Losing weight is always a struggle, even more so if you have to leave the house to exercise, so a solution is purchasing your own equipment to use at your leisure. No excuses needed and no driving to start you on your path to weight loss! Here are some of the best home exercise equipment for weight loss!
Treadmill
The treadmill is one of the most effective ways to burn calories and some of the best home exercise equipment for weight loss, given its ease of use, being readily available for purchase at any major fitness store, and many are good quality while still being affordable for the average person.
Treadmills these days have many additional features and add-ons that make them easier and more convenient to use, and also more efficient, which is where one necessary feature comes into play: the incline.
Treadmills that come with an incline adjustment setting are essential to maximizing your workload during sessions, and that creates a higher intensity workout, which then leads to more calories burned and more weight loss!
The incline makes up for the easy to walk surface and motor of the treadmill, making the walk and your gait less natural and balanced, requiring more of your muscles to engage to stay stable while running or jogging on the machine.
Many modern treadmills are also equipped with a calorie display monitor, making it easy to track your progress during sessions, just be sure to input your weight accurately, including factoring in your shoes and clothing, and remember, the machine can’t judge you!
Important tips to maximize calorie burn and weight loss when using a treadmill are summarised below.
Make liberal use of the incline setting to create a more difficult and less uniform surface to jog or walk on.
Higher speed makes for higher exercise intensity, which heightens calorie burn, so don’t shy away from those speed settings, but remember not to push yourself.
Here’s where your weight offers some benefits, as the more you weigh, coupled with the above factors, such as the intensity of your workout, makes you burn far more calories per minute and session than someone who weighs less than you.
Split the speed settings up during sessions, such as going at a faster pace for 15, 30, or even 60 seconds before resuming the pace you were going prior, as intermittent intensity changes can also increase calorie burn while not completely wearing you out.
Using a heart rate monitor with a chest strap and syncing it to your treadmill can make the heart rate, intensity, and calories burned estimates far more accurate than relying on either individually, so I recommend it as a helpful tool to ensure you are tracking your progress accurately and efficiently.
Shorter strides while running on your treadmill, aka, how often you pick up your feet during use, can also increase and maximize calorie burn by putting your body through more strain and intensity.
Try to avoid holding onto the handrails if your treadmill has them, as it makes it more difficult for the machine to accurately calculate calories, heart rate, and other factors, plus lowers your exercise intensity.
As you practice and become more familiar and efficient with running on your treadmill, you will develop a more effective stride and run naturally, which can lessen the strain and effort your body is pushed through, thus lowering the number of calories burned.
Best to keep yourself pushing by changing your sessions up every so often and keeping them variable, especially using the incline.
Final tip, calculating your maximum heart rate can help keep you in the ideal calorie and fat burning range during sessions, allowing you to maximize your calorie burn. You do this by inputting your age, for example, let’s say you’re 30 years old(I know, math, right?!) and subtracting that from 220, so you have 220-30=190.
Now, with a maximum heart rate calculated, you must divide this by 70 percent to find your ideal calorie and fat burning zone, which would look like this.
70% × 190 = 133
So in this specific scenario, your ideal range would be having your heart rate at 133 beats per minute. That wasn’t so bad, right?
Now, how do treadmills stack up in general? Here are some general pros and cons to be aware of.
Pros
- Easy and effective calorie burn
- Very affordable for the average person
- Many modern ones come with helpful monitors and additions, such as a heart rate monitor and step counter
- Easy control of settings makes tailoring your workout simple
- Can be used while multitasking, such as when watching TV
Cons
- Treadmills can be somewhat boring given their limited range of exercise uses, but this can be mitigated by experimenting and toying with settings to add variety.
- Some models can have a loud motor, which can be distracting to some
- Using the treadmill the same way every time can cause too much stress on the same joints, which results in overuse injury
- Treadmills are often large and take up a lot of floor space, though, folding options and smaller varieties are available
- If your treadmill breaks down or runs into any issues, you likely need a professional to perform fixes or maintenance, due to its complexity
Cost
Anywhere from 300 to 3,000 dollars, depending on features, materials, and general build.
Stair machine
Stair machines, or stair climbers, are some of the most effective home exercise equipment for weight loss due to their simulation of walking up stairs, which is one of the most physically demanding activities out there.
It engages most of your major muscle groupings, such as the glutes, quads, calves, and hamstrings, and with so many activated at once, this increases calorie burn exponentially.
Some important things to remember and ways to maximize calorie burn when using a stair climber are below.
Keep the back upright and do not hunch over, this enables your core to also engage, which burns more calories and does not put too much pressure on your back, as this will create unneeded soreness after each use.
High intensity interval training is again your friend here, and for most machines when trying to maximize calorie burn, as mentioned in the previous passage, to elaborate, it’s mixing short bursts of higher intensity exercise during sessions along with your regular pace and speed.
For example, having the settings and speed changed to a faster pace for 15, 30, or 60 seconds, which you can gradually change and adjust as you find the rhythm that’s most comfortable for you.
This helps to burn more calories and tones muscle, while not wearing you out like going full steam ahead the entire time would, and also a lower risk of injuring or straining the muscles.
Focus more on your core by not leaning on the handrails, as this can lower exercise intensity and put you in bad form, straining your back.
A 10-minute warmup before advancing to a higher intensity during your exercise sessions is essential for preventing injuries and increasing calorie burn, so remember to take it slow!
Avoid the pre-programmed settings on the machine when you’re just starting out and new to using a stair climber, so you can tailor your workouts to your specific requirements and what feels most comfortable to your body.
Again, using the method discussed earlier, calculating your maximum heart rate and keeping it at 70 percent of that is a great range for burning calories and fat more effectively.
Do not hold onto the handrails unless needed, as this is just as bad as leaning on them, and like the treadmill, decreases your calorie burn and intensity.
Moving on, general pros and cons outlined below!
Pros
- Strengthens and tones muscles
- A highly effective calorie burning machine
- Low impact, so low strain on joints
- Great cardiovascular workout
- Aerobic conditioning
- Increases bone mass, which lessens the chance for conditions such as osteoporosis
- Variety of settings makes mixing up workouts easy and prevents them from becoming stale
- Can be used indoors to keep you out of inclement weather
- Smaller and compact varieties make choosing one easier for those with limited floor space
Cons
- Not a great choice for those with knee issues, as using a stair machine may aggravate existing problems and cause pain
- Doesn’t work muscles such as the arms and biceps
- Can cause back pain and related issues if bad posture is used
- Has somewhat of a learning curve and an adjustment period
Cost
Anywhere from 290 dollars up to over 4,000, depending on features and build.
Stationary bike
Stationary bikes also called exercise bikes, are one of the best home exercise equipment for weight loss given that they’re easy to use, affordable, and lower cost for many models, and are readily available.
They burn calories very well and are a highly effective workout that is also low impact and tones several muscle groups at once, and best of all is a type of equipment anyone can use considering its just as easy as riding a traditional bike!
Some helpful tips to maximize your stationary bike workout and calories burned are below!
Eat before and after your exercise sessions, but nothing too heavy, think snacks such as granola bars, a banana or a bit of trail mix, as eating anything too heavy will lead to a feeling of fullness and slugginess, which can make your workout feel like it drags on and is a slog to get through.
This gives you fuel for the workout, and actually can increase the number of calories burned during!
Make liberal use of the resistance settings to create a workout with higher intensity and difficulty to push your muscles, however, do so gradually, and stop if there is any pain or soreness created.
Make sure to have proper form when working out on your stationary bike, as this helps calorie and fat burn, but also aids in preventing added soreness and strain to your muscles.
Change the type of workout you do each day, such as adjusting resistance settings, the speed in which you peddle, for how long, etc, as this will aid in continual progress towards shedding fat and calories, but also helps you not plateau as your body adjusts to the routine.
Slowly build your endurance by increasing your sessions by a few minutes every so often, such as adding 2 to 5 minutes onto your workout every week, as this will gradually help stamina gain for even longer sessions.
General pros and cons of stationary bikes are summarised here, below!
Pros
- Low impact
- Fun and comfortable to use
- Burns calories effectively
- Very easy to use and master
- Many affordable options
- Buil for inside use, so you can ride no matter the weather
- Pre-set programs on the bike enable you to switch up your settings and keep things from getting stale
- A comfortable and private activity you can do in the safety of your own home
- Fewer distractions and excuses can be made when the exercise equipment for your weight loss is right inside your home
Cons
- Doesn’t build real-world skills for outdoor cycling
- Can be monotonous to peddle in place for several minutes at a time for days off and on, even with variation
- Doesn’t work many muscles of the upper body
Costs
Ranging from 200 dollars to 2,000, though plenty of good quality bikes exist in the 400 to 500 dollar range.
Rowing Machine
Rowing machines are well known for their full body and high-intensity workouts they can provide, and with that comes a large calorie and fat burning benefit, so this earns them a spot on this list of best home exercise equipment for weight loss.
Rowing builds muscle in many areas of the body and can shed pounds with ease over time, even at a lower intensity.
Important things to note and ways to maximize your benefits are as follows.
As mentioned previously, the heavier you are, the more calories you burn during exercise, adding intensity increases this considerably, but be safe and gradual about upping the duration and strain on your body to reduce the risks of injuries.
Just like the above exercise equipment, weight loss is made faster and easier by using high intensity interval training, which is adding in spurts of higher effort and intensity during your regular pace in your sessions, such as rowing as hard as possible for 20 to 30 seconds before gradually resuming your original pace.
Doing this throughout your sessions and over time can easily build stamina, which can make longer and higher intensity workouts possible.
The rules of not letting yourself get into a rut are the same here with the rowing machine, so try to mix up your sessions of intensity, duration, and any extra settings on the machine, so you don’t get into a fixed groove of doing the same thing over and over again.
Rowing at a gradual and regular pace can help build endurance for longer sessions, and general stamina, which can help you continue to build off this progress and snowball your weight loss.
Rowing machines, like all equipment, have their pros and cons, however, which are outlined below.
Pros
- Am effective full body workout
- Burns calories like crazy
- Is easy to learn and perform for the average person
- Is low impact and minimally straining on the joints
- Great cardiovascular workout
- Builds muscle effectively
- Easier on the body than other machines, such as the treadmill
- Increase energy, endurance, and stamina
Cons
- Machines can take up a lot of floor space, however, folding options exist to make this easier
- Rowing machines can be very noisy
- Improper form and use can result in back pain and other issues
- Some find rowing can be tedious over time
Costs
Rowing machines are often very affordable and can range from 300 to 900 dollars depending on their specific builds and additional features, as some models can be, for example, designed to be quieter, which can increase the price range. Scope out features and shop around for those benefits you think will add to your machine.
This list, while not exhaustive, conditions more than enough materials and equipment to get anyone started on their weight loss journey, as the machines here are considered among the best home exercise equipment for weight loss because of being readily available, easy to use, affordable, and not to mention are safe and effective time tested solutions to shedding unwanted pounds!
