Top 5 Best and Worst Home Equipment

By The Fit Advocate, Craig Pepin-Donat, International Fitness Expert and Author of "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie"

If you are like millions of people, you want to get in shape but you haven’t found the answers while wading through all the products that guarantee fast and easy results. Our lives are hectic and full of stress and when work is over, we want to relax and escape from the pressures of life. We spend more time working than any other activity other than sleeping so the time we have left is valuable to us and must be spent wisely. Joining the local fitness center can be a good solution if you can make the time to use it consistently. Unfortunately, many people soon realize that when you factor in travel and changing time, you can end up spending almost two hours of precious time that ultimately pushes fitness lower on your priority list—or worse, off your priority list completely.

Home fitness equipment can be a viable solution with the right purchase. The number one reason people cite for not exercising is the lack of time. The simple convenience of squeezing in a quick workout in your own home takes the time excuse out of the equation. Don’t worry, you’ll search for plenty of other reasons not to exercise but if you can create a habit and a routine out of including a simple 30-minute workout into your day, you may find the answer you have been looking for. Even if you join your local fitness center, having a piece of home equipment will provide you with options when life gets in the way.

Once you’ve made the decision to buy home equipment, the key is making the right purchase the first time. If you buy something that doesn’t work even once, you will be less likely to try again and you will ruin a great opportunity to improve your health. Here are some of the top Fit Advocate Approved products that can help you on your path to improved health and those you should avoid.

Top 5 Best Home Equipment

1. Elliptical Cross Trainer: The elliptical trainer is fast becoming the most popular piece of cardio equipment on the market and now rivals the once untouchable treadmill in fitness centers. Elliptical trainers provide a smooth, non-impact movement that feels like you are running on air. They provide an excellent cardio workout and caloric burn while protecting joints and connective tissue from impact damage. The top Fit Advocate Approved manufacturer for cardio equipment is Smooth Fitness®, which offers the best quality for the money. The Smooth CE 3.2 feels exactly like a commercial elliptical trainer at less than half the cost. This unit is an excellent choice for anyone who wants results while saving a few thousand dollars.

2. Treadmill: The treadmill is still the most popular piece of cardio equipment on the market for those who just like to run and want to burn a lot of calories and fat during the process. One of the problems runners face is damage to joint and connective tissue from all the pounding. Using a quality treadmill with a flex deck will help prevent injury. The Smooth 7.1 Pro Folding Treadmill uses a special suspension deck technology called Impression Shock Absorption™ that is designed to absorb more of the impact force during your run. This will enable you to exercise more safely and for longer periods of time with less fatigue. The folding feature is also a great space saver.

3. Powerbase: Since time is the number one reason most people give as an excuse not to exercise consistently, the Powerbase takes this excuse off the table. This light, compact and durable platform weights less than 4 pounds and offers easy connect strength cables to adjust resistance along with multiple instructional DVD’s to show you how to work virtually every muscle group. This piece of equipment is affordable and will enable you to build lean muscle tissue, which is your body’s fat burning machinery that will help you burn more calories at rest.

4. Power Block: If you are looking for something more substantial but you don’t have the space, Power Block is the best free weight solution on the market for the money. With all the technology within the world of fitness equipment, many believe that free weights still offer the best results. Power Block provides a complete set of dumbbells in one simple block with a simple pin to adjust weights. Dumbbells can be purchased with weight sets ranging from 3 pounds to 24 pounds all the way up to 5 pounds to 130 pounds, giving you the options you need based on your strength level. A set of Power Block dumbbells and a simple incline bench can give you everything you need to work your entire body while taking up a very small amount of space in your home.

5. Stair Climber: When the original Stair Master® hit the market more than 20 years ago it started slowly and then caught fire. Since then the fire has died considerably, but it is still burning for many who swear by this piece of equipment. There are dozens of stair climbers on the market so you definitely have to do your research to get one that has a good feel. I cannot recommend this piece of equipment over a good elliptical trainer but if you like the idea of exercising with a stair climber, this is an excellent non-impact piece of equipment that will help you burn calories and fat effectively. Nautilus now owns the original Stair Master® that offers the FreeClimber® 4200PT Exercise System. The original Stair Master PT 4000 is still available for approximately $1,000 and it is still one of the best on the market.

Top 5 Worst Home Equipment

1. The Entire Class of Abdominal Equipment: The problem with these pieces of equipment is that all of them use deceptive claims if not outright lies to market and sell their products. Pieces of equipment like the Ab Lounger, Ab Roller, Ab Rocker, Ab Doer, the Bean and any other abdominal equipment that makes claims that you can lose inches and get washboard abs by using their product is one of the biggest deceptions in the fitness industry. It doesn’t work that way. There isn’t one piece of equipment on the market that will magically melt away fat or reduce inches from your midsection. The human body does not have a mechanism to selectively burn fat in specific areas. You can do abdominal exercises until the cows come home, but you will never lose inches around your mid-section and you will not see “washboard abs” until the fat around your waistline is gone. Spot reduction is a lie and any product that claims or implies otherwise is a scam and a big, fat rip-off. The only thing that will enable you to lose weight and ultimately inches is to create a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories, which equals one pound. When this caloric deficit is created, your body neither knows nor cares whether you want to have that pound of fat selectively removed from a specific area of your body. If fat loss is your goal and you are looking for results, you will need to reduce your caloric intake and increase your caloric expenditure with cardio-respiratory activity to optimize results. Don’t buy into such ridiculous claims as, “Shrink your waistline and tighten and tone your abs three times faster than with other exercise.” Unfortunately, it has been proven that you can pedal more products with lies and deception than you can with truth and integrity.

2. Red Exerciser: This is another example of how manufacturers try to create a new mouse trap to snare consumers using the same old lies. The product makes claims that you can reduce inches from your waistline by sitting on a red seat that spins like any office chair. By twisting your upper body from left to right while holding hand grips, it is designed to exercise your midsection, “Where you need it to sculpt a slimmer, new, you.” The biggest problem with this piece of equipment is that it is a rotary torso movement which can place stress on the spine if not performed properly. The dangers are increased when additional resistance is added placing more pressure on your spine as you twist your body back and forth. Those with back problems should avoid this movement altogether. There is a simple tension knob to adjust the resistance on the Red Exerciser called the “Torsion Max Resistance System,” which makes it sounds like there is some sort of advanced technology involved. This piece of equipment is anything but advanced. The Website actually makes claims for long-term benefits such as, “Heightened immune system, reduced risk of heart disease, reduced risk of high blood pressure, reduced risk of colon and breast cancer and even the reduced risk of premature death.” While these benefits may be obtained with regular and consistent cardio respiratory exercise and other dietary and lifestyle changes, these are not benefits that you will realize from twisting your upper body from left to right like a washing machine. It’s just another marketing scheme and a waste of money.

3. Electronic Muscle Stimulators: A world-class example of fabricated claims specifically designed to rip off consumers can be found with Electrical Muscle Stimulators. Marketed as Ab Belts that stimulate muscles using small currents of electricity, manufacturers of these ineffective units have made distorted claims including weight loss, spot reduction, shaping and contouring and cellulite removal. Consumers have been duped by this product under the brand names, AbTronic, Ab Energizer, Fast Abs and Ab Force. Don’t be fooled if you see another brand name selling the same lies. These products are a waste of your time and money and they will not achieve the promised results. Claims by these manufacturers were so outrageous that the FDA had to step in and file litigation to protect consumers. Claims such as, “Electronic dream machine that will show you immediate improvement without strenuous time-consuming workouts. You’ll develop that six-pack you’ve always wanted in the easiest way imaginable.” Or, “The simple, fast, easy, effective tool to help tool and reshape your body and help get those washboard lean sexy abs is finally here. With Fast Abs, we’ll guarantee fast results with no sweat.” Others professed, “Absolutely incredible for people who want tighter abs and want to lose inches around the midsection” and “With a touch of a button, you can go from flab to rock-hard abs.” These are all perfect examples of fictional statements designed to make you think that there is a quick and easy solution to getting results. Not only did these products lie about results, but consumer complaints from these products include burns, blistering, bruises and electric shock. None of that stopped Ab Force sales from exceeding $19 million on 747,812 units sold. Obviously, there are a significant number of people who still buy into these lies in the hope of getting quick results.

4. Gazelle Freestyle: The best way for me to describe this piece of equipment is that it mimics the motion of cross-country skiing. It neither has the same motion nor is it in the same class as an elliptical trainer. Cross-country machines never caught on in the club business because it is difficult to sustain the motion for very long. You might find one or two cross-country machines in a fitness club so they can say they have them, but use is minimal with club members. What you won’t find in a quality fitness club is a Gazelle. For a cost of about $200 for the Gazelle, you glide your arms and legs back and forth on the same pendulum motion. If you can perform this motion for an extended period of time, it will work on a lot of muscle groups because you have to create the motion using the force of your entire upper and lower body. The problem is that most people cannot sustain the motion comfortably and stick with it long enough or with enough consistency to get positive benefits. Because the knee joint does not come into play as it does on an elliptical cross trainer or treadmill, there is a lot of stress placed on hip flexors, which can prove to be painful with extensive use.

5. Thigh Master: One of the all-time great infomercial deceptions is the Thigh Master, which is nothing more than a piece of spring-loaded metal covered with a cheap piece of foam. You are supposed to place this product between your thighs and “Squeeze your way to trimmer, toned thighs.” Millions of people have been misled into purchasing this product, advertised on infomercials and on the Internet as a surefire way to “Develop a shapelier and sexier figure,” to reduce the size of their thighs. You could get better results toning your hips, thighs and buttocks doing various forms of leg lifts and lunges without spending a penny, yet people are still duped into believing the lie. The fact that the Thigh Master is still available on the market shows you that people still do not understand the principles of exercise and are susceptible to the deception of advertising and marketing.

Bonus Worst Home Equipment

6. The Air Climber: Any piece of equipment that mimics the motion of a Stair Master that operates on a hydraulic shock absorber or air compression with no frame is not a sustainable exercise that will help most people achieve long-term results. It is difficult for the average person to sustain the balance necessary for an extended period of time with no hand rails or grips, making the workout difficult. The Website for this product claims that by using the Air Climber you can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour. This is an example of an exaggerated claim because the number of people who could burn 1,000 calories using this piece of equipment is fractional. The unit is sold with a single strength band used to perform various strength exercises while stepping on the Air Climber and features the “Oblique Crunch” as “The waist shaper that every man and woman loves” claiming results such as, “Now you’re shredding your abs, carving inches off your waistline at the same time you’re burning fat, all over.” Sounds too good to be true—because it is.

7. Cardio Cruiser: This piece of equipment tries to mimic the motion of a step machine in the seated position. The motion is created by foot pedals and hand grips that create this awkward exercise that is not comfortable or sustainable. The piece of equipment is poorly made and will not live up to product claims, which say, “Whether you’ve never worked out before or you’ve been working out for years, the Cardio Cruiser gives you a powerful toning and cardio fat-burning workout in one breakthrough machine that fits your individual fitness level. It is a whole new way of working out.” The Cardio Cruiser is neither a breakthrough nor is it a whole new way of working out. It’s just a sub par piece of equipment.

Worst of the Worst Home Equipment

8. OSIM® iGallop™ Core and Abs Exerciser: This is one of the most ridiculous pieces of equipment on the market today. Sitting in the saddle of the iGallop simulates riding a horse and provides the results of a donkey. Marketed as “The revolutionary exerciser that can help you shape and tone your tummy, hips, seat and thighs,” the iGallop supposedly achieves results with a “Zero-impact, tri-axial riding action” and according to the marketing claims your body “Automatically responds to its multidirectional movement, and this balancing engages certain muscle groups and may help improve coordination and posture.” This piece of equipment is a perfect example of how you can throw just about any piece of crap on the market with a marketing spin and sell product to unsuspecting consumers who don’t understand the principles of exercise.

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