The safety, efficiency and effectiveness of your home gym depend on your ability to devise a logical exercise plan. While your available floor space and the specific features of your home gym equipment may limit your exercise choices, a bit of creativity makes it possible to use one type of equipment for multiple aspects of fitness.
Strength Training Guidelines
The American College of Sports Medicine advises people to perform 10 exercises for the major muscle groups. While they suggest a minimum of two weekly strength training workouts, if you have purchased home resistance training equipment, you probably want to do at least three weekly workouts. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions of each exercise, and allow a rest day between exercise sessions. Exercise sequencing plays a major role in workout efficiency. Begin with compound exercises that work the larger muscle groups. Examples include the bench press, the leg press and the lat pulldown. Perform small-muscle isolation exercises, such as biceps curls, triceps extensions and hamstring curls, after completing the larger muscle groups.
Aerobic Guidelines
Aerobic exercise plays a key role in weight loss. The American College of Sports Medicine advises at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, five days of the week, but warns that people needing to lose significant amounts of weight may require longer sessions. These guidelines hasten the weight loss process, but if you are only using one type of aerobic machine, you might experience muscle overuse injuries. Fortunately, many home aerobic machines have sophisticated features, which allow you to change the muscle emphasis of your cardiovascular workout. If you pedal forward on one day of the week, pedal backward on the next day. Increasing the resistance on an aerobic machine adds a muscle-toning element, while decreasing resistance allows you to perform speed work. Interval training, which alternates intense bursts of activity with a recovery phase, prevents home aerobic machine boredom.
Balance Training
Most home gym machines have removable seats and benches. Substituting a stability ball, half ball or a balance board adds an element of balance training or sport-specific exercise to your workout. Plan one day for a traditional workout. On your next workout day, substitute the stability ball for the bench when performing the chest press, or stand on the balance board while performing biceps curls or lateral raises. If your home workout machine has a leg press, place a balance disc on the foot plate as you perform the exercise. Since the disc provides an unstable surface, you will have to engage your inner and outer thighs to maintain correct knee alignment. Using balance training equipment adds different types of challenges, so use a lighter weight when performing this workout.
Flexibility
Most home gym aerobic and resistance training machines can double as flexibility trainers. To stretch your upper back, for example, stand in front your aerobic machine, and hold on to the handlebars. Walk backward until your arms are straight and your spine is in a tabletop position. To stretch your hamstrings, place one foot on the bicycle seat and reach forward, bringing your fingers toward your toes. If your resistance training machine has an incline bench, sit at the top of the bench as you reach for your toes. Hold each stretch for 30 to 60 seconds.
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