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How to Use a Treadmill

Treadmills are the motorized equivalent of walking or running in place. You simply keep up with a belt that’s moving under your feet. Treadmill workouts burn about the same number of calories as walking [more…]

How to Use an Elliptical Trainer

With elliptical trainers, your feet follow a path that’s sort of a stretched-out oval known as an ellipse (hence, the name elliptical trainer). The motion feels like a mix between fast walking, stair-climbing [more…]

How to Use a Stationary Bike

Stationary bicycles come in two varieties: upright and recumbent. Upright bikes simulate a regular bike, only you don’t go anywhere. Recumbent bikes have bucket seats so you pedal out in front of you. [more…]

How to Use a Stair Climber

The most common type of stair climber is the pedal stepper, which many exercisers refer to as the StairMaster. In fact, StairMaster is a specific brand — just one of many excellent makes of stair climbers [more…]

How to Use a Rolling Stair Climber

A rolling stair climber looks like a section of a department-store escalator. A set of stairs rotates in a circle so that you climb continuously, ever upward, but never getting anywhere. You look straight [more…]

How to Use a Rowing Machine

Anyone looking for a great total-body workout will love rowing. Rowing machines (also called rowers) consist of a flywheel, a fan, and a cable with a handle attached to one end. You pull the handle toward [more…]

Tips for Using Weight Machines

Weight machines may seem complicated at first, but they are easy to use and help you to safely and quickly advance through a strength-training workout. The weight machines designed for home use — called [more…]

How to Plan a Home Gym

If you want to get fit at home, be sure to cover all the bases when planning your home gym: aerobic fitness, strength, and flexibility. Before you even set foot in a fitness store, size up your goals, [more…]

How to Buy a Treadmill

A treadmill is a popular choice for a cardiovascular machine in a home gym if you enjoy fitness walking and jogging (or running). Treadmill prices have dropped considerably in the past few years, while [more…]

How to Buy an Elliptical Trainer

Part stair-climber, part treadmill, part stationary cycle, elliptical trainers are the hottest trend in cardio machines. Your legs travel in an elongated circular movement, and, on some models, you pump [more…]

How to Buy a Stair-Climber

Stair-climbers, also called steppers, have two foot plates you pump up and down to mimic the action of climbing stairs. Steppers usually have front or side rails that you hold onto for balance. Their consoles [more…]

How to Buy a Stationary Bike

Before you buy a stationary bike for your home gym, test-drive both upright bikes (the traditional kind, which resemble regular bicycles) and recumbent bikes. [more…]

How to Buy a Rowing Machine

A rowing machine (or rower) provides an effective cardiovascular workout that increases stamina, upper body endurance, strength, and flexibility. The latest rowers have a chain or cable that wraps around [more…]

How to Buy Multi-Gym Weight Machines

Multi-gyms are those contraptions that look like a bunch of health-club weight machines welded to each other. Many people prefer multi-gyms to free weights or bands because they’re safe and easy to use [more…]

How to Buy Flexibility Gadgets

Flexibility gadgets that you can purchase for your home gym include a plastic exercise ball, a stretching mat, and stretching strap or rope. Most people get by just fine with fundamental stretching exercises [more…]

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