strengthen your glutes, thighs, and core.
Since climbers can be an unsafe option for those with joint issues, a lateral trainer might be a better option for you. You can also go with a recumbent lateral trainer that gives you the ability to put your lower body to work without running the risk of falling.
You might gravitate toward strength training in the gym, but you should also not neglect your cardiovascular health. When you include cardio workouts in your routine, you can lower your risk for heart disease, regulate blood sugar, decrease asthma symptoms, get better sleep, and so much more. It’s also important to realize that you can go beyond running or walking to get your cardio in. What’s great about the different cardio equipment you need in your home gym is that it is also a safe option that can guide you through the movements with visual cues and push you in ways you never thought possible.
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