Which Home Gym Equipment is the Best for Weight Loss?

Losing weight at home is the perfect solution for a lot of people’s health goals. Hundreds of thousands in the UK are trying to do it, but it can be a lot easier said than done with that much information and advertising out there. If you’re really dedicated and you’re looking to buy the best equipment for weight loss, deciding which to get is just as hard.

That’s where we come in.

Want to move fast? Jump to the right section below.

• How Losing Weight Really Works
• The Best Way To Do It
• Equipment Available
• The Best Cardio Equipment
• Wait, There’s More

How Losing Weight Really Works

Before you can decide which is the best exercise equipment to lose weight for your own needs and what’s most effective in general, you need to know the basic science behind weight loss. It’s pretty complicated, but simply put, it’s something like this:

To lose weight, you need to be using more calories in a day than you are consuming. That way, your body burns stored fat for energy to keep you going. (That does not mean you should burn more through exercise than you eat). The vast majority of the calories you consume are spent just to keep you ticking over throughout the day (your resting energy expenditure). If you exercise, that burns a few hundred extras.

In a nutshell, that’s it. By that logic, deciding the best equipment for weight loss depends on which burns the most calories, right? Well, there’s actually a little bit more to it than that.

The Best Way To Do It

The best way to lose weight is in a way that you find the most enjoyable and sustainable. After all, if you hate what you’re doing, you might find it tricky to keep up, making it worse in the long run. So little things like this have a huge impact!

Cardio

The first things that come to mind are probably cardio machines, where you’re just using them for 30 minutes at a time here and there to burn off calories, and that’s right. On top of the basics, though, there’s actually a lot more that you can do with them too:

HIIT

HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is the best example of this. It’s extremely up and coming in the fitness world, and it’s actually one of the best ways to burn calories in the least amount of time. It really is that good.

It goes on the premise of burning calories by going flat out, full speed ahead hardcore exercising, but in short bursts. The most common example is a style like exercising for 45 seconds before resting for 45 seconds and repeating for as long as you need to. Of course, you can mix it up, but that’s the general structure.

LISS

Here, the opposite end of the spectrum is LISS (Low-intensity steady state) cardio here. Again, that’s taking things easy but for a longer time, making the workout easier but much more time-consuming. The best example of this is something like walking or using an exercise bike at a slow pace. This kind of training suits some people down to the ground by making things less intense and almost relaxing.

Doing something like this can be much more enjoyable, and with a recumbent bike or a treadmill, for example, you can even watch the television or make a phone call while you’re doing it. That’s a great way to keep things from getting stale.

Performance

Finally, performance is one way to train for the more competitive or realistic exerciser. Feel like getting good at something in particular while you’re working out and not just weighing less? This is the one for you. With something like an upright bike, rowing machine or running machine, you’re well on your way.

The idea of this one is to go a certain distance in the best time possible. Whether you’re competing with yourself, following an event or doing a marathon, you can train differently every time and transfer it to the real-life version. It’s an awesome way to push yourself further and really make the most of your home exercise equipment to lose weight. It guarantees a great workout at the end of the day!

Equipment Available

So now you know all the ways that you can use your equipment, it’s time to look at what’s available to you and which is going to be the best in the long run for your weight loss. There are a lot of choices after all!

Rowing Machines

The rowing machine is the first up and possibly the highest calorie burner out there. It gives you a full-body workout by hitting your arms, chest, shoulders, back and legs all to some degree. That can be an awesome way to burn the highest number of calories. Because of that, though, it is hard work. The harder and faster you row, the more resistance they tend to generate. That means more calories burned. They are hard work, especially in HIIT workouts.

Exercise Bikes

Exercise bikes are a little bit more variable. They can suit almost anyone’s needs because of how variable they are. You have small foldable bikes and upright bikes that are just the general go-to bikes for home gym equipment to help lose weight. On top of those, though, you have to other extremes. The recumbent bike means you can have a better low-impact workout if you have any joint or health issues or use it for LISS, whereas the assault bike has the opposite. Moving handles and pedals mean you’re getting a hardcore full-body workout from entirely different angles. They’re awesome too.

Cross Trainers

Like the assault bikes we’ve just talked about, cross trainers offer a full-body workout too, which again is awesome as far as equipment for weight loss goes. There are pretty famous for a reason after all, right? You can vary the resistance again to cater to your needs, although they might not burn as many calories as other equipment does, like the rowers or exercise bikes. With that being said, it’s a lot easier to use a cross trainer for a lot longer, and if you have the time, that will burn more calories in the long run. It really depends on you.

Treadmills

Finally, we have the running machines—the king of cardio. Running is one of the most popular forms of cardio exercise, and it’s great for toning up because you lose weight and build muscle. It’s a natural movement doing something that the human body was designed to do. With that being said, running is HARD work for the majority. If it’s not your thing, though, walking or incline walking means that you can still get awesome workouts from less intense exercise and maybe just the thing you’re missing—each to their own.

The Best Cardio Equipment

So that’s a breakdown of each of them and how they can all benefit you differently depending on your personal needs and preferences. They all have advantages. We won’t leave you with ‘they’re all good because we sell them all either. If you want a definitive answer, it’s likely going to be this.

If you work at the same intensity for the same amount of time, the chances are that the rowing machine will be the winner here. It’s just phenomenal for the calorie burn in the long run. Treadmills and assault bikes, in particular, are a close second, but depending on how you use them, any cardio equipment can get you where you need to be. It is really best to find your favourite that you enjoy using practically. Inconvenience and lack of motivation are not suitable for weight loss.

Recommended Products

Wait, There’s More

So that’s the best cardio equipment for weight loss, but what about other equipment. This is something that a huge number of people don’t know, so we better fill you in before you go and work your socks off on your cardio machine.

Weight training is an awesome way to burn calories in the long run, too, for a number of reasons:

• It raises your resting energy expenditure
• Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, in and out of exercise
• Exercise gets easier
• Weight lifting burns calories and prevents them piling back on (it’s a hormonal thing too)
• Afterburn!

Full body compound exercises are the best bet, but even bodyweight exercises can do the trick. See what works best for you!

Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.

If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.