5/22/2012

What Home Fitness Equipment Do You Need to Start the Workout?


Many physical exercises are that the workouts can be effectively accomplished at home with a minimum amount of home fitness equipment and facility, all of it inexpensive. Let’s discuss what kinds of home fitness equipment you need to start the workout in the following paragraphs.

1) Comfortable Workout Clothing
Workout clothing is most comfortable when it moves with you without constraint. You might choose clothing with a relaxed fit or, conversely, a form-fitting outfit that stretches when you move, such as fabric containing Lycra and spandex. Clothing that binds at the waist, hips, knees, or any where else will limit your range of motion. Also, you are encouraged to wear garments that inspire grace—performing the workout in your underwear or sleep-wear may not be the best choice!

2) Athletic Footwear
The Podiatry Network (podiatrynetwork.com) suggests the following guidelines when selecting an athletic shoe on the basis of the type of feet.
Choose a comfortable athletic shoe, such as a cross-training shoe, that provides arch support and makes you feel that you're standing on a solid foundation.
All shoes are constructed over a form called a last. The shape of the last can follow more or less of a straight line. Choose a last that follows the shape of your foot.
Consider athletic shoes that arc relatively rigid in the heel portion as heel stability is of prime importance.
Twist the shoe with both hands to be sure that it is fairly flexible, or "twisty" in the forefoot area. If the forefront portion of the shoe remains too rigid, your big toe will be unable to Ilex as the heel comes off the ground during walking and running. Adequate movement of the big toe joint is important for normal foot function.
Your feet and the shoes you wear can have a major effect on your body mechanics. Place the shoe on a firm, flat surface and check to be sure that the back of the heel is relatively perpendicular to the surface. An angle in one direction or another could indicate a defect in the shoe.
Put your hand inside the shoe and check for prominent seams or other irregularities that have the potential to cause irritation.

Wearing the same shoes every day will magnify a small problem. Rotating a couple pairs of shoes at a time can be helpful in prolonging the comfort of your feet and the life of your shoes.

Please note that you should explore nonsurgical options before considering corrective foot surgery, and your own physician will help you make that decision. In many cases, a properly designed intervention, such as an orthotic device, can eliminate pain and improve mobility without surgery and continue to regularly use orthotics in my shoes to improve my body mechanics. You may need a prescription for custom-made orthotics, or you may find that a less-expensive store-bought model works just fine.

3) Towel or Exercise Mat
A well-cushioned exercise mat is preferable so that you don't feel the floor during floor exercises. It is never a good idea to exercise on a hard surface without cushioning. You will create an unnecessary obstacle that prevents you from doing your best.

4) Dumbbells
Your strength and vitality will fluctuate from day to day. Therefore, having dumbbells available in varied weight increments allows you to customize dumbbell workouts. The physical exercises using relatively light weights with multiple repetitions to create muscle tone rather than bulk. Begin with sets of three-, five-, and eight-pound weights. If you have never exercised with resistance, you may want to begin without dumbbells, so that you may focus on practicing correct form. Keep your equipment in a conveniently accessible spot, perhaps an attractive basket in your living room.

Begin each dumbbell workouts with weights that provide a challenge while allowing you to maintain correct form. You can always switch to a lighter set if the fatigue compromises correct form. As you become stronger, you have the option to increase the resistance by combining weights. You can crisscross the dumbbells in your hand, but resist the urge to weave your fingers through the weights.

You can purchase dumbbells at sporting goods stores or at most discount-type stores. The physical trainers advise against improvising with water bottles, food cans, and the like, as they arc not ergonomically suited to the movements, and they will cause you to compromise your form and perhaps stress your joints through dumbbell workouts.

5) Small Rubber Ball
A small rubber ball is a useful tool to promote proper body alignment and add intensity to particular exercises. Please note it is not referring to a weighted ball (medicine ball) but rather a playground-type ball (seven to nine incites in diameter) that is available at most local sundry or discount stores.

6) Leg Weights
Leg weights are an option to add intensity to lower-body exercises. The physical trainers recommend that you purchase leg weights with a strap long enough for placement above the knee as well as at the ankle. Choose leg weights that arc variable, which means that you can add resistance as your endurance increases.

7) Water and All Sport Drink
The weight loss was due to decreased fluid rather than decreased body fat. Exercising in a hot, humid environment will make you naturally sweat more with greater losses of water and electrolytes. It is important to replace fluids as they are lost to prevent dehydration. Actually water makes up about 60 percent of your body's weight and is critical to carrying out the normal functions of every system in your body. Dehydration, or lack of water, indicates an insufficient amount of fluid in the body to transport nutrition and oxygen to the tissues.

It is clearly important to drink the right amount of the right fluids for peak performance and safety during exercise—before and after also count. The physical trainers suggest that it is preferable to drink plain water or fluids without sugar, caffeine, or alcohol, and drinking fluids cooler than air temperature encourages faster absorption, and if you arc not drinking pure water, you need to read labels. So-called energy drinks or all sport drink arc high in sugar and caffeine with the addition of exotic herbal ingredients such as guarana, taurine, ginseng, and ginkgo. Sports drinks fill a different niche in that they are formulated to replenish electrolytes and other nutrients lost during exercise lasting longer titan ninety minutes. Have plenty of water or all sport drink on hand before, during, and after each workout. Remember, once you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated, so the trick is to stay hydrated from within and drink water and all sport drink before you are thirsty. Eight cups of drinks daily is a general guideline.
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