Investing in home gym equipment can seem like an excellent idea, especially if you are a busy person and do not have the time to hit the gym daily.
Building your home gym room by choosing only the best home gym equipment sounds exciting and fun, but before buying any device or machine, you should thoroughly analyze pros and cons that these machines have.
Here is a quick list of pros and cons of the most popular home gym machines.
Treadmill
Pros:
- It is easy to use and ensures safer workouts than other pieces of equipment or than running outdoor.
- Has preset programs to use from depending on your fitness goals, but at the same time, it allows you to customize the workout in order to meet a specific time, distance or number of calories that you want to burn.
- The speed, incline, length and intensity of the workout can be easily controlled from the conveniently placed control panel.
- The display shows all important data at any given moment, so you can concentrate on the workout and keep an eye on the burned calories or heart rate at the same time.
- Its frame and design allow that multiple users run or walk on the treadmill without having to adjust height, width or the machine’s structure.
- Users can watch TV or listen to music while exercising on the treadmill, so workouts can be fun and entertaining.
- It is ideal for HIIT sessions, burning more calories than most pieces of equipment for home gyms.
Cons:
- High quality treadmills are expensive.
- They take lots of space for storage, even if they fold up.
- Treadmills are quite noisy, regardless of the mechanism they use for absorbing shocks and noise, so they can interfere with your family’s or flat mates’ daily activities.
- Featuring computerized functions and programs, they can only be fixed by professionals and maintenance can be quite costly.
- Workouts can become boring after a while. It is good idea to simultaneously include some other activity, such as watching TV or listening to music.
- Running on the treadmill is only effective if it makes you sweat, so it requires a lot of effort and motivation.
- Stress exerted on the joints in hips, knees, ankles and spine can lead to injuries.
Exercise bike
Pros:
- The first and most important advantage is little space they need for storage, and they are small enough to be kept in any bedroom.
- In addition, bikes need little maintenance as they are powered by simple mechanisms. Cleaning the chain regularly and oiling the pedaling system are the only maintenance maneuvers that you need for proper functioning.
- Everyone can exercise on an exercise bike as cycling can be learned in only few seconds.
- Stress on joints, ligaments, tendons and bones is less significant than in treadmill workouts so the risk of injury is reduced.
- You can watch spinning or cycling training sessions while working out, to keep the rhythm and burn more calories.
- There are five different models of exercise bikes and two main categories – upright and recumbent, so you can choose the one that meets all your criteria – available space, budget and personal preferences.
Cons:
- Exercise bikes only focus on muscle groups in the lower body so even if they have mobile arms, benefits for the upper body are not significant.
- The seats are often uncomfortable and low back pain occurs often because of the position kept while working out.
- Exercise bikes burn fewer calories than elliptical trainers or treadmills.
Rowing machine
Pros:
- They provide a full-body workout as movements involve the core area, upper body, legs and buttocks at the same time.
- The exercises are simple to perform.
- Risk of injuries is reduced.
- Besides accelerating the heart rate and metabolism and burning calories, rowing workouts build muscles and tone the entire body.
Cons:
- Workouts can become boring soon as there are not too many variations in movements.
- The equipment is heavy and takes much space for storage.
- Some of them are very noisy.
Elliptical trainer
Pros:
- The elliptical trainer features a wide range of programs for burning calories, building stamina and toning muscles, so workouts are very entertaining.
- Exercising is very efficient in improving circulation, trimming down fats and improving resistance.
- Users can customize their workouts by selecting different speeds and resistance levels, by changing the incline and the rhythm of the workout.
- Low risk of injuries.
Cons:
- Elliptical trainers are more expensive than bikes, steppers or rowing machines.
- Need more space for storage and are heavy because of the incorporated electric motor, so moving them from one room to another is not an easy task.
- Need annual maintenance, therefore, are quite costly.
- Just like bikes and steppers, they focus on muscles in the legs, although they have features for working the upper body as well. Core muscles, hands, chest and shoulders do not get an effective workout while using the elliptical trainer.
- First movements need some effort for pushing the pedals forward so exercises can be tiring and difficult to perform for beginners.
While there are many other aspects to consider when buying home gym equipment, knowing these advantages and disadvantages can help you make the right decision and invest in the best home gym equipment for your needs. It is up to you now to decide if the drawbacks outweigh the pros or not.
