As we welcome 2024, the mantra seems to be “a new year, a new you.” After the trials of 2023, an increasing number of people have turned to home workout gear for saving on monthly expenses. Yet, there are still plenty of individuals marking 2024 as the pivotal moment to begin their wellness transformation. The enthusiasm for at-home workouts has never been higher, and fortunately, the market has responded with an even greater selection of sophisticated equipment equipped with advanced streaming capabilities for an interactive fitness experience.
Are the lowest prices on fitness equipment online or in stores?
The lowest prices for home gyms and cardio trainers are usually online. This is true during New Year’s fitness sales and will remain true year-round. One reason is that many online vendors — especially the manufacturers themselves — have lower expenses compared with traditional merchants. If you shop factory-direct from the brand website for Bowflex or NordicTrack, for instance, you’ll save because 1) there aren’t middleman markups and 2) the big online vendors provide free shipping.
Why Home Fitness Equipment Helps You Achieve Your Fitness Goals
1. Convenience: Owning home gym equipment means you can work out anytime that fits into your schedule without the hassle of commuting to a gym, which is particularly helpful when starting a new exercise regime as part of a New Year’s resolution.
2. Customization: With personal home gym gear, you can select the equipment that matches your fitness goals and preferences, allowing you to tailor your workouts to your specific New Year’s resolutions.
3. Privacy: Working out at home provides a private environment, which can be more comfortable for those who may feel self-conscious or intimidated by the traditional gym setting.
4. Cost-Effective: Although there’s an initial investment, owning gym equipment can be more cost-effective in the long run, eliminating recurring gym membership fees and the costs associated with traveling to a gym.
5. Hygiene: Home gym equipment is used only by you and your household, reducing exposure to germs and bacteria, which is particularly appealing in the wake of public health concerns.
6. Consistency: Having gym equipment at home removes common barriers such as bad weather or limited gym hours, helping to maintain consistency with your fitness routine.
We strive to help you find the right fitness equipment to meet your needs and budget, and that’s why we’ve partnered with Horizon to keep that budget at $0. That’s right. One lucky subscriber will receive the Horizon 7.0 AT treadmill free of charge. A quality piece of cardio equipment for your home gym, this model highlights quick-touch controls that take interval training to new levels.
Equipped with Horizon products, you unlock access to effective use of over 60 of the most popular fitness apps available. Horizon’s FitU library provides links to fitness programs including STUDIO, Peloton, Zwift, and many more for a fraction of the cost, or, in many cases, free. The 7.0 AT is designed with exclusive features like QuickDial controls and Rapid Sync technology that make on-demand and live classes possible without the need for a big, fancy touchscreen.
Within the FitU library are more than 30 apps that include immersive treadmill routines so you’ll never have to do the same workout twice. You can even take advantage of highly-targeted workouts for specific training goals. The lucky winner of the 7.0 AT can use some of that extra money saved buying Horizon accessories that unlock capabilities with over 30 additional apps under the FitU umbrella.
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Let’s face it, looking good is among the top reasons people work out and the bodybuilding diet is key to achieving that goal. We spend a lot of time reviewing and choosing the best strength training gear, but how much attention is spent on nutrition? Many a gym-goer will admit they don’t care how much they bench press, they want to improve their health and overall appearance. When it comes to health, wellness, and appearance, there’s no question nutrition rules the day.
Quick Points
Know the Terms: The nutrition world has more vocabulary than nuts in a trail mix.
Know the Numbers: A 250-pound person needs different calories than a 125-pounder.
Know the Foods: Marshmallows or broccoli….there is a right answer.
Know the Supplements: Supplements are a tool, not a substitution.
Many a professional bodybuilder will tell you that six-pack abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. What that means is no matter how hard you work out, if your body fat percentage is too high, those abs will never see the light of a day spent at the beach. As a rule, men must be under 6% bodyfat and women below 15% before the six-pack is visible. Meanwhile, it takes food to build muscle, and there is a time to bulk up.
When I compete as bodybuilder in the NPC, I enter a season about 200 to 210 pounds. By show time, I’ve cut down to 175 pounds. My workout in the gym just doesn’t change that much relative to the menu which produces the before-and-after judges see on the stage. What do bodybuilders eat? The better question is “How much of what do bodybuilders eat?”
Healthy bodybuilders calculate their protein, carbohydrates, fat, micronutrients, and water consumption to the gram. There’s a reason Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) and personal trainers are hired for professionals and movie stars. Protein is such a critical component of these folks’ diets that supplementation is a given. You can find a review of the Best Protein Powders on the market discussed here.
One option to consider is using a meal prep service like Blue Apron, which we’ve reviewed here. That said, the approach is so different to what mainstream dieters use that the brief introduction detailed here should be good enough to get you started. Keep in mind that bodybuilders and fitness models spend months prepping for one event. Always keep your health a priority and avoid trying to lose too much too fast.
Know the Terms: Components of a Bodybuilding Food Plan
Bodybuilders use a macronutrient approach to dieting instead of the simpler calorie-based plans. This is consistent whether choosing a low-carb/low-fat plan or high-protein/high-fat model like the Keto Diet. The macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Proteins contain four calories per gram. The building blocks of muscles and bones, they also make up hormones and enzymes which regulate body function. Proteins are comprised of long chains of amino acids. The human body requires 20 different amino acids to function properly, nine of which it must obtain from food as it can’t make them on its own. Below in our section on supplements we’ll get more into that as well as our review here of the Best BCAAs.
Carbohydrates are sugar molecules and are used as quick energy for the body and also equal four calories per gram. You’ve probably heard the terms good and bad carbs, which actually refer to complex and simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are long chains of sugar molecules found in beans and other vegetables. These chains require effort for the body to break down. Simple carbohydrates such as table sugar and some fruits are much shorter chains, and in some cases one molecule. These speed through the body like lightening and provide quick bursts or energy. The key to carbohydrate management is understanding that energy not burnt in exercise will be stored as fat.
Dietary fats are a nutrient which provides longer, stored energy for the body and equal nine calories per gram. You’ve probably heard the term saturated fats, which are those which remain solid at room temperature. These include butter, lard, full-fat milk, and high-fat meat. Unsaturated fats tend to be liquid at room temperatures, and we find these in fish and vegetable oils.
A pound of body fat is roughly worth 3,500 calories. Notice that bodybuilding-style diets are designed to hit a certain number of grams per day of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. You can calculate the calories involved by multiplying those grams by four, four, or nine, respectively. But as everyone’s goal is a little different, so will be their macros, as calories are not equal when looking to alter the body.
Know the Numbers
There’s a reason many folks go to professionals for the creation of a personalized plan. But the fact is, you can do a lot of it yourself by knowing your own numbers. Online calculators abound online, but here are the basics of what you’ll need to calculate everything:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): Represents the number of calories required per day to maintain the body. This is calculated using Age, Sex, Height, and Bodyweight.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): This represents the number of calories required daily to maintain body weight when exercise is considered. Two people may have the same height and weight but very different activity levels. This makes a world of difference in terms of caloric burn.
Activity Level: The usual breakdown is Sedentary, Light Activity, Active, and Very Active. This is coupled with the number of days one exercises and the level of intensity and minutes they spend at it.
Using myself as an example, here’s how it works.
Age: 46 years
Sex/Gender: Male
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 185 pounds
Activity Level: Very Active, 7 days per week exercising about 120 minutes per day
BMR = 1,727 calories per day
TDEE = 3,618 calories per day
To create a bodybuilding diet I would then select:
15%: Fat Loss, requires 3,075 calories per day, Maintenance is 3,618 calories per day, Lean Gain is 3,980 calories per day
20%: Fat Loss, requires 2,894 calories per day, Maintenance is 3,618 calories per day, Lean Gain is 3,980 calories per day
25%: Fat Loss, requires 2,714 calories per day, Maintenance is 3,618 calories per day, Lean Gain is 3,980 calories per day
Then we select how vigorous we want to be with the macronutrients here, whether for fat loss, maintenance, or the gaining of lean muscle. We can select 1.0, 1.15, or 1.25 grams of protein per pound of muscle; and then 0.35, 0.40, 0.45 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight. This means if I wanted a 20% Fat Loss diet I’d need to consume 231.3 grams of protein, 325.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 74 grams of fat per day.
Customization comes into play here and one can adjust this strategy to a Low Carb model, a Ketogenic (higher fat and protein) model, or a Low Fat model. This mean we need to know our own Bodyfat Percentage and the Lean Body Mass (LBM), which is the total bodyweight minus the weight of the body fat. To get the body fat weight, multiply the total body’s weight by the body fat percentage.
Remember, everyone’s numbers will be different based on personal variables and activity level. If a pair of body composition scales is needed, check out our review of the Best Body Composition Scales here.
Know the Foods
Bodybuilding food plans focus on macronutrients because a calorie is not a calorie when it comes to bodybuilding and fitness modeling. Consider a 2,000 calorie diet of marshmallows versus a 2,000 calorie diet of broccoli. Six-hundred grams (1.32 pounds) of marshmallows represents 2,001 calories, 480.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 20 grams of protein. It would take 5,900 grams of raw broccoli (13 pounds) to equal 2,002 calories, with 21.8 grams of fat, 391.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 166.4 grams of protein. There’s no question, when planning to build muscle and lose fat, broccoli is a clear winner over marshmallows.
As a general rule, all proteins carry some degree of fat. Below is a breakdown of common go-to foods for bodybuilding diets:
Chicken Breast (8 oz.): 2.8 grams total fat; 0 grams carbs; 52.4 grams protein, 249 calories
Green beans (8 oz.): 0.3 grams total fat; 16.2 grams carbohydrates; 4.1 grams protein, 70 calories
Know the Supplements
When a diet is planned out to the letter and gram, dietary supplements can come in handy. Proteins are comprised of amino acids, and each one helps carry out a specific function. Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body and must come by way of food, or supplements. These include: Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Three of these are termed branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and include: Leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These amino acids have been shown to decrease muscle fatigue and alleviate soreness during exercise. You can read our full review here of the Best BCAAs, most of which are dissolved into sports drinks.
And with the volume of protein being consumed by bodybuilders, you know protein supplements are a necessity. Most powders can be dissolved into a drink and come in measures of 30 grams per scoop. You can read our full review of the Best Protein Powders here.
In It To Win It
Whether you’re an iron addict with barbells in the basement, or a cardio fan, learning about nutrition can make all the difference in the world. It’s literally impossible to build muscle out of marshmallows and one can’t run off three pizzas a day. If you’re serious about getting stage-ready, professional coaching is recommended. Always keep safety in mind, particularly when cutting weight. The good news about an informed approach to nutrition is that it negates the need for drugs or other cheats.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people not try to lose more than one to two pounds per week. The same idea holds true with gaining weight if muscle-building is the goal. One pound per week averaged over a year is 52 pounds. The fact is, with knowledge of nutrition and exercise combined, there’s very little one can’t do with their body.
Whether hitting the weights at a commercial gym or training at home, one of the key considerations is the purpose. Some lift to gain strength, others use weights to improve athleticism, and of course we all know those that seek to improve their overall health and physical appearance. To that end, it’s worth considering the three primary sports related to weight training and the types of lifting associated with each: Powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and bodybuilding. Whether you ever actually compete in a sanctioned event in these sports, each comes with a set of stereotypes in terms of athleticism and muscularity which, while not always true, do wind up serving as a starting point for most novice lifters who say to a trainer, “I want to be like…”
If building out a home gym with an all-in-one machine, there are very few limits as to what kind of exercise stylings you want, whether bench pressing 300 pounds, improving speed and flexibility for soccer, or pumping up the biceps. But even if continuing the daily trek to a commercial gym, there are a number of accessories we’ve also rated as the best strength training equipment here which can help with pretty much any goal. Read below to explore the three primary strength sports and their associated games, as well as their strategies which are ultimately designed to make you the best the you you can be.
Powerlifting
Lifting sports date back to the days of sticks and stones. Powerlifting as practiced for sport dates back to the early 20th century and is now sanctioned by bodies such as the International Powerlifting Federation and USA Powerlifting, the latter of which has it’s own training app for members. A closely related sport with much crossover is the Strongman Contests.
A powerlifting contest features lifters trying to reach their maximum combined poundage on the bench press, barbell squat, and deadlift. After warming up, participants are typically given three attempts at each lift to reach their best weight lifted for that movement. Their best one-repetition lift for each is then added together for a combined score. So a lifter with a best bench press of 300 pounds for one rep, squat of 400 pounds, and deadlifting of 400 pounds, would have a score of 1,100 pounds.
The sport itself is co-ed with both males and females and depending on the meet, age and weight class brackets may be used. The key takeaway for powerlifting is that competitors are seeking to maximize their ability to lift as heavy a weight as possible for one repetition, as opposed to multiple, and it’s three very specific compound movements being judged: Bench press, barbell squat, and deadlift. Competitors may use gear or equipment in powerlifting meets, such as weightlifting belts, gloves, knee wraps, and special bench press shirts. Competitions promoted as “raw” are those where no such gear is allowed. To read up on powerlifting gear essentials for both training and competition, read our review here, or our review of Best Strongman Gear here.
Powerlifting training, as opposed to the other forms, typically focuses on Specific Adaptation of Imposed Demand (SAID) and focus on the primary lifts of bench, squat, and deadlift, with accessory exercises added in for support. Typical rep and set schemes include the 5×5 Method, or the Westside Barbell Conjugate Method which might find one performing 10 sets of 2 repetitions on the primary lifts, as well as accessory movements and speed work with chains, bands, or boards. Powerlifting workouts typically work on a three- or maybe four-day split and are divided by Upper Body and Lower Body, or the specific lift in question, as in a bench day, a squat day, and a deadlift day. Given the goal of lifting heavy weights, lifters do need sufficient recovery time in between sessions. Here the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the body’s adaptability to heavier weight loads is emphasized more greatly than a specific bodyfat percentage or appearance of muscles shaped by hypertrophy.
Olympic Weightlifting
Olympic Weightlifting and it’s booming cousin CrossFit, first made an appearance on the world stage in the 1920 Summer Olympic Games. Comprised of the Snatch, the Clean and Press, and the Clean and Jerk, much like powerlifting, male and female competitors alike seek to get a maximum score by combing their poundage. In the modern Olympics, only the Snatch and Clean and Jerk scores are used as past officials determined the injury risk to be to high with the Clean and Press. Both age and weight classes are used to categorize competitors.
Considered by some to be more of an athletic endeavor than powerlifting, the Olympic lifts are multi-movement with several steps involved, whereas the powerlifting movements are compound, or multi-muscle group, but relatively stationary compared to their cross-sport peers. To perform the Snatch, lifters assume a wide grip and then hoist the weighted barbell overhead in one fluid motion. The Clean and Jerk requires lifters to take the barbell from the ground to the front of the shoulders and then from the shoulders to overhead. the Clean and Press is similar to the Clean and Jerk but requires an overhead press at the finish.
In addition to technique, the primary emphasis of Olympic-style lifting is explosive power, coordination, balance and overall athleticism. This explains its crossover into sports like track and field, football, and CrossFit, which is a bit of a combination between track and field and Olympic-style weightlifting. For those seeking to develop athletic bursts of power, this is a great choice of lifting, ever bearing in mind, technique coaching is essential and often begins with broomsticks and PVC pipe to get the movements down pat. Like powerlifting, Olympic-style lifting is very taxing on the body and sufficient recovery between workouts is essential. The primary lifts are performed in higher sets for lower repetitions as lifters are seeking to hit a maximum weight and the skill involved in the movement is key. A lifter might spend one day performing 4×2 Power Snatches with an Overhead Squat finish, then go to 3×3 Hang Cleans, 4×8 Barbell Squats, 3×2 Snatch Pulls, and an Overhead Press of 3×8.
Bodybuilding
Often used as an umbrella term, bodybuilding is a sport governed at the professional level by the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) and the National Physique Committee (NPC) for amateurs seeking their pro card. If powerlifting is a horse-pulling contest, and Olympic lifting is like equestrian jumping, then bodybuilding is a horse show for judging the muscles. As a sport, bodybuilding categories allow for both men and women and offer a spectrum of events including physique, figure, and bikini, which all allow the judges to place greater emphasis on features such as muscle symmetry, density, and size. Weight, height, and age classes are all utilized to group competitors who then perform a variety of mandatory poses where they show a particular muscle group to the judges for inspection, such as the Side Chest and Rear Double Bicep.
Bodybuilding might be the better-known of the weight lifting communities for its imagery and what the public sees as an emphasis on appearance. What most outsiders fail to realize is the degree to which nutrition is involved. To properly show the muscle for a bodybuilding event, men may get down below 5% bodyfat with women below 12%. It’s nearly impossible to maintain that low a bodyfat percentage year-round, and so diet becomes an integral part of the training.
In terms of workout planning, bodybuilding strategies are quite different than powerlifting and certainly Olympic lifting. A wider variety of exercises are incorporated with higher repetitions and fewer sets, with many bodybuilders breaking their days down into body part splits, such as one day for chest and triceps, and another day for back and biceps. Bodybuilders might hit the gym every day and use “off days” for abdominal work or cardio for fat loss. Whereas in powerlifting one seeks to maximize the number of pounds they can bench press for one repetition, in bodybuilding, the athlete uses exact same exercise to employ hypertrophy to break down muscle fibers and make the associated muscles larger and more defined. The number of pounds pressed isn’t as important as the Time Under Tension (TUT) and “pump” they get. This doesn’t mean bodybuilders are weaker, nor does it mean powerlifters aren’t large and cut. But the goal is completely different. Legendary bodybuilder and screen actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won seven Mr. Olympias and posted big lifting numbers as well using a number of techniques such as supersets, where he would combine two exercises with opposing muscle groups into a circuit, such as four sets of 10 repetitions on the bench immediately followed by wide-grip pull-ups.
Know Your Goals
In an ideal world we could all lift like a powerlifter, move like an Olympic weightlifter, and look like a bodybuilder. But as we all know, ideal worlds don’t exist. As a general rule, powerlifting and Olympic workouts tend to focus on heavier weights with repetitions in the 2-6 range, whereas bodybuilding workouts have repetitions in the 8-12 and perhaps even 15-20 range. Crossover is certainly common and many a powerlifter has tried their hand at bodybuilding and if not Olympic lifting, then perhaps CrossFit or Strongman Games.
But if you’re planning to outfit your own home gym, a good starting point is to determine what exactly it is that you want to accomplish, whether lifting for strength, athleticism, or weight loss, and general health. We’ve reviewed a number of Garage Gym kits as well as individual units such as squat racks and cages, and all-in-one units such as those from Force USA. No one says you have to do it all, but it’s certainly helpful to have a mental image in mind when approaching a goal. By considering the three lifting sports and what type of body style, build, and performance each is associated with, they can get a better idea of what kind of workout plan to follow.
Love handles seem impossible to conquer. These fatty deposits on the sides of the hips and obliques build up when, to put it simply, you consume more calories than you burn. While simple math dictates calories in must be less than calories out, that’s a whole lot easier said than done. Today, we’re going to learn how to apply the right kind of exercise to satisfy the caloric burn needed to eliminate love handles once and for all and how the best home use treadmills on the market can help you get the lean, flat belly you’ve always wanted.
Understanding the Cause of Love Handles
When you retain fat, it’s stored for future use. The trouble is, it can build up anywhere in the body, and there are a variety of factors that make it more likely for this to occur around the waist and hips. Some examples include:
Whatever the underlying cause of your love handles, exercise is a crucial aspect of getting to the root of the issue.
Are Love Handles Cause for Concern?
Most people simply don’t like the look of love handles, which are especially troublesome since tight clothing makes them even more pronounced (think of the infamous muffin top). In and of themselves, love handles do not pose health risks. However, they can be indicative of bigger problems that are cause for concern. Serious issues like high blood pressure, heart and liver disease, sleep apnea, stroke, and even cancer are all risk factors associated with excessive fat deposits around the midsection. So, whether you’re in it for your health, your aesthetics, or a little bit of both, there are plenty of reasons to put serious effort into annihilating your love handles once and for all.
Properly Combining Strength and Cardio
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the best exercises for love handles, understand that doing a million sit ups a day is pointless if you’re not achieving the caloric deficit required to burn the fat away. If you need help with the nutrition side of this critical equation, check out my full review of the Noom app. For now, let’s dive into the nitty gritty of how to use exercise to target love handles. To maximize your efforts and improve your chances of getting your love handles under control, mastering the right combination of strength and cardio is key.
Strength
Building strength in the obliques makes for more toned muscles beneath the fat deposits that are your love handles. Furthermore, muscle burns more calories than fat, so increasing your muscle mass with the best exercises for abs helps you achieve a higher caloric deficit simply through your activities of daily life.
Cardio
Since a layer of fat is what is separating you and your oblique muscles, cardio is a critical component of your love handle assassination. While many cringe at the idea of cardio, keep in mind you don’t have to engage in intense sessions involving high impact on the joints. Think of the tortoise and the hare. If slow and steady wins the race, spend more time going at a lower intensity. The key is to find cardio you enjoy, and exploring these 10-minute treadmill sessions for burning fatcan be a great start.
Best Exercises for Love Handles
With an understanding of the importance of combining strength and cardio, let’s take a look at a regimen for success when it comes to using exercise to melt those love handles away.
1. Mountain Climbers
How it’s done:In a plank position, bring your knee into your chest, and return to plank position. Alternate legs at a tempo that suits your preferences.
Why Mountain Climbers Work for Love Handles: Remember, we all have a six pack. The key is burning the fat surrounding those muscles so they can be seen. To do this, exercises that tone the core while getting the heart rate up are perfect. That’s what makes mountain climbers one of my favorite exercises to get your core looking great.
The mountain climber checks many boxes since it engages everything from the glutes and hamstrings to the back, hips, abs, and even upper body, making this one of the most efficient exercises for your regimen. The recruitment of such a diverse range of muscle groups makes it an exercise that improves range of motion and decreases your risk of injury during activities of daily living.
The biggest reason I recommend my clients use mountain climbers to target love handles is that they keep working long after your workout is over. As a form of functional fitness training, the mountain climber movement is one that improves the way you move throughout the day. With an increased ability to stay active, you’re more likely to burn the calories necessary to reduce fatty deposits around the belly.
Modification: A great way to mix things up is to consider using exercise sliders that reduce the friction between your feet and the floor. This allows you to perform the mountain climber without lifting your feet off the ground, thus reducing impact and allowing increased speed.
2. Side Plank
How it’s done:Lying on your side, prop yourself up either with your arm bent at a 90 degree angle and resting on your elbow or fully extended with your weight bearing down on your hand. Raise your hips off the floor, and hold this position.
Why Side Planks Work for Love Handles: Love handles are predominately located on the sides extending outward from the hips. The beauty of the side plank is, unlike many core exercises that target the front of the belly, they instead focus on the obliques. These are the muscles that lie along the sides of the torso and directly underneath the love handle zone. Since the hips and shoulders are also engaged, you strengthen all three areas in one isometric powerhouse move.
Any time I can sneak in some balance practice for my clients, I do it. When you don’t use it, you lose it, and side planks require you to focus on stabilization. A great way to increase the balance component of the side plank is to stack the feet one atop the other during. This is also a great core exercise for anyone who experiences stress on the lower back when performing traditional ab work like sit ups and crunches.
Modification: Want to add to the challenge and tone your legs while burning those love handles in side plank? Just wrap a resistance loop exercise band around your lower legs and add a side leg lift while you hold your plank. You can also dip your hips up and down to incorporate a cardio component to this challenging move.
3. Reverse Crunch
How it’s done:To tackle that tricky lower abdominal area, lie on your back with your legs up in the air. Lift your buttocks up and down off the floor, making an effort to hold this move at the top. To increase intensity, lower the feet down and back up between each butt lift off the floor.
Why Reverse Crunches Work for Love Handles: Since the reverse crunch focuses on the lower abdominals, you may be wondering how they can be effective in reducing the prominence of the love handles. Remember, the core is an interconnected system that works as a unit for functional movements. Strong obliques with weak lower abdominals can lead to overcompensations and imbalances that make it hard to reach overall fitness goals, and that includes keeping love handles at bay.
The reverse crunch frequently makes the list of top exercises I use with my personal training clients since it can play a big part in improving posture. Aside from targeting the rectus abdominis, this move also engages much deeper core muscles like the transversus abdominis. Working the core at such an in-depth level can produce significant improvements in common issues like back pain since you’re more likely to sit up straight. If you spend long periods of your day in a seated position, the reverse crunch, when performed consistently, can produce incredible benefits in overall quality of life.
Modification: Extra resistance requires your lower abdominal muscles to work even harder to complete each repetition. An excellent way to up the ante is to hold a medicine ball between your knees as you go through your reverse crunch routine.
4. Wood Chops
How it’s done:Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, clasps both hands together overhead and to the right. Bring hands down to the left foot in a motion as though you were chopping wood. Do several repetitions before switching this motion to the other side. To increase the challenge, use a hand weight.
Why Wood Chops Work for Love Handles: Like the side plank, wood chops target the obliques, and this is where love handles live. A standing move, this can be an excellent exercise for folks who have trouble getting up and down from the floor. Every repetition also works to tone the glutes, thighs, and calves as they work to keep you stabilized. When performed with the other exercises on this list, you get the most bang for your buck as you incorporate upper and lower body action as part of your abdominal focus.
The wood chops exercise is highly functional, meaning doing it regularly will result in noticeable changes in your daily life. From picking up your child out of his or her car seat and raking the lawn to taking out the trash and more, you’ll find less of a challenge. One of my favorite fitness phrases is that these things don’t get easier… you get stronger.
Modification: Not enough of a challenge? The great thing about wood chops is you can always make them harder by adding weight! Consider the investment in NordicTrack’s Select-A-Weight Dumbbell set. Rather than spending a fortune on a variety of hand weight sizes, you can make steady progressions as you become stronger with 15 different weight settings.
5. Treadmill HIIT Training
How it’s done:HIIT is a great way to pack a serious punch without spending too much time. A popular style is Tabata, which involves 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by a 10 second break for a total of eight rounds. In just four minutes, you can increase your metabolic rate and fat loss for the rest of the day.
Why Treadmill HIIT Training Works for Love Handles: High intensity interval training has proven in multiple studies to improve overall metabolic rate throughout the day, and this is especially true if you can do it in the morning. Using the treadmill makes it easy to get your burn on without spending too much time in preparation.
Aside from the fat burn HIIT produces, it also improves other areas of fitness that makes overall health and wellness more attainable. For starters, HIIT improves your muscles’ ability to use oxygen efficiently, and good oxygen consumption equates to more effective sweat sessions. It’s also a great form of exercise for anyone suffering with problems like high blood pressure and blood sugar issues. Both on an aerobic and anaerobic level, HIIT will produce positive improvements in-line with the changes needed to tackle love handles and a whole lot more in the process.
Best Treadmill for HIIT Training: You could use a treadmill at the gym, but the investment in one for home use allows for convenience and can improve your chances of sticking to your workout program. I had a great experience with the Horizon 7.8 AT treadmill specifically with HIIT training in mind. Its QuickDial controllers allow for the rapid speed and incline needed for effective Tabata transitions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are love handles hereditary? To a degree, the development of love handles is genetic in terms of where your body is most likely to store fat. However, lifestyle choices in diet and exercise are primarily to blame.
How do you target love handles? You cannot target fat burn in any particular area of the body. However, you can target muscular strength and endurance. When you combine the right mix of cardio and strength with proper diet, love handles can be a thing of the past.
Why are love handles so hard to lose? The love handle area is a common storage site for the body. When you eat too many calories, your body stores this excess where it’s genetically predisposed to do so. These primary storage areas can be the trickiest to tackle, but, when you follow the proper diet and exercise regimen, you can get rid of them.
How long does it take to get rid of love handles? Patience is key. You didn’t get love handles overnight, nor can you rid yourself of them in a matter of days or weeks. A better focus is to establish new habits, and that takes about four weeks. With consistency in proper diet and exercise, love handle elimination will come with time.
Whether seeking strength, fitness, or the physique of a champion, there’s no question people want to know the best exercises for chest. Anatomy fans will recognize the four major muscles of the chest to be the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior, and subclavius. But as any gym-goer knows, chest exercises are nearly always compound movements – or those which involve multiple muscle groups – because the shoulders, triceps, latissimus dorsi, and even forearms are required to perform them.
Here are 5 Best Chest Exercises as well as their variations, ever bearing in mind that the goals of individuals do differ a bit. That said, our choices are based on their overall benefit to the chest muscles and supporting groups, ease of learning, and availability of equipment. In other words, what exercises give you the best bang-for-your-buck. Check out our collection of Best Strength Training Equipment as well as our other product reviews and it’s easy to see that whether one wants to be a champion-level powerlifter, a beach body wonder, or simply increase mobility, these five movements are difficult to dispute.
Push Ups: Incline, Decline, Wide
Flat Bench Press: Barbell, Dumbbell
Chest Flyes: Dumbbells, Machine, Cable
Pullovers: Dumbbell, Barbell
Dip: Inward facing or Outward
1. Push-Ups
Why do we offer push-ups at the top of the list? They’re easy to learn, free to perform, offer multiple variations, and work perfectly as either a warm-up, superset, or a standalone exercise. To perform a push-up, simply get down on all fours with your hands slightly wider than the shoulders, knees off the floor, and feet toes-down. Straighten up the arms and legs, then lower the body by bending at the elbows until the chest touches the floor. The final step is to press the straightened body up off the floor, pause and then repeat.
Push-ups generate a great deal of hypertrophy, which is the enlargement of muscles by way of forced blood flow through their fibers. Anyone who has ever performed a high number of push-ups will understand the swelling effect felt afterwards. But this movement isn’t just for showing off a pump. By increasing the number of repetitions and sets over time one can increase total body strength. One of the great things about this movement is that it incorporates nearly every muscle in the body as it greatly resembles the plank position.
Variations of the push-up are nearly unlimited, but for chest work, consider that the wider one places their hands, the more emphasis there is on the pectoral muscles and latissimus dorsi. The more narrow the hand placement, the more emphasis is placed on the triceps. By placing one’s feet on a bench and their hands on the floor, one can perform a decline push-up. And by placing one’s hands on the same bench or a box, and leaving their feet on the floor, they can perform an incline push-up. This varies the movement’s affect on the upper or lower chest.
A great tool for this exercise is the push-up bar, which we’ve reviewed here.
2. Flat Bench Press
Probably the first exercise which comes to mind when thinking of chest exercises is the flat bench press, whether with barbell or dumbbells. For those used to push-ups, the bench press is very similar, except upside and with weights in hand. For those unfamiliar, the bench press is one of the Big Four lifts, along with the Squat, Deadlift, and Overhead Press. A staple in gyms, it’s performed by lying flat on the back and holding weights in-hand, lowering the weight to the chest, and then pressing upward.
One of the good points to the bench press is that as a compound lift it also provides a tremendous amount of benefit to the shoulders, triceps, latissimus dorsi, forearms and, if done properly, the legs. Higher repetitions of the bench press can produce hypertrophy, but this is also an exercise for the Central Nervous System (CNS), the neural circuitry of the body that many refer to as the mind-muscle connection
Like with push-ups, the bench press offers some variations and as a rule, the wider one places their hands on the barbell, the more emphasis is placed on the pectoral muscles. The more narrow the grip, the more is works the triceps. Using dumbbells can provide even more variation yet, and if one side of the body is stronger than the other, consider a one-arm dumbbell bench press. By lying flat on the bench and using just one hand to press a dumbbell upward, you can tighten the entire body as a stabilizer, much like one-armed planks. Check out our review of benches for the home gym here.
3. Chest Flyes
If you’re looking for an isolation movement that focuses directly upon the pectoralis major and minor, then chest flyes are the go-to. Whether using a pec deck, dumbbells while laying on a bench, or a cable crossover machine. The basic movement is the same as one holds resistance in their hands and squeezes their arms together by using their pectoral muscles. By keeping the arms straight at the elbows, one limits the interference of other muscle groups such as the biceps and shoulders and produces a blood pump into the pectoral muscles that is difficult to replicate.
When designing a strength workout, it’s a good idea to incorporate at least one isolation movement into the routine to augment the compound movements. For a chest workout, the chest flyes can either serve as a warm-up or an exercise in their own right. As one lowers and raises the weight the lifter feels the stretch up around the rotator cuff and this movement can serve as a good stretching tool for those attempting to recover from injury.
Variations of this movement alter the section of the pectorals targeted and this can be done by using cable pulleys at the high, middle, or low section. Dumbbell flyes can be performed on a flat, incline, or decline bench as well. For more information on chest flye machines, check out our review here.
4. Pullovers
Often referred to as a “squat for the upper body,” the pullover is undoubtedly one of the best overall upper body movements around, and it does wonders for the chest. Like the other chest exercises mentioned here, the pullover is easy to learn and doesn’t require an extraordinary amount of equipment. It also offers different variations and functions. To perform a dumbbell or kettlebell pullover, lie down on the bench with your head away from the rack. With the heads up on the ground at the foot of the bench, grasp the weight by the top and literally pull it up and onto your chest in a straight-arm motion. The same movement can be performed using a barbell from the rack, gripping it near the center of the bar and lowering it up over the head onto the floor, and then pulling it back to the chest.
Whether as a stretching movement or an exercise set, the pullover lengthens and strengthens the pectoral muscles while also working the latissimus dorsi simultaneously. This also forces the abs to contract and tightens the legs while performing. A true compound movement, many people consider it an upper back exercise, but once it’s performed you’ll realize the stretching benefits to the pectorals.
The pullover is simple to learn and serves a great warm-up before bench pressing, and it can also be incorporated into recoveries where one has hurt a shoulder or rotator cuff. Always consult with a medical professional before launching into physical therapy, but there’s no doubt if you ask a therapist about the pullover, they’ll know exactly what you mean. To check out our reviews of adjustable dumbbell options out on the market, read here.
5. Dips
Like the push-up, the dip is a bodyweight movement which brings big bang for the buck. The mechanics are quite simple and the variations include facing inward or outward, with the former emphasizing the triceps and the latter the pectorals. By placing one’s hands on the bars, the lifter can hoist oneself upward and tuck the legs beneath them, then literally dip down parallel and raise back up. Resistance can be added by either wearing a weighted vest, a belt with a chain and weight plate, or by simply holding a dumbbell between one’s feet.
This movement stretches out the pectoral muscles and many people use it as a triceps exercise. All in all, it’s an upper-body powerhouse that works well with bodyweight alone. Consider a 200-pound man is effectively pushing 200 pounds using just his chest and triceps here with the shoulders and forearms as stabilizers. This movement pairs well in supersets with pull-ups and push-ups. In fact, if you’re looking for a chest-oriented bodyweight circuit, consider a five sets of push-ups, then wide-grip pull-ups, and then dips. That’s five sets of reps using three solid upper body movements. Throw in some abdominal crunches and call it a “hotel workout.”
Dips can be performed about anywhere, but if you’re looking to buy a unit for the home, check out our review of the best dips bars on the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What other body part best matches up with chest for workout splits? A lot of people like either the back or triceps for chest days. That said, if using a Push/Pull Split, it would go with the Push days.
Can I get stronger doing just push-ups every day? Actually yes. Consider that football great Herschel Walker become a legend by focusing primarily on push-ups, sit-ups, and other bodyweight drills. Will you bench press 500 pounds doing just push-ups? No. But you can definitely get stronger with bodyweight movements.
Are chest exercises dangerous? Any exercise can be dangerous if done improperly. Be sure to check with a medical professional or trainer before venturing into a new routine.
The ill effects of Covid-19 linger as governments issue stimulus checks to offset the financial impact of a year in quarantine. That said, tax refunds are also soon to be issued, and this has millions of health-conscious fitness fans thinking big.
Home fitness certainly became the go-to during 2020, and this trend will undoubtedly continue as folks add to their cadre of equipment. At $1,400 per individual, the third round of stimulus checks, combined with income tax refunds, certainly makes for a great opportunity to add a treadmill, spin bike, elliptical, rower, or all-in-one strength trainer, to the home gym. And we’d recommend smart shoppers consider our highly-rated, budget-friendly suggestions listed below.
Outfitting a home gym is a bit like creating a workshop, with each machine designed to address a slightly different need, and some better for multi-tasking than others. The treadmill is the classic cardio piece, designed for either walking, jogging, or running. Great whether training for a marathon, or just to break up a day spent hunched over a computer, a good treadmill can be a key piece to a home gym.
With live streaming apps now all the rage, exercise bikes have found a prominent place in home gyms, as every spin class fan has openly dreamed about feeding their need for speed in their own home. Great for riding irrespective of the weather, the home exercise bike can certainly help burn up calories without taking up travel time to and from a gym.
While not as commonly used in commercial gyms, the rower is fast becoming a home gym must-have, as it combines strength and cardio work into one machine.
Likewise, the elliptical is literally and figuratively a step up from the treadmill, and while a bit more advanced in terms of the burn, certainly a hot item for those considering working remote on a full-time basis.
And of the course the all-in-one strength trainer is among the most commonly thought of machines in terms of a home gym. Look for machines that can handle the growth in strength and stamina expected over time.
Building out a home gym can take some time, and often it’s a buy-as-you-go experience while shopping around. But whether just getting started, or perhaps putting on the finishing touches, any of these machines can make for a very budget-friendly addition to one’s home fitness arsenal.
Stimulating Treadmill: Horizon 7.0 AT Treadmill
Built for runners, the Horizon 7.0 AT is a high-tech treadmill friendly on the budget. Powered by a 3.0 CHP motor, the steel framed treadmill sports a 20-inch by 60-inch running deck, and holds up to 325 pounds in user weight. Whereas many other home treadmills offer a shorter, 55-inch deck, and perhaps 300 pounds in weight capacity, the Horizon 7.0 AT offers longer stride capacity and stability.
Speeds range up to 12 mph, with incline up to 15%. The treadmill features a heart rate monitor by way of grip pulse in the front handles, and data can be seen via the 7-inch screen.
Bluetooth-ready, the treadmill is compatible with both Android and Apple devices, and the free AFG Pro App can be utilized via tablet or phone, meaning most other training apps will also work. The treadmill also works with Record by Under Armour and FitBit. For those unaccustomed to apps, the machine has five built-in programs: 5K, Calorie, Distance, Fat Burn, Manual, Max Heart Rate.
Pros:
Folds Up Easily
Sized right at 77″ x 36″ 60″
60-inch running deck
Works with apps and has built-in programs
Lifetime warranty for frame and motor, 3 years parts, 1-year labor
In the ebbing battle of the exercise bikes, the MYX Fitness Bike continues to shine in terms of performance on a budget. The bike can be bundled to include dumbbells, a kettlebell, resistance band, foam roller, and stabilizing mat. Equipped with a 41-pound flywheel, the bike’s welded steel frame measures 54 by 24 and 47 inches, and boasts a 350-pound weight capacity.
As with most machines in the age of live streaming, the MYX Fitness Bike comes complete with an app for interactive training, and at $29 per month is a bit lower than the rivals. Whereas other bike-related apps focus on speed and resistance, the MYX community is more concerned with heart rate zones, which have proven to be an effective strategy in workout performance.
The NordicTrack Commercial 9.9 Commercial Elliptical is among the most highly rated fitness machines on the market, and priced at $1,299, it’s definitely a value buy. Measuring 68.25 inches in length, 28.75 inches in width, 68.5 inches in height, the machine comes iFit-enabled and ready to introduce users to a community full of professional trainers who can control it from remote. Equipped with a 7-inch HD touchscreen, the Commercial 9.9 features 22 levels of Silent Magnetic Resistance. Built to work with the iFit Coach programming, professional trainers can increase and decrease resistance from their location. Dual CardioGrip Heart Rate Monitors built into the machine provide bio-feedback and tracking.
With a user weight capacity of 350 pounds, the machine has a 25-pound flywheel and 20-22-inch adjustable stride length.
Pros
Comes iFit-enabled
22 levels of Silent Magnetic Resistance
Warranty of 10 years for frame, 2 years for parts, 1-year labor
The Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE utilizes patented Power Rod technology to deliver between 5 and 210 pounds of resistance, upgradeable to 410 pounds with the purchase of additional rods.
Designed to afford users up to 70 different exercises, the machine includes with purchase: A two-position adjustable lab tower; four-position lower pulley squat station; and a no-change cable pulley. Additional attachments can be purchased separately. Exercises are designed to accommodate workouts for the arms, shoulders, back, legs, chest, abs, triceps, biceps, wrists, hips, calves, and lower back. The machine also comes with a unique five-way hand grip/ankle cuffs.
The Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE can handle up to 300 pounds in user weight, and measures 58 inches in length, 49 inches in width, and 83 inches in height.
Pros
Unique Power Rods
Bowflex Body Plan and fitness guide included
70+ exercises and even more variations supported
Warranty of 7 years for the machine, lifetime for the rods
The Horizon Oxford 6 Rower brings 20 levels of Silent Magnetic Resistance to the home fitness scene, with an easy to handle machine built to burn calories. Measuring 82.7 inches in length, 24.5 inches in width, and 43 inches in height, the rower is foldable and yet still holds up to 350 pounds in user weight.
A 5.4-inch screen in backlit blue helps users with workout data. The machine is compatible with the majority of fitness trackers, as well as ViaFit, a connected tracking app. The Horizon Oxford 6 Rower includes a Polar wireless heart rate monitor, as well as 12 built-in programs.
A solid machine, the rower comes with a lifetime warranty on the frame, three-year guarantee on electronics, and one year for parts and labor.
Pros
20 levels of Silent Magnetic Resistance
Lifetime warranty for frame, 3 years electronics, 1-year parts/labor
While the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be on the downswing, live-streaming workouts from the home is on the boom. With a significantly more health-conscious public, the days of swapping sweat Best in a commercial gym may be limited not just due to health concerns, but a growth in work-remote opportunities. As more professionals around the world begin commuting from their living rooms, fitness manufacturers are keeping pace with products improving by the season. If this round of stimulus checks is burning holes in the pockets, consider that investing in workout gear can save time and money in the long-run.
If you’re someone who would like to lose a few pounds, you need to consider your exercise options. In order to see maximum success with any weight loss plan, you should be including both diet and exercise as part of your regimen.
Some people choose to only diet and not exercise while others choose to only exercise and diet. This is less than ideal for a couple of reasons. If you just diet and don’t exercise, you won’t be doing anything to prevent the loss of lean muscle tissue. So you may lose weight, but you’ll lose both fat as well as muscle mass. If you just exercise but don’t diet, there’s a good chance you won’t lose any weight at all as you may just consume more calories, thus you’ll maintain your weight. Therefore, a combination approach is best. And, there’s no other exercise better to help you lose weight than rowing.
Here’s why a rowing machine can help you lose weight successfully and how to get started using one for weight loss purposes.
The Calorie Burn
The first way in which a rowing machine can help you lose weight is through it’s calorie burn. In order to lose weight successfully, you do need to burn more calories than you consume. So anything that helps you up your total daily calorie burn is going to be good news for helping you realize success. The calorie burn factor of the rowing machine is quite high. Because you are working both the upper as well as the lower body at once, this means you get more muscle fibers working in every single rep you take and more energy burned.
It’s not abnormal at all to see people burning between 80-120 calories per 10 minutes on the rowing machine, which adds up to 460 to 720 calories per hour. This is much better than walking or jogging, which would have you burning around 360-650 per hour depending on the intensity. Jogging only uses your lower half so that is why you see a lower total calorie burn from it. Do keep in mind though that your calorie burn will be directly related to how hard you are exercising, so if you aren’t exercising all that intensely, you won’t be seeing that great of a calorie burn.
The EPOC Factor
We also need to look at and consider the EPOC factor. This essentially refers to how many calories you will burn after the workout takes place. The more intense a workout session is, the greater this post-workout calorie burn can possibly be. If you are working very hard, you can expect to burn calories at a faster rate for up to 48 hours after your workout session is over. If you workout less intensely, the post workout calorie burn will be lower. You may only get a 24 hour spike or even a 12 hour spike. So you do really have the power to dictate this and what happens in your situation.
A workout on a rowing machine involves both the upper and lower body at almost all intensity levels, so you can expect a better post workout calorie burn than if you did a piece of cardio equipment that only used the lower body. This alone immediately gives rowing machines a tactical advantage in assisting with weight loss. One of the best weight loss tools out there is high intensity interval sprint training, which involves you going as hard as you can for a brier period of time and then doing a lower intensity rest interval in between. This produces a sky-high EPOC and can have you seeing better results for many hours ahead.
The Muscle Preserving Potential
The next reason why the rowing machine stacks up very well for helping you lose weight is because it helps to preserve your lean muscle mass tissue. Above, we spoke about the fact that if you are just dieting and not exercising, your risk of muscle mass loss is high. This is bad news because your muscle tissue is the most metabolically active tissue in the body. So if you lose it, your resting metabolic rate will decrease, making it harder to control your bodyweight in the future. By preserving lean muscle, you will sustain the weight loss more easily and will also be able to eat more calories on a day to day basis. No one wants to come off their diet only to find out they have to continue eating only 1300 calories per day to now maintain their body weight.
The unfortunate thing though is that some types of activities, such as running for instance, don’t necessarily stop this loss of lean tissue. In fact, if you are dieting hard enough and then add running to the mix, this could in fact increase your risk of lean muscle mass loss. Rowing however, because you are working against resistance while you do it, combats this. Any time you add resistance, you are giving your body a reason to maintain your muscle strength, therefore, muscle loss is unlikely.
The Low Injury Risk
Finally, the last great benefit of the rowing machine as far as weight loss goes is the fact that it offers a low risk of injury. When doing the rowing machine, you aren’t getting the high impact forces you would with walking or jogging so there’s less of a chance that you’ll be sidelined because of injury.
If you’re side-lined, this will really put the breaks on your weight loss goals, so clearly is less than ideal.
Using A Rowing Machine To Lose Weight
So now that you can see all the many reasons why the rowing machine is beneficial for helping you reach your weight loss goals, how do you go about using it to see success? First, determine your target calorie intake. This comes first. Are you someone who doesn’t get bothered too much by hunger? Do you feel okay when you begin cutting calories? If the answer to those questions is yes, you can likely use quite an aggressive diet. This means you won’t have to do as much exercise as someone who doesn’t do so well when their calorie intake goes down.
Remember, at the end of the day, it’s all about creating the right calorie deficiency. So if you exercise more, you can eat more and still get to the same number as you would if you exercise less but eat less. You just need to choose the path you take. Keep in mind as you do that it takes 3500 calories to burn off one pound of fat, so for most people, this means creating that deficiency of 500 calories per day (to lose at the safe rate of one pound per week). This means you could have 300 calories coming from rowing and 200 coming from reduced food intake or 100 calories coming from reduced food intake and 400 calories coming from rowing. Choose any set-up you’re comfortable with.
Once you know that, then you need to determine your workouts. I would suggest a mix of interval training sessions (provided you are at the fitness level to do so) and steady state cardio training. It’s important to have some lower intensity days in there as these will help ensure that you are getting adequate rest between sessions and not risking overtraining syndrome. Especially when on a fat loss diet and taking in less total calories than you normally would, you will find that your exercise volume capabilities decrease. Meaning, you can’t do quite as much as you did when you were dieting.
Most people who are dieting should aim for 3-4 days of using the rowing machine per week. Any more than this and it may get to be too much to be recovering from. If you do find that this is getting to be a bit too much, then you may drop down to just 2-3 days per week, or consider decreasing the total duration of the days you are doing the rowing. If you are going for 45 minutes for instance, try 30 and see how that feels. Two of those days should be higher intensity training while two others should be lower intensity training. Then on 1-2 other days during the week, you can focus on doing cross training activity (going for a walk, swimming, doing yoga, etc.) to give your body a different type of stimulus and break from rowing. This leaves one day off per week for total rest and recuperation.
It may feel hard to rest that one day as your mind may tell you to keep exercising, but really do your best to do so. It will pay off when you restart the next week feeling fresh and ready to go forward. So there you have the main points to know about how to lose weight using the rowing machine. If you combine the rowing machine exercise with a sound diet, you really can’t go wrong and will be on track to seeing some excellent results from your efforts. Remember that weight loss is a natural progression though and will not happen overnight. Patience is key to stick with the program over the long term.
If you’re thinking about rowing as a new addition to your general fitness routine, there’s one major question to consider; should I row on the water or on a machine? There are many things to consider when answering this question and as you are about to see, it’s not so black and white. Some people are much better suited to rowing on water while others are better suited to rowing inside. Read on to compare these two rowing styles so that you can better determine which is the right fit for you.
Accessibility
This is an obvious question right out of the gates. Do you have a river or a lake close by that you can easily access when needed? Would you need to drive at least 30 minutes to get to one? Factor that in to your decision when it comes to your venture into the sport of rowing. It might not seem like a big deal, but if you find yourself devoting more time to driving to your workouts than you do actually working out, your rowing journey may be short lived. One huge benefit of an at-home rowing machine is you can hop on any time it’s convenient for you. All you need to do is walk into your living room and you’ll be ready to go.
Seasonal Variability
Another factor to consider is the seasons. If you’re rowing outside, you will have certain seasons you can do this in and others, you will need to take a break. Those in warmer climates will be less impacted, obviously, but in many states (and countries), you’re looking at losing at least 3 or 4 months of ability to get out on the water. Seasonal variability can be devastating to any workout program so unless you have plans to go inside when the weather changes, it really could mean a huge dent in your fitness routine.
Who to Row With?
Also think about whether you have a partner or friend(s) who want to join in this adventure with you. While you can row alone, most often when rowing outside in water, you are rowing with a partner or team. This can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. It’s good for those who enjoy fitness activity that has a social component to it, and having others along for the ride will inspire you and motivate you to push harder, which may keep your workout sessions more consistent. As a downside, if your cohort is stronger than you, they may overpower you, thus you may not get the exact workout in that you were hoping for. There’s also the matter of relying on them to show up. Generally speaking, it’s less ideal to put the fate of your workout in someone else’s hands, unless you’re teaming up with people more familiar with the sport than yourself. As a compromise, thanks to the modernization of fitness equipment and software, you can find rowing machines which connect to virtual races or online videos which simulate team training.
Facing the Elements
It may seem obvious, but don’t forget to consider that in real-world rowing you’re going to get wet. This is inevitable, as water will splash each time the oar comes out and goes into the water. The splash will eventually end up on you, and not everyone likes that. So even though you may prefer a workout in the great outdoors, if you don’t want to towel off after your workout session, the outdoor route may not be your best option. On an indoor rowing machine, you don’t have to face the elements like you do on the open water.
Injury Risk
First, consider your injury risk. You’ll find that you have a much lower risk of injury rowing indoor than you do in the open water. The biggest factor here, especially for novices, is safety. On the open water you’re at the mercy of the elements, as well as other boats on the water, floating logs, debris, etc. Generally speaking, rowing on calm waters is perfectly safe, but there are more risks that could land you in the water in one way or another, and how you get there/how long you’re out of the boat can lead to injury. Indoors, you have zero risk of this happening, so that threat just isn’t there at all.
Ability To Change Resistance
Another important benefit to consider when looking at the difference between indoor and outdoor rowing is the ability to change resistance. With outdoor rowing, the only real control you have is how fast you row. Beyond that, the water is going to be the primary determinant of how much resistance you are facing. The water may give you too much or too little resistance, making it hard to get in the workout session that you truly wanted. On indoor rowing machines, you control the resistance level. You can change the resistance as needed throughout your session to get the workout you desire. This makes it far easier to customize the program to you and also will help you progress over time. One of the key factors of normal progression in a workout session is constant overload. This means you are doing more with each workout over time than you were doing before. With outdoor rowing, you only have control over so many factors, so it can be a lot more challenging to achieve this.
Total Amount Of Work Performed
Another thing to consider is the fact that if you are rowing on water, depending on where you are, there may be an undercurrent that is either helping you along or working against you. If it’s working against you, you are essentially adding more resistance to your workout session and will develop better strength because of it. If it’s working with you on the other hand, then you will have an easier time with that rowing session because now you have the added current carrying you along. The total amount of work performed on an indoor rowing machine is strictly based on what you put in. There are no external factors that are either helping or hindering your performance, so many people consider this to be a big pro. You can control the exact workout you get in. Out in the open water, you have very little control. If the water does one thing, you are following suit.
The Boredom Factor
Finally, consider the boredom factor. This is where outdoor rowing shines. You’ll get to be in the great outdoors and will see sights all around you, not to mention you are actually going somewhere. With indoor rowing, you aren’t moving and will be seeing the same thing the entire way through. So you may find that you get more bored on an indoor rowing machine. That said, this can easily be overcome by watching TV while rowing indoors or by using your tablet to try a rowing race or virtual rowing route if you need that much more stimulation.
So keep these points in mind and remember, rowing is a fantastic exercise no matter how you do it. But you do need to stop and think about what’s most important for you in your own workout routine to determine whether it’s indoor or outdoor rowing you want to be doing. Nothing says you can’t do both either, which would then give you the best of both worlds.
As you gear up to start your indoor rowing sessions, it’s good to have a few different workouts up your sleeve. The last thing you want to be doing is the same workout program over and over again. This will only lead to a loss of motivation, and could cause your results to falter. If you want to see continual progress, you need an ever-changing workout program. That is precisely what these five essential rowing machine workouts aim to do. Each one will challenge your muscles and cardiovascular system in a slightly different manner, ensuring that you see peak results. The end result? You are fitter and more functional than you’ve ever been before. And, best of all, you’ve beaten boredom. You actually look forward to your workout sessions because they are fresh each time. Your body and mind are challenged and you are looking forward to what’s to come. So this said, let’s dive in and give you your five workout sessions. Do these next time you’re looking for a change of pace. Remember that you don’t necessarily have stick with just one or two workouts. You can easily progress through five different workouts over a few weeks time. For many people, the more variety, the better.
Sprint Repeats
The first workout session you’ll definitely want to include in your program as long as you are past the beginner stage (note that this workout will be too intense for beginners, so they should focus on building up a workout base before moving to this type of session) is sprint repeats. In this type of session, you are going to alternate between very intense exercise with less intense active rest phases added in. The idea with this is that you’ll be working so hard in those interval segments that you’ll push your body to the limit, develop a higher overall VO2 max level, and you’ll be primed for burning massive amounts of calories. Your calorie burn will not only increase during the workout session, but you’ll also be expending more calories for hours after the workout session is over as well. This means you see superior results with fat loss progression. While there is something to be said for longer, moderate paced cardio workouts that last an hour to help you burn fat, nothing is going to beat the calorie burn you get from interval training. Your sprint repeats in this session will be of the same amount of time as your active rest phase (45 seconds in length), so be prepared for this to work you hard. Some interval sessions use longer rest periods than work periods and for others, it’s vise versa. For this one, it’s an even amount. Here’s how the session should look.
5 minute warm-up
45 seconds at a Rate of Perceived Exercise (RPE) of 8 (on a scale from 1-10)
45 seconds at RPE of 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
45 seconds at RPE 8
45 seconds at RPE 4
5 minute cool-down
The Push-Up-Squat Workout
Next up on the list we have the push-up and squat builder. This is an excellent strength and conditioning workout that you can do right in the comfort of your own home and will ensure no muscle group is missed. The thing with rowing is that it works your back very well, but your chest isn’t going to get touched much. That’s why we bring push-ups into the mix. By doing a variety of different push-ups within the context of your rowing workout, you overcome this problem and will see great strengthening benefits. To mix things up, we’ve also added some bodyweight squats, which will ensure that you also get terrific quad development. Your quads will already be working to some degree while rowing, but you’ll experience more overall glute action as you press through the legs to push away from the rower. With squats, you can focus more on just the quads if you lean forward ever so slightly and feel the quad muscles driving the body upward. Here’s the workout to do.
5 minute warm-up
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps regular push-ups
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps triangle push-ups
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps incline push-ups
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
30 reps regular bodyweight squats
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps decline push-ups
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps spiderman push-ups
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps clap push-ups (or regular if you can’t do clap push-ups)
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps regular push-ups on an exercise ball
2 minutes rowing at RPE 6
15 reps regular bodyweight squats
The Endurance Builder
If you are hoping to boost your overall endurance levels, this endurance booster is a sure-fire trick to help you do so. Sometimes, you just need to take the intensity down a notch but increase the total duration that you are exercising at that particular intensity level. This workout is especially challenging as it builds intensity over time, gradually helping your body learn how to fend off fatigue. Then just when you feel as though you’re tired enough, you take a quick rest period, recover and then start over again. Despite the fact that the RPE’s of this workout are lower, don’t let that fool you, it’ll still give you a great run for your money. Get ready for the challenge!
5 minute warm-up
2 minutes at RPE 5
2 minutes at RPE 6
2 minutes at RPE 7
2 minutes at RPE 8
4 minutes at RPE 3
2 minutes at RPE 6
2 minutes at RPE 7
2 minutes at RPE 8
2 minutes at RPE 9
4 minutes at RPE 3
1 minute at RPE 7
1 minute at RPE 8
1 minute at RPE 9
1 minute at RPE 10
5 minute cool-down
The Core Strengthener
If you’re looking to boost your core strength, this workout session is definitely going to do the trick. Many people leave their core exercises until the very end of their workout session, which sounds fine in theory, but the problem with doing so is that usually, these exercises just get passed over. By the time that you finally finish the rest of your workout session, you’re tired and pressed for time so you figure, what harm is there really in skipping your ab work? It’s time to bring your ab work into your main program. With this workout session, you’ll integrate your ab exercises in between your rowing intervals. It’s a great way to encourage six pack ab development.
5 minute warm-up
2 minutes RPE 5
20 reps lying leg raises
2 minutes RPE 6
20 crunches on an exercise ball
2 minute RPE 7
20 side to side twists
2 minutes RPE 8
1 minute plank hold
2 minutes RPE 7
30 seconds/side plank hold
2 minutes RPE 6
1 minute mountain climbers
2 minutes RPE 5
1 minute bicycle crunches
5 minute cool-down
The Burpee Challenge
Finally, to finish things off you have the burpee challenge. This challenge is perfect for those who are really looking to push their cardiovascular limits because they’ll be maximizing their explosive power while getting their heart rate up. This challenge is definitely going to fatigue you so aim to do it before you have a rest day scheduled. Here’s the workout to do. If you find you can’t quite get through 10 burpees in a row, no problem. Just rest in between burpees until you can finish. If it takes you a few extra minutes, just note this and next week, try and improve your performance. The most important thing is to get them all in.
5 minute warm-up
3 minutes rowing at RPE 7
10 burpees
3 minutes rowing at RPE 7
10 burpees
3 minutes rowing at RPE 7
10 burpees
3 minutes rowing at RPE 7
10 burpees
3 minutes rowing at RPE 7
10 burpees
5 minute cool-down
So as you can see, there are plenty of ways to mix up your rowing workout routine. Don’t get caught in the thought pattern that you can only row during a cardio routine. There are plenty of different types of exercises that you can integrate into your rowing workout to build an even more complete fitness session. Don’t be afraid to hop off that machine from time to time. It adds more excitement to your exercise routine and can help with your overall conditioning level as well.
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MYX community is more concerned with heart rate zones, which have proven to be an effective strategy in workout performance.
machine also comes with a unique five-way hand grip/ankle cuffs.
