If cardio fitness is your primary goal then you have a massive range of different machines to choose from, all of which will integrate easily into the home environment. There are treadmills, exercise bikes, cross or elliptical trainers, rowing machines, stair climbers and more! It’s certainly worth investing in a cardio fitness machine as it’s easy to store at home and a great time saver over going to the gym.
Often you’ll find that a home gym is not complete without some kind of cardio workout bike or trainer. Even for those whose main aim is to build muscle, some kind of cardio machine is necessary to burn away the fat and create better body definition. What’s the use in building the muscle if it’s covered by a layer of fat?
Another alternative to cardio machines are things like aerobics and for this you’ll need to invest in good quality exercise mats especially if you’re doing yoga or Pilates. Exercise balls are also highly useful for working on the body’s inner core or simply to attack your workouts from a different angle. They are excellent aids in more traditional exercises too such as sit ups which, when performed on the ground, can cause stress to the back.
If you have an injury then these kinds of medicine balls are a godsend as they allow you to exercise while greatly reducing the stress on your body. A secondary advantage of them is with stretching and this area of their use is just starting to catch on among fitness enthusiasts.
When working on your cardio machines its vital to have some way to monitor your heart rate. Some cardio equipment will have this already built in but for the most accurate readings it’s best to get an external heart rate monitor. This will ensure that you don’t stray out of your fat burning zone and into a muscle burning zone which is a fundamental principal of working out on cardio exercise machines.
