Total Gym exercise equipment has a good reputation as a quality machine, and that’s obviously important if you’re going to spend any money on gym equipment for your home. Prices have a nice range, so you don’t have to spend a fortune if you don’t want to, yet you’ll still get a quality product. One thing to note on all Total Gym exercise equipment is that while you can fold it up and put it away, it’s fairly heavy.

Today I’d like to review a few of the Total Gym exercise equipment options, and what interests me about each.

Total Gym 1100

The Total Gym 1100 is a budget friendly model. You’ll have to check on your own for current pricing – I don’t like to share product pricing in my reviews when it can change so easily. Still, I will note that Amazon has one of the best prices I’ve seen, plus they’re a company I trust.

The Total Gym 1100 measures 99.5 by 43.75 by 16 inches, and can be folded and put away. If you have the space, I don’t recommend putting your exercise equipment away too often, as it’s easier to use if it’s just out there, ready to go, but many of us have good reasons to put exercise equipment away, such as a small living space or young children who won’t always leave it alone. Do what works for you and focus on keeping up your motivation no matter where you keep your exercise equipment.

Like other Total Gyms, this model allows you to do about 60 exercises, and comes with leg pulleys so you can work out your lower body, not just your upper body. The reviews on Amazon are quite promising, so low price or no, this looks like a highly acceptable machine whether you’re trying to build your home gym on a budget or just want to make sure that you aren’t overspending on something you won’t actually use.

Total Gym XLS Trainer

The Total Gym XLS Trainer is a step up from the 1100. It has a new pulley system, better padding on the glide board, plus extra features such as a Pilates kit. It also supports up to 400 pounds, although some reviewers on Amazon dispute it’s suitability for that range. It includes over 80 exercises, 5 workout DVDs, an exercise wall chart, training deck and nutritional program/meal planning guide. Overall, it looks like a great piece of exercise equipment for a very reasonable price.

Total Gym 1800 Club Home Gym

If you don’t want to take the jump in price to the XLS Trainer, the Total Gym 1800 Club is a pretty good choice. It has a larger glide board than the 1100, and includes ab boards, a Pilates bar and a mat to protect your floor. You also get one DVD with two workouts. This model has a maximum user weight of 275 pounds, which from what I’ve seen is a pretty common range for lower priced home gym equipment.

If you’re noticing that there aren’t big differences apparent in different models and price ranges, you’re right. The differences are often in the quality of the frame and glide board, and in the accessories you get.

There are other Total Gym models to consider, but these are the ones we looked at. Take a look at what each one offers you as you consider your own needs. It’s likely to be a good purchase.

ReusableBags.com has a great selection of water bottles. The SIGG bottles are perhaps the most beautiful, but there are styles to suit just about any taste.

The other advantage that many reusable bottles have is that they do not leach toxins. They’re actually better for you. Not many people currently worry about whether or not harmful toxins leak from plastic bottles, but some feel we ought to. If you have a bottle that doesn’t do that anyhow, no worry about which side is right.

The SIGG bottles and other reusable water bottles can also of course be found at Amazon if you prefer. These make great gifts for the person working on keeping fit in your life.

Fitness gifts can be a good choice… PROVIDED the person will not be offended. If you are shopping for someone sensitive about their weight, it might be better to get something else. But if they’ve been commenting on how much they want to get fit, and seem sincere, not the type to take offense that you noticed, fitness gifts can be extremely welcome.

Most budgets won’t allow for anything fancy, such as a treadmill. However, there are a lot of things you can buy that will help with working out at home and not be expensive.

Fitness Balls

As a parent, I love my exercise ball. Not only can I work out on it, my kids love playing with it too. I just have to be careful that they don’t abuse it too much.

Yoga Gear

Yoga is a wonderful form of exercise and relaxation. Most people will enjoy both. Much of the gear is quite affordable.

There are a lot of options when you want to help someone with their home gym that are extremely affordable. For the person in your life who is genuinely interested in improving their fitness, it can be a great gift choice.

Exercise equipment is often advertised on television. There are plenty of infomercials touting the latest equipment, from large pieces to small. And of course all of it is one of the secrets to fitness.

But do they really work? Are they worth it?

I’ll admit to a fondness for the Gazelle and similar products. I’ve used them, they’re fun, and they do a decent job. You can shift your balance so that you work different muscle groups. They also aren’t badly priced.

I always like shopping for these things on sites such as Amazon, where you can get consumer reviews on them, rather than relying on the hype presented in the infomercials. Products such as the Billy Blanks Boot Camp are quite well rated by reviewers. Other products definitely justify my husband’s opinion.

The key factor to buying any exercise equipment is to remember that it’s up to you to make it work, even if you buy the best product, beloved by dozens of reviewers. Many infomercials make claims that can get them in trouble with the FTC.

There’s no such thing as effortless weight loss or fitness. You have to work at it.

Technorati Tags: as seen on tv, fitness, working out, gazelle

Ever wish you could have a personal trainer help you? You don’t have to hire one if you try a service such as Podfitness, which you can check out on the Podfitness Homepage.

Their service is quite interesting. You get fitness routines customized to your profile, which you can download to your iPod or MP3 player. You can even choose a trainer as well as the music you work out to. You are limited t 3 workouts per day, but that should be plenty for most people.

And best of all, you can try it free for 10 days. You’ll have to share your credit card information, as with any trial, but you can cancel if you find the service is just not for you.

Tracking your stats is one of the challenges of working out. That is where gadgets can be a lot of fun. They give you some solid numbers to work with. But they are not always cheap.

Take the CS600, for example. It’s a great gadget for keeping track of your heart rate and the speed of your bicycle. It’s a great way to know how you are performing, giving you numbers rather than just a feeling. It sends the data wirelessly to your computer.

But it can cost up to about $700 from what I’m seeing on Amazon. This tool gives you a ton of information to help you with your training, but it is decidedly not for amateurs.

That’s one of the considerations you need to make when you consider getting gadgets to encourage yourself to get fit. Can you make the most of it? A $3 pedometer can help pretty much anyone. A $200 pedometer with an MP3 player is probably overkill if you already own another MP3 player, but may be just right if you don’t have one.

Be sensible about what you shop for. Buy what you will actually use or what will motivate you to excel. But be sure that the motivation will be sufficient. Most times it is best to start a routine and figure out if you can stick with it before you start buying gadgets to track your performance.

Technorati Tags: fitness gadgets, pedometer, fitness tracking

One of the big reasons people don’t like to have a home gym is the expense. Treadmills and other large equipment cost a lot and take up tons of space. Then you feel guilty as you use it as a place to store clothes rather than exercise with it.

This is a mistake that results from trying to make your home gym look like one you might join. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that kind of equipment, so long as you are sure you will really get good use out of it.

For the rest of us, a simpler home gym is more affordable, more fun and more likely to be used.

An exercise ball, for example, can be kept in the living room, and used as you watch television. If you have kids you don’t have to worry about it pinching fingers, and they’ll probably think it is loads of fun to play with. And if it’s just you at home, you don’t have to worry about it attracting clutter. A ball is a terrible place to store things.

Dumbbells and resistance bands are also great alternatives for your home gym. These are quite inexpensive, and you can have a small selection without taking up a ton of space. But if you don’t want to buy weights, you can find things to lift around the house. They may not be perfectly designed for your routine, however, and experimentation may be required to get things going at the level you would like to work out at.

You can often find perfectly good home gym equipment at garage sales. This is great if you do want to have a larger piece of equipment. You can buy them new if you like, but since many people fail to make good use of the equipment they buy, you can often find it in excellent condition for far less.

There are some areas you do not want to go too cheap on. Your athletic shoes, for example. You want shoes that will provide excellent support to your feet as you exercise, and you need to replace them as they wear down.

If you enjoy aerobics, an aerobic step can be a great investment. It’s easy to put away under a bed, and a great way to make your aerobic workout more challenging.

A mini stair stepper can be a good choice, so long as you get a good quality one. Many come with handles so that you can involve your entire body, not just your legs. Once again, these are generally small enough you can store them out of the way with ease, or have them in whichever part of the house you would like to workout in on a particular day.

The key to a successful home gym is that it works with what you will do for exercise. If you aren’t really going to use it, even cheap exercise equipment probably isn’t worth the money. Take your time and be sure.

I like the selection that XYZ Bikes has to offer. Not a huge range of colors, but still enough that you can stand out if you want. Classic beach cruisers of all sorts. They’re wonderful when you just want to ride along and enjoy yourself. Not for racing or anything like that. The XYZ Bikes blog has some nice information on their various bikes and on proper assembly.

Another thing about them I think most can appreciate is the price. These are not expensive bicycles. That’s great when you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend a lot on a bike or any other kind of exercise equipment. With something like this you don’t have to.

A use I can see for these beyond riding along at the beach would be to get one so that you can follow your kids on their bikes. I’m probably thinking this way because my daughter is just learning to ride her bike, and soon enough she will be hard to keep up with on foot. It would also just make it easier to get her out on her bike for longer periods and distances, which would be more fun for all of us.

Baseball does require some equipment, of course, but it’s pretty reasonable if you just want the basics. Bat, ball, and of course the baseball glove. Oh, and helmets can be a good idea for the batters. Hopefully that one is pretty obvious.

Baseball Rampage looks like a pretty interesting site for your baseball supplies. The gloves come in all sorts of price ranges and styles, so you can decide what you need.

One of the wonderful things about a sport like baseball is all the things it does for your family. Good exercise, a good way to teach hand-eye coordination, and playing on a team. There are good reasons why it is so popular in this country.

I like that baseball is so easily adapted to the various skills of the players in a family. The youngest can hit the ball from a hitting tee. You can practice playing catch to learn what to do after a ball is hit. When you’re not playing on a diamond it is easy to decide how far away to make the bases so that even younger players have a chance to run for it.

Many of these cost a couple hundred to even a few thousand for those who want to spend that kind of money. But you don’t have to spend a ton to have a home gym that will help you to reach your fitness goals.

Think about the things you really need to have. I love my exercise ball, for example. Takes very little room, I can use it for exercise and my kids can play with it. No worry about the kids pinching their fingers on it. And it cost under $30. It can be used in any room of the house.

If you walk, jog or run for exercise, a pedometer is a great idea that can help you to track your goals without costing a fortune.

That is the beauty of sites such as Amazon that offer a range of exercise, fitness and sporting goods, along with so much else. You can find great fitness equipment and not spend a fortune. Just buy the things you are actually going to use.

But do remember as you shop to not overdo. A bunch of little stuff can easily add up to what you would have spent on a single larger item. Start small with things you know you could use in your current routine, rather than building up with a bunch of stuff you HOPE you will use.

Start with what you know, then build when you are used to using your equipment. You’ll have a much nicer home gym and waste much less money.