home gym

If you've always dreamed of having a home gym then why not see how you can make this a reality? Benefits include no more waiting for the piece of equipment you want to use and the opportunity to work out whenever you want wearing whatever you want!

Why Get A Home Gym?

Convenience

One of the main reasons people often opt for a home gym is the sheer convenience of it. If you come home late you can still work out, if you want to, at midnight, or if you can’t sleep you could do some gym work. A home gym gives you the chance to work out when it suits you rather than w

With the new "Technogym Live" digital platform coming soon, what better way to launch it than with a new bike - catchily named the Technogym Bike. They are sure to add a new moniker sometime soon but, in the meantime, what do we know about this latest offering from the uber-stylish Italian fitness equipment brand?

March 2019 started with an exclusive London launch event where it was rumoured the new Technogym bike was to make it's appearance. Spot on. What Technogym also went on to show was their roadmap for fitness content and interaction with their users. The new Technogym LIVE digital platform will offer their end-users (as they call them) fitness trainers, videso and guides whether you're at home, in the gym or even in the office gym. Eventually this will be available on their smart bikes, rowers and treadmills.

The "Live" platform is also designed with gym, studio and hotel operators in mind as it allows them to stream their classes to their members in the gym and in their homes. This gives Technogym access to potential users 24/7.

Why Focus on Fitness Content?

Technogym want their fitness content (videos, guides, tips) to link seamlessly with both their current fitness equipment and with a new range of equipment they are working on right now. That manes you will get a synergy between style, technology and information - as a way of attracting, retaining and inspiring consumers of the technogym brand.

First Up - The Bike

As the first product to be released on the digital Live program, the Technogym Bike is actually a hybrid of the current Group Cycle, with the digital platform to put classes and groups right in front of the user, at home or in the gym.

An adapted, hybrid group cycle, it's a commercial grade indoor cycle that has suiccessfully been used across the world for indoor cycling classes and professional riders. With it's indoors / outdoors experience, the Poly-V belt with kevlar cords, the near perfect fit and posture settings and magnetic resistance system, it is a market leading indoor cycle that allows you

When looking for ways to workout at home for strength, toning or stamina, using weights needs to be simple, easy and hopefully cheap enough to attract the masses.

With increased blood pressure, swollen ankles and sometimes the sweats, is there any wonder why increasing numbers of women are buying their own fitness equipment and

Whether you're thinking about hiring a PT to help you in the park, or to help you with your new home gym you've created, how do you know when it's a worthwhile investment, or not?

How do you quality control a personal trainer? It's a serious question and one that you should think about if you have hired, or are thinking of hiring, a personal trainer to help you with your workouts and exercise. With the rise in demand for personal trainers increasing, the number of courses available and the number of qualified trainers appearing on the market has also risen. But how do you know who is quality - and who is not?

Quality Control?

Is there such a thing as quality control of personal trainers? Well yes, and no! In the UK we have the Register of Exercise Professionals that oversees exercise and fitness professionals, including personal trainers. They have a strict framework that personal trainers' must achieve or better in order for them to call themselves personal trainer. Within this framework is on-going professional development - CPD for short. They must accrue a number of points each year to retina their status. This assures you the trainer is continuing their learning and knowledge - which benefits the clients they train hopefully.

However, does someone physically interview and test every trainer every year? No is the quick and short answer to that. Gyms are more likely to have a handle on quality control purely because the trainer is in close contact with other professionals and also the gym management team. Complaints or issues should therefore be quickly revealed.

Home Vs Gym

Whether you have bought equipment for your home, or are wanting to go into a commercial gym or studio environment for your workouts making sure you have the right personal trainer will still be important.

The Pilates Reformers are lined up in Pilates studios all over the world and are probably the most famous piece of Pilates equipment. Reformer classes are usually one of the main choices at Pilates studios and portable reformers continue to grow as a home exercise equipment trend.

What Is a Pilates Reformer?

Pilates founder Joseph Pilates invented the reformer which is a bed-like frame with a flat platform on it called the carriage; this rolls back and forth on wheels within the frame. The carriage is attached to one end of the reformer by a set of springs which provide differing levels of resistance choices as the carriage is pushed or pulled along the frame. The shoulder blocks located on the carriage keep a practitioner from sliding off the end of the reformer as they push or pull the carriage. In addition to this, there is an adjustable bar called a footbar at the spring end of the reformer which can be used by the feet or hands as the practitioner moves the carriage. The reformer also has long straps with handles on them that are attached to the top end of the frame, these can be pulled with legs or arms to move the carriage as well.

The parts of the reformer are adjustable for various body sizes and levels of skill. It is the resistance of the springs and body weight that make the carriage more or less difficult to move.

How Is a Reformer Used?

The reformer provides versatility as exercises can be done lying down, standing, sitting, pulling the straps, pushing the footbar, perched on the footbar, perched on the shoulder blocks, with additional equipment, upside down, sideways and numerous other variations. Due to this, the reformer can train many dynamics and parts of the body in many different ways with just one piece of equipment, it allows for first-time beginners to exercises that challenge the most advanced. 

The exercises which are completed on the reformer promote length, strength, flexibility, and balance. The majority of Pilates reformer exercises are based on pushing or pulling the carriage or holding the carriage steady during an exercise as it is pulled on by the springs.

What Are the Benefits of Pilates Reformer Exercises?

Exercising with the reformer is possible for anyone, at any level of fitness which is why the full name of the reformer is the Universal Reformer. It offers all the famous benefits of Pilates including overall strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance which, in turn, lead to daily life improvements such as better posture, efficient and graceful movement, and for many, relief from pain associated with physical imbalances for example back pain.

The Pilates powerhouse muscles which is the core muscles are of upmost importance for building strength; flat abs, strong backs, toned thighs and glutes are all results of this emphasis. Although Pilates

It's not necessary to have a lot of room to do home Pilates workouts, all that is really needed is a clear space on the floor big enough to put

The benefits of indoor rowing are undisputed.  No other gym equipment rivals the rowing machine when it comes to providing a calorie scorching, low impact, full body workout.  When correctly executed, the rowing action uses every large muscle group in the body (roughly 85% of total muscle mass,) building lean muscle and kick starting the metabolic system from stroke one.

Beginners Guide to Indoor Rowing

The humble indoor rower also tops the list when it comes to training your cardiovascular system.  Amongst athletes, elite rowers are renowned for having the biggest hearts and lungs going. British

IHRSA 2017, The International Health Racquet and Sports Club Association held its annual conference in Los Angeles a few weeks ago (March 2017). IHRSA is dedicated

The evolution of the wooden rowing machine in the mid 1980’s by the company, WaterRower, has led to the rise of wooden fitness equipment designed for both home gyms and fitness studios. This was as a result of high demand, particularly from the German market, for wooden equipment that was both stylish and functional.

Beautiful Wood

As a result of this demand, the German company ‘NOHrD’ developed their own range of wooden fitness products that have wood finishes consistent with the WaterRower brand. As the two companies have developed products with wood finishes to match one another, these wooden gym pieces have become a ‘family’ of equipment, allowing domestic and commercial customers to purchase a full wooden gym solution.

WaterRower

The WaterRower was designed with the objective to set it apart from other fitness equipment, and along with NOHrD products, both companies boast award winning designs. The wooden models have been produ