Essential Equipment for a Home Workout

With our increasingly busy schedules, finding time to go to the gym is becoming a real challenge. It’s no wonder that more and more people choose to workout in the comfort of their home. With the proper equipment you might be able to achieve good results. Here is a list of three items you will need before you can start working out at your place.

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A good yoga mat

This is your best ally. Most people do not have flooring designed to be worked out on, so having a quality mat can prove to be quite beneficial. However, a yoga mat is not just for comfort, it’s also effective in preventing you from sliding while doing exercises such as lunges.

A laptop or a tablet

If you are going to work out from your home, you will need to rely on video streaming or workout DVDs. A laptop/tablet comes in very handy in these situations. You might want to consider a good screen size and good audio quality. You want to be able to see and listen to the instructions carefully in order to properly carry out each move.

A set of dumbbells

Most sets come in different weight ranges. It’s up to you to choose which one suits you best. The only advice would be to get one that is easy to store away. Another tip would be to get dumbbells that allow you to wrap your fist around them while doing pushups. This will prevent any discomfort arising from doing pushups by placing your hand directly on the floor.

3 benefits of cardio exercises

Article by Blythe Flake

In simple terms, cardio exercises are the ones that you do for long periods. These involve repetitive moves that aim at getting your heart beat pumping. Common examples of cardio exercises are running, spinning or jumping jacks.

Even if these exercises do not sound like anything groundbreaking or fancy, they are incredibly effective workouts when done right. Here are three reasons why you should consider adding more cardio to your workout plan.

It will make you lose weight

Cardio exercises are heavily based on repetition. This means that you will be moving non stop for the whole workout session, effectively forcing your body to lose excess weight. You might therefore focus on giving your best during your next cardio session. Working on your breathing during your workout would also allow you to get a constant release of energy.

It keeps your heart in shape

Compared to strength training, cardio is less intense but does go on for longer periods. This is ideal for working out your most important muscle, the heart. Cardio forces your heart to pump blood to each one of your body extremities. Just like a dormant car needs to be revved up to be able to run properly, our heart needs to work its muscles from time to time.

It helps in getting a good night’s sleep

Recent studies have shown that patients suffering from insomnia benefitted from doing cardio workouts in the evening. This also holds true for perfectly healthy individuals. Cardio has the capacity to eat up any excess energy accumulated by either being sedentary or eating too much.