Global Premises

So you know you want to buy some type of home exercise equipment - but why buy an exercise bike?

One of the top benefits of exercise bikes is that they are probably the most affordable piece of exercise equipment on the market right now. Starting around $200 and ranging up to $2500, exercise bikes offer a huge variety of models for every price range and every exercise level.

It is however advisable to keep in mind that you will get what you pay for with an exercise bike. Don’t expect a $200 exercise bike to come with all of the bells and whistles and last you over 3 years. However if you are on a budget, an exercise bike is a great way to get in shape for less.

Another great benefit of exercise bikes is that they provide a much lower impact on your joints and ligaments than other piece of exercise equipment like a treadmill or stair climber. This can result in less chance of sustained injury over time and can also be great for people with joint problems, arthritis, etc.

Another recent factor that has made the exercise bikes much more comfortable to use is the introduction of the recumbent exercise bike - where you sit in a semi-reclined bucket seat with your legs angled out in front of you instead of hanging down.

Until the recumbent bike came along, many people just weren’t comfortable on the standard upright bike seat. The recumbent exercise bike allows people to get a much more comfortable workout - which means that they can exercise for longer periods of time.

Exercise bikes can also be much safer than other forms of exercise equipment. You can slip and fall on a treadmill. You can lose your balance on an elliptical trainer. It’s much more difficult to fall off or injury yourself on an exercise bike. This makes the exercise bike a great alternative for the elderly exerciser or someone who is new to exercise equipment in general.

Another factor that makes the exercise bike so popular in home gyms is the fact that (with a recumbent bike) you can read while you’re exercising. Boredom is one of the main reasons people don’t exercise. So instead of forcing yourself to trudge through your workout, why not choose a piece of exercise equipment that’s going to allow you to multitask and do what you want while working out?

Read your favorite magazine or the latest murder mystery novel. Set the exercise bike up in front of the television and watch your favorite show while pedalling. Time will fly by and you won’t even know you’ve been blasting those calories!

This leads into what is perhaps the best benefit of an exercise bike. Because exercise bikes are so affordable, comfortable, low impact and safe - and because they allow you to fight boredom while exercising - the chances that you’ll use it are extremely high.

No one wants to spend a lot of hard earned cash a piece of fancy exercise equipment and then use it for a clothes rack. You want to be able to stay fit, burn calories and keep healthy by working out. But if you buy a machine that you never use, all of your best intentions have gone to waste.

Because of the great benefits of exercise bikes, many people find that they not only use them for years to come but they also end up exercising much more than they thought they would.

Charles O’Neill is a certified personal trainer and contributing writer for Exercise Bike Review ( www.exercise-bike-review.com ), a consumer oriented website focusing on the home exercise bike market.
For the latest buying tips, brand reviews, and best buys visit www.Exercise-Bike-Review.com

The 8 x 8 system is a very unique, and highly productive
training program devised by legendary trainer Vince Gironda,
that will help you quickly build muscle and lost fat without
aerobics.

Keep in mind, while you will build muscle fast with this system,
it is very demanding and definitely not for beginners. You need
to have about two years of training under your belt before you
tackle this weight lifting program.

You can build muscle mass with the 8 x 8 system due to it’s
unique design. It’s a fast-tempo, high-volume, size-building
weightlifting routine. It’s not designed to build much strength.
It’s solely for building muscle and losing body fat at a rapid
pace. You’d like to build muscle mass and lose body fat,
wouldn’t you?

The short rest periods will tax your cardiovascular system much
in the way high intensity interval training for cardio does.

Here’s the scoop: You perform 3 to 4 exercises per muscle group
and you do 8 sets of 8 reps for each exercise. Yes, that’s 24 -
32 sets per muscle group! Normally, I’d say that you’ll
overtrain in a week on this type of volume, but this weight
training program is quite different than what you are used to.

You work two or three muscle groups per session and you rest
only 15 to 30 seconds between sets and complete each workout in
about 45 minutes - never more than 60.

This program, properly performed, will build muscle mass fast.
Even with the large number of sets, it will crank up your
intensity level by performing all this work in a short period of
time. This is much different than the endless volume, 2 to 3
hour marathon workouts.

An absolute key to gaining muscle mass is overload, or
progressive resistance. This is usually accomplished by adding
weight to your exercises but this is not the only way to achieve
overload on your muscles. Another is to do more work in less
time, which is exactly what you get with this weight training
system.

This weight training program will be a serious shock to your
system. It’s nothing like the bodybuilding programs you see
everyone else in your gym doing. Not even close. In fact, I
would bet you’ve never seen one person in your gym train on this
routine. But, hey, how many of them have you seen lose fat or
gain mass quickly or, for that matter, make any positive changes
in their body recently?

How Much Rest Between Sets?

The idea is minimum rest. This means working down to 30 seconds
between sets at a minimum, and if you really want the program to
work and quickly build muscle, you’ll need to get down to 15 to
20 seconds between sets. With a typical tempo of about 4 seconds
per rep, you should be able to complete a 24 set workout in 18 -
21 minutes and 32 sets will take 25 to 28 minutes. Sounds
painful, doesn’t it? But it works. And you do want to build
muscle, don’t you?

Whatever exercise you’re doing, don’t let go of the bar or
dumbbells between sets. If you’re benching, keep your hands on
the bar once you rack it. Doing deadlifts with straps? Keep the
straps on and your hands in place between sets.

How Much Weight Should You Use

At first, you’ll see a large drop in the amount of weight you’ll
be using. Hey, not many of use are used to 15 seconds between
sets. Most of us take at least a minute, if not two or three
when we are training heavy. Most likely, you’ll need to drop
your weights by about 40 percent of what you typically use for a
set of 8 reps. If you bench press 150 pounds for 8 reps with 60
to 90 seconds between sets, you’ll most likely need to reduce
the poundage to about 90 pounds (if not lighter for the first
workout or two). As you adapt, start to build muscle, and get
used to the short rest periods, you’ll see your weights move
back up.

You have to select the proper starting weight. This is so
important in your ability to build muscle and be successful with
this training program. The first workout or two should be pretty
easy as you get used to the program. This will help you build
momentum moving forward and allow you to progress over a 4 to 6
week period of intense weight training. Besides building
momentum, the first two workouts should be pretty easy so you
don’t end up with debilitating soreness that keeps you out of
the gym for a week.

You’ll be using the same weight on every set. It’s okay to drop
to 6 or 7 reps on the last set or two, but if you drop below 8
on your fourth or fifth set, the weight is too heavy.

When you can easily complete eight sets of eight reps, it’s time
to up the weight at the next workout.

Obviously, you won’t be training to failure on most of your
sets. Most likely you’ll only do so on the last set or two of
each. However, you will be training like your’ve never trained
before. This routine is brutal on your body and, especially, on
your mind. This is even more true on the big compound exercises,
like dips, deadlifts, squats and bent over rows.

Don’t think you can handle this intense muscle building weight
lifting routine? You could start out by applying this technique
to one body part. If you are going to do that, you’ll want to
cut back on the rest of your training. Also, if you want
results, you’ll perform the routine on the big muscles, like the
back, and not use it just for biceps. This is what I usually do.
I’ll perform the 8 x 8 routine on one bodypart at a time. It’s a
great way to keep your routine fresh and prevent burnout.

Here’s an example of a complete routine:

Day 1

Chest

Decline Bench Press 8 x 8

Decline DB Flyes 8 x 8

Dips 8 x 8

Shoulders

Dumbbell Upright Rows 8 x 8

Bent Over Lateral Raises 8 x 8

Day 2

Legs

Leg Press 8 x 8

Leg Extensions 8 x 8

Leg Curls 8 x 8

Standing Calf Raises 8 x 8

Day 3

Back

Two-dumbbell Rows 8 x 8

Dumbbell or Machine Pullovers 8 x 8

Lat Pulldowns 8 x 8

Abs

Weighted Crunches 8 x 8

Day 4

Triceps

Tricep Pressdowns 8 x 8

Overhead Extensions 8 x 8

Biceps

Barbell Curls 8 x 8

Incline DB Curls 8 x 8

For many of you, even fewer sets may be more effective, as you
can quickly overtrain on a program like this. I don’t recommend
performing this weight training routine for more than 4 - 5
weeks before taking a complete week of rest from the gym.

Keep in mind that weightlifting workouts like this are a great
way to quickly build muscle but it’s also a great way to lose
fat, completely change the shape of your body, and keep the fat
off. Weight lifting is much more effective for fat loss than
aerobics or dieting alone.

Treadmills Home Exercise Equipment

Thinking about purchasing a treadmill? I was and honestly it
took me about a month to finally decide on one. There are so
many different options and price ranges. There are inexpensive
ones that start about $150 and the more expensive commercial
treadmill priced at about $5000.

After doing my research I settled on one that goes for $1200. If
this is something you believe you are really going to stick with
and feel you will use regularly I recommend staying away for the
low end price models.

The treadmill I ended up with has an incline of 12%. I recommend
you get one that goes to at least 10%. The mph I bought goes to
12mph, this I would recommend at least 7mph. What else do you
need to consider? I like the space saver models. You can just
fold them up and put them against the wall. Be aware thou even
folded they are still pretty bulky if you get one with a good
size track.

The treadmill I got comes with ifit technology which I was a
little skeptical about until I tried it. It is really awesome.
You go online and answer some simple questions plug your
computer or laptop into the treadmill that uses ifit and it
automatically controls your exercise routine. Controls speeds
and inclines. If you are new at exercising I highly recommend
getting a treadmill with this feature. It is like having your
own personal trainer.

Use a traedmill to help you feel healthier, get in shape and to
shed pounds and lose weight. I have tried many types of exercise
machines and a treadmill by far is my favorite.

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