Home fitness equipment used to be sold only in sporting goods stores. Now, you can walk into just about any big name discount center and buy pretty much anything. But…do you really need “pretty much anything” to burn belly fat and build lean muscle at home? What are the true basics to help you reach your fitness goals, yet not take up a huge amount of space or become expensive clothes racks? How do you figure out what you need?

First, define your fitness goals

There is so much home fitness equipment available that you can almost get experience “paralysis by analysis.” Until you focus on your definite fitness goals, you will just be swimming in murky water. The main reasons people workout at home are: (1) They do not want to go to a crowded gym, (2) They want to workout when they want, and (3) They do not want to be locked into an expensive gym membership contract.

There is a minority of individuals, mostly men, whose goals are to build incredible strength and size through structured weight training. They are willing to spend good money on quality benches and power racks, Olympic barbell sets, and graduated dumbbell sets. The majority, however, want to eliminate belly fat…get rid of love handles…build lean muscle and become more defined…and gain functional strength. You will probably fall into one of these groups.

The focus of this short article will discuss basic home fitness equipment for those who want to burn belly fat and make their fat loss permanent.

Push Up Bars

These small sturdy bars elevate your hands off the ground and force you to do a much deeper push up than you could normally achieve with your palms flat on the floor. There are two distinct types: one style is formed by hard plastic or aluminum tubing, while the other is a designed with handles on a small rotating platform to take stress off your wrists and elicit more muscles to fire during each repetition. The most well-known of this second style is The Perfect Push Up. Both work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and back.

Doorway Pull Up Bars

Home pull up bars also come in two styles: One stabilizes itself in the doorway by fitting over the frame on one side, while using your body weight to fit flush and snug against the trim on the other side. This is the bar you see in cable TV infomercials for home workout programs like P90X. The other style of bar is real old-school. It is a telescoping tube that fits inside the door frame and is screwed with both hands to tighten. Most now come with brackets.

Resistance Bands

These are thick tubular elastic that mimic the movements of lifting weights. They come in different tensions and the best ones have handles that allow the attachment of multiple bands. DO NOT buy these from discount stores in town. Spend more money to get the thick bands that will not rot or tear.

Workout Gloves

If you plan to use pull up bars, push up bars, some dumbbells and resistance bands, you will begin to develop calluses. Men normally do not mind this, however a good pair of workout gloves will help keep sweaty hands from slipping on the bars. Look for the kind that have good padding in the palms, an open or mesh back panel, and Velcro wrist closures. You do not want to spend time peeling a cheap pair on and off.

Workout DVD or Program

You stay more motivated to workout at home if you use a proven program for pushing you to improve. By far, the most popular is P90X. It is varied, challenging, and gets results. Many men have also found Navy SEAL workouts get solid results, also. Please be aware that both of these programs are NOT for the novice exerciser. They are intense, and are best suited for those individuals who have been working out consistently for several months.

Conclusion

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some basics that will help you increase your fitness level with regular and consistent workouts.

By: Cade Beach

About the Author: