Have you ever noticed when you slip on the television right before you go to bed how all the late-night infomercials are filled with the newest and latest revolutionary forms of exercise equipment. Whew! I mean it is all over the TV. Not only that-I also noticed that the shopping channels are cluttered with things like treadmill machines and elliptical machines. They are really popular.
The thinking person who doesn’t disengage his brain when watching TV, will sense immediately that the big pitch is all in. But here is my 85 year old great grandmother, bulging at every seam, listening with baited breath to the seductive voice inviting her to regain her girlish figure by thrusting herself on this magical machine that pummels off all those pounds she’s worked so hard to accumulate over these many years in just six weeks. Youth may fade and bodies deteriorate, but vanity perseveres.
As you’ve no doubt surmised, I lack expertise in the fitness realm, but please don’t stop reading. With all the excellent TV infomercials and the sophisticated new and up-dated plaza gyms opening up, I need to get with it and see what the attraction is. I’m really motivated by all the densely populated gyms, pulsating with sweating, tenacious bodies, thankfully clothed in the latest designer “sweats”.
With all the shtick and flippancy of some of my remarks, we must now assume a more serious posture and focus on whether or not these gyms and their exercise equipment are the way to go for those of us determined to get and keep in shape. Are we really just being duped; do we really need them, and can they really do the job?
Actually, my answer might surprise you. We are not necessarily being duped; no, we don’t really need all the exercise machines; but because studies show that most of us won’t exercise without the machines, it makes sense to use them to get and keep in shape. Picture this, if you will: you have decided you don’t need machines, so you are taking your five-mile run but after that first mile the TV gets mighty heavy and you still have to turn around and carry it home. You see, if you stayed home, you could be on your treadmill and watch your favorite TV program as well.
I have heard some people put a negative slant on home machines because they think it isolates you from social interaction. My answer to this is that when I work out I want to concentrate on my workout and not socializing. If I want to socialize I will go to church or join a country club-but when I am ready to have an intense workout I don’t want any distractions.
I finally realized that it takes more time than one thanks to exercise at a gym, therefore I choose to exercise at home. Yes, exercise equipment is expensive, but I’m willing to cut back elsewhere and buy the machines that will serve my purpose. I like what they do for my body and for my well-being. It’s really a matter of individual preference.
The trainers at the gym, as well as the instructions with the exercise equipment you buy, advise a routine of aerobics, AB workouts, and finishing off with light weight exercise. Diversity is the key and so are the machines; they are my way to shape up and fly right!