I received a postcard in the mail from a local gym wanting me to “give the gift of fitness” this year to someone I love. I actually plan to do that for my wife, but it won't be in the form of an expensive gym membership that requires over 40 minutes roundtrip just to get there and back. I would rather spend that time helping and motivating her to achieve her fitness goals at home at our convenience with a few pieces of safe and affordable home gym equipment. You can get a little background on how I achieved my own fitness goals at Lose Weight with Healthy Choices and Home Fitness - Not Dieting.
On a personal note, I got a bit excited this morning when I jumped up on the scale and weighed in at 159.2 lbs. I broke through the 160lbs weight barrier today. That is a big achievement for me :)
Home Gym Equipment
I have been talking about 3 pieces of home gym equipment that I have been using regularly for sometime and truly recommend: Bowflex Dumbbells, Ab Rocket, and Iron Gym Extreme Pullup Bar. They are convenient, safe, and give great results when used consistency and correctly. I keep the fitness equipment visible in the corner of my bedroom as a reminder to use them daily, which I actually encourage people to do. Don't hide the exercise equipment under a bed or in a closet as you won't have that reminder to workout at home. Exercising consistently is key if even for 20 minutes a day. We need to develop good habits and break bad habits!
Another piece of fitness equipment that I own, and mainly use when traveling, is the perfect pushup
, which is a great way to get a good workout at home or while traveling.
Perfect Pushup
The great thing I like about the perfect pushup over conventional push ups on the floor is that it helps remove a lot of pressure on the wrists and shoulders. It seems silly to buy something to help you do a push up, but seriously, your body will love you for it if you truly plan to do pushups as a means for staying fit during the new year.
Doing conventional pushups on the floor seemed fine when I was a kid, but as I get older my body can't handle the akward force on my wrists and shoulders. The comfortable hand grips help keep my wrists from being in that awkward and painful 90 degree position when doing pushups directly on the floor. The convenient swivel ( spin ) of the perfect pushup allow my shoulders to get in a more natural position and alignment when I do a push up, which saves me from having that nagging tenderness in my shoulders. If like me you want to get your arms and body just right for maximum effectiveness and proper form, the perfect pushup helps by allowing your shoulders to correctly align in a more natural position during both the upward and downward movement. Not sure how long the perfect pushup has been around, but I seriously could have used it years and years ago.
Push ups for Home Fitness
If you are new to home fitness and/or just looking to do a little muscle toning on a daily basis, I can't think of many exercises more convenient than a push up. As with any exercise, I always recommend you start doing pushups slow and easy. Do no more than 5 or 10 every 2-3 days and then slowly increase the frequency and number of reps once your body has adapted to this new form of exercise and pressure on your joints. Here are some overall thoughts on doing push ups. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor or personal trainer so I would always seek professional guidance. Take my advice as a friend who wants to see you achieve a more healthy lifestyle and feel more positive and confident about yourself this new year.
- Consult Doctor or Personal Trainier: As always, to be truly on the safe side, you should consult a doctor or personal trainer to make sure you are physically fit for exercise. Although this seems silly, I actually got a physical 8 - 9 months ago just to make sure there were no hidden health problems before I started my home exercise program and developing better eating habits.
- Start Slowly - I have said this a million times and will continue to say this because I care - be patient and start slowly. We don't have to look fantastic overnight. We will look great soon enough and quicker than you think. Let your body adapt to the new workout program slowly so it can build up all those stabilizer muscles that could easily get torn or pulled if you start exercising too much too quickly. 5 or 10 push ups every 3 days for the first few weeks is fine and then slowly building the frequency and number of reps is fine.
- Listen to Your Body - I know the poupular saying is “no pain, no gain,” but pain is your body's way of protecting you from doing something bad and permanent to yourself. Usually the pain might not be evident until 2 or 3 days after your exercise, which is why I always suggest you only work out once every 3 days in the beginning so you can hear your body mentioning the pain points. Don't ignore the pain and try to avoid it.
- Breathing - Can't say enough about breathing. Breathing is key in all workouts. When doing pushups, breathe out when coming up, breathe in when going down. Never hold your breath and never stop breathing.
- Maintain Proper Technique - Do not contort your body or screw up your proper technique just to do 1 or 2 more push ups. That is a great way to hurt yourself. Always maintain proper technique. If you can't do 1 more pushup using proper technique, don't do 1 more pushup :) Any pushup equipment worth its salt should have instructions on how to properly do pushups - read them :)
- Lower Back Safety - Be very careful of the lower back when doing push ups. Make sure your body is aligned properly. As mentioned above, maintain that proper technique.
- Warm Up and Stretch Out - Get those muscles ready for a workout. Don't jump into it cold and pull or tear a muscle and hurt yourself permanently.
- Start with Knee Push ups - If your upper body strength isn't there yet and you wish to better protect your lower back, you can use your knees instead of your feet to make push ups a bit easier. Once you develop the proper muscle you can adjust as necessary.
I typically prefer to bench press dumbbells instead of push ups at the house as it gives me better control over the weight and less stress on my lower back, but if done safely and correctly, a push up using something like the perfect pushup is indeed a convenient and easy workout to do at the home. Push ups will certainly build muscle, tone, and firm the chest, arms, shoulders, and upper body in general. And something like the perfect pushup can easily fit in a drawer or be taken while traveling. However, keep the perfect pushup in plain sight as a reminder to use them :)
Check out the reviews on Amazon.
Stay Healthy and be safe this new year!!