Picking Your Home Gym Equipment
By Tom Richard

Editor's Summary: If you are thinking of creating a space in your home specifically for use as a gym and need some advice on how to tackle the project, you'll find this article helpful. Two options - buy all of your workout equipment at once, or equip your gym at home one machine at a time are discussed. And help for selecting the best equipment for your needs is provided.

When you are picking out the equipment that you are going to use to build your new home gym there are several things that you will want to consider.

First, you will want to decide how you are you going to build your home gym. You can either buy everything at once and start off fully equipped right out of the gate, or you can buy the most important piece and slowly build as you go along.

There are arguments to be made for both methods of equipping your home for your new exercise regimen. If you buy everything at once, you may find that you are less likely to get bored and will find yourself using the equipment more frequently because the variety keeps you interested. However, it can also be fun and rewarding to buy a new piece every six months until you have everything that you need.

As you consider which option may be best for your unique situation, it is important to point out that your first 30 days working out at home are the most important. If you stick with your new exercise plan for 30 days consistently, you are likely to make it a part of your everyday life and will end up sticking with the plan long term. Therefore if you only buy one piece to start off, and you get bored, then you may never get around to buying the other pieces. Whereas if you buy everything at once you may find it more exciting and more interesting and may make it through those first 30 days.

The main deciding factor should be your budget. If you can afford to put in multiple pieces all at once, by all means do so. However, if you are on a tight budget you should choose that first piece carefully and actively save for additional purchases in the future.

It can be quite rewarding to anticipate a future addition to your home gym, and it certainly will give a burst of energy to your workouts when you finally get that additional piece.

When deciding which method is best for you, it is important to consider your first 30 days of working out. If you feel that you might fizzle out and become disinterested, then you should make the investment and buy multiple pieces at once. If you feel that you are disciplined enough to stay consistently involved with only one piece, than you should feel comfortable buying only the single piece to begin with.

Buying a home gym is both a commitment and an investment. It is often tempting to want to start out with only one piece to ‘see if you will stick with it.’ I caution you on this mode of thinking because many times people do not buy enough equipment to hold their interest and meet their needs. When they give up on their fitness regimen, then they say ‘I told you I would not stick with it.’

If they would have spent the money on the equipment that would hold their interest and meet their needs, then they would have made it passed those first 30 days and would have incorporated exercise into their daily lives.

Make sure your equipment purchasing strategy is one that is well thought out and takes into consideration all of the necessary factors. After all, the reason you are buying fitness equipment in the first place is to reach your goal. The pieces of equipment are merely the tools that you need to reach them.

Finding The One Piece That Is Right For You

If you are starting out with one piece, then you must chose that piece carefully. Forget all of the research about which piece will get you the best results. Most research only considers biomechanics and other technical information. What you need to figure out is which piece you are likely to use most often.

Even if you buy the best treadmill on the market, if you do not get on it, then it did not do you any good. It would be a better investment to spend $1,000 on a bike, than $6,000 on a treadmill if you are more inclined to use the bike. It is that simple.

With that being said you need to figure out which piece you feel most comfortable using. You will want to pick something that you feel is natural and something that you can see yourself enjoying. You will often find that you will have a gut instinct about which piece is going to be the one that you will enjoy the most. Trust this instinct, it will not let you down.

If you are buying one piece of equipment for multiple people to share, then this process can become slightly more complicated. It is important to not worry so much about the people who will only be using the equipment occasionally. You do not want to invest thousands of dollars on something that you personally will not enjoy, regardless of who else will be using the equipment.

The biggest caution when trying to decide on a single piece of equipment for multiple users is having the decision put on hold while you contemplate what is the best investment. All too often couples will talk for months about what piece of equipment to buy. This delay keeps both of you from working out at all. It is better to take an educated guess, or come up with some sort of compromise that allows you both to start working out as soon as possible.

You do not need to start big, but you do need to start!

Tom Richard is the owner of Tom Richard Marketing and specializes in helping the fitness industry better serve their customers. For more tips on purchasing equipment or for Tom's list of trustworthy companies out there please visit http://www.tomrichard.com for contact information.