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 As many of us are looking more closely at our monthly expenses these days, the regular payments for gym memberships can be considered a luxury. If you do choose to not join a fitness club or maintain your current membership, this is no excuse to take your focus off your health goals. You can get an excellent resistance-training workout at home, with or without expensive gym equipment.
I guarantee everyone has at least one piece of resistance equipment already – YOU! Your own body weight provides excellent resistance. Think of a push-up; many top trainers regard this as a near-perfect exercise. Take a look around – what other things are already in your house, like stairs, a chair, or water jugs? Be creative. I often train clients at their homes, and some of them do have beautifully equipped home gyms, but I also train people with nothing but the little bag of tricks I bring with me – a stability ball and a set of resistance bands.
Guess what? The fancy equipment doesn’t make the difference – it is the energy, form, and focus you put into it. There are tons of options if you want to create an at-home gym, and if you have the money, I say go for it. I see many benefits of training at home:
- Nobody cares what you look like (you can work out in your pj’s).
- No wasted time driving to and from the gym.
- No waiting in line to use sweaty equipment.
- No excuses that the gym is closed – if you’re up at 3 a.m., you can do it then.
But before you go out and spend a lot of money on fancy gym equipment, you may want to start slow and make sure you really need it (I would hate for you to use that Bowflex as a clothes hanger!). For less than $50, you can get two of my favorite training tools: a resistance band and a stability ball. That’s less than a month’s membership at many health clubs. Most of the resistance band sets and stability balls even come with workout posters, and some include an instructional DVD.
Why Resistance Bands?
Bands are great because they are cheap, compact, portable and versatile. Because resistance bands are so compact and lightweight, you can easily take them along when you travel or if you want to sneak in a mini “at workout”. Resistance bands generally come in three or four different levels of resistance and cost about $15 per band. - Yellow (thin)
- Red (medium)
- Green (heavy)
- Blue (extra heavy)
Excerpt from "Dump Your Trainer" by Ashley Marriott and Marc L. Paulsen MD
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Ashley Marriott has been a professional in the field of fitness for more than 14 years. She is the creator of Burn ‘N Firm, a popular DVD full body cardio dance workout series. She is dedicated to using her experience and energy to educate and encourage people to reach their fitness goals. Her dedication to empower others through fitness led her to write the book, Dump Your Trainer.
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