Winston Salem Gyms:Winston Salem Gyms:build your own home gym
July 2nd, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
Fitness doesn’t have to be expensive. Most people think of home gyms as elaborate affairs made of heavy metal frames or sleek high impact plastic ones, with weights, pulleys, and other gadgets sticking out of them.
While these home gym systems are effective, you don’t necessarily need them to stay in shape. You can actually build your own gym equipment, using simple exercise gear that will allow you to work out without placing a large dent in your wallet.
The first and simplest piece of equipment you can use is a clean soft floor mat. Make sure it’s wide enough to accommodate your body lying on the floor full length, and thick enough to cushion your body from the hard wood or concrete of the floor. Don’t make it too thick or soft, as this will throw your balance off when it “yields” under your body weight.
Rubber mats work best for this purpose. This mat can be used for sit-ups and crunches, as well as simple calisthenics like jumping jacks and running in place. Free standing squats on the mat held build up leg strength considerably, too. Even before you start building your own gym equipment, using a simple mat that you can pick up at any department store can already go a long way.
Another exercise tool you can make when building your own gym equipment is push up bars. These are simple and easy. Find a pair of U shaped metal bars, with the bottom of the U fitting your hand’s grips comfortably. The ends of the U are then fastened to either wooden blocks or metal sheets (your choice) that will let you place them on the floor. You can wrap the “grip” portion of the bars in foam or heavy tape to make your grip better.
Studies have shown that push ups done when the hands are in a straight fist position are better for the wrists than placing your palms on the floor. These simple handle-bars allow you to do push ups correctly, and from any of the various positions that push ups are done from to hit various pectoral muscle groups.
Another piece of gym equipment that’s easy to build is a chin up bar. I highly discourage the classic approach some people take of mounting these on a door frame, as this can lead to accidents when people walk in on you. Instead, get a long comfortable bar and mount it one and a half to two feet from a wall. Use mounting and support brackets to ensure that it can take your weight. Set the bar’s height at just high enough for you to reach on tiptoes. This height is ideal because you can get enough ground clearance by simply flexing your legs slightly when you do chin ups.
The reason the bar should be set so far from the wall is so you can do pull ups both facing towards and away from the wall. Also, if you want to, make the bar long enough so that you can use a “wide” grip, with your hands positioned past your shoulder’s width. This allows you to target your lats when you work out.
Another variation of the above gym equipment you can build is a device used for tricep extensions and rowing exercises. This is a simple metal bar set horizintally at a certain height. To determine the height of the bar when building this piece of gym equipment, lie down on the floor and extend your arms straight up. This is the height the bar should be at. Set support bracket legs at the ends of the bar so it retains it’s height. Make two sets of these bars, one for your arms to grip, the other is a place where you put your feet on.
Two exercises can be done with this set. One, you can lie on the floor underneath it and “row”, pulling yourself up in a reverse push-up. For the other, you place your feet on the other set of bars, and position the “arm” bar right behind you. The position looks akin to sitting on the edge of a chair with your feet up on a table, and your hands directly behind you gripping the bar. You basically raise and lower your body using your arms. This works out your triceps and gives them a great deal of defenition.
The above ideas are just a few examples of how with a little imagination and work, you can build your own gym equipment easily. It helps if you actually have prior experience in a real gym working with free weights and other exercise machines, as you will know which exercises target certain muscle groups.
However, if you want to build your own gym equipment and have no prior experience in working out, I highly recommend going to a real gym and getting some exposure first before you get too creative, as any mistakes when building your own gym equipment may actually lead to personal injury
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=418007
Tags: Gym, Own Home Gym, winston salem gyms
How to Be Motivated to Use Your Own Home Gym
March 17th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
Having your own home gym and spending your hard-earned money for it is unfortunately not a guarantee that you’ll be using it faithfully everyday. If you want your home gym to help you achieve your fitness goals, you need to have the right motivators working for you. Here are a few to get you started and help you on your way to physical fitness.
Design it the way you want it.
There were sure to be a few things that you didn’t like in your old gym but had no power to change, weren’t they? But now you have the chance to do things your way! This is your very own home gym after all so whatever you say goes. This is the time to make all the necessary changes to ensure that your home gym is the best place you want to exercise at!
Invite your friends over.
Unless you’ve built an extremely small and literally one-man home gym, surely what you have now can accommodate a few of your friends? There’s nothing more enjoyable than exercising with your friends. Misery loves company, after all, and you definitely won’t mind sweating blood and tears at the treadmill if you see your best friend experiencing the same thing over the weightlifting area of your home gym. After that, celebrate with a delicious but health-friendly meal and you just might have given birth to a new routine for you and your friends.
Read a new book.
You definitely won’t mind working your guts out in your own home gym if you’re reading a new book. Since every page commands your attention, you probably won’t notice how long you’ve been exercising. If you can’t buy a new book for your home gym session, drop by the library and buy a new one.
Watch a new movie.
Head over to the video rental store and borrow any old movie you haven’t seen yet but you’ve always been interested in. Just like a new book, a new movie can make you temporarily forget the physical torture you’re enduring and focus instead on the story unfolding in the screen.
Monitor your progress.
Hang a calendar on the wall then cross out every box corresponding to the dates you’ve exercised. Seeing all those crossed out boxes are guaranteed to make you feel extremely proud of your achievement and at the same time motivate you to keep up the good work.
Regularly check your weight as well because nothing, and yes nothing, can make you feel better than seeing for yourself that your weight’s slowly decreasing.
Pat yourself on the back.
In other words, don’t forget to give yourself a reward for a job well done. If you’ve just attained a considerable feat then don’t hesitate to treat yourself because this can only encourage you to work out even longer and harder in your home gym. Don’t cheat though! If you do, the rewards would soon lose its meaning and significance and you’ll be forced to go back to square one.
Consequently, it’s important that the other end of the coin is considered as well. If you’ve reneged on your word, punish yourself accordingly. For every day of exercise missed, you should compensate it with twice as much exercise on the next day.
Have a role model.
Choose someone you’d like to be or look like with the help of regular exercise at your home gym. If you’ve chosen one already, have a life-size photo of your role model made then post it in your home gym. Every time you’re feeling lazy, just look at that photo and remind yourself that you need to exercise if you want to look like him or her.
Get things right.
Last but not the least, make sure your home gym has all the necessary equipment to give you a fun and complete workout. You must have exercise equipment that can help build your stamina, flexibility, and strength. Make sure they’re also easy and comfortable to use.
Your home gym must also be regularly cleaned because no one would be inclined to work out if they have to do so in a pig sty – or something close to it.
But ultimately, the motivation will still come from you. If you’re truly serious about your intentions then you’ll just a reminding nudge once or twice to get you back on track.
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=831727
Tags: Fitness, Gym, Home Gym, Own Home Gym