Originally published on BlindAlive April 12, 2015, by Mel Scott
Getting and staying fit in your own home is easy. Home fitness is all the rage these days with hundreds of different exercise workouts for sale in athletic stores and online. Working out in your own space has many benefits and is certainly less stressful for many of us. My home fitness area is my favorite place in my house other than under my warm covers.
The exercise area in my house takes up a corner of a room. There is a stationary bike which I recommend instead of a treadmill. A bike can be used if you have foot or other joint issues and still get a good cardio workout. Treadmills are great, but I can duplicate that movement closely with running, walking, or dancing in place. I don’t need an expensive piece of equipment for that. If you want to buy a larger fitness machine, a good bike is what I prefer.
My bike is the largest piece of equipment and I use it to hold on to when I need help with balance. I also have fitness bands tied to my bike for foot and arm exercises. My bike is heavy so it is stable. It is important that you have a sturdy chair or other piece of furniture that you can use for balance or as a point of orientation.
My next favorite thing is my yoga mat. I am going to talk extensively about the exercise mat in a later blog; but for now, I will say that a good mat is essential. Cheap mats are not a good idea. My mat is mine and mine alone. I exercise, do yoga, Pilates, and meditate there. It is for safety and orientation.
Free weights are very useful for working out at home. I have a variety of hand weights, wrist, and ankle weights lined up along the wall. I have also kept them in a basket so they are out of the way. Tripping over weights is not fun. I will often use the wrist or ankle weights to add just a little extra weight for any kind of workout.
Next is my stability ball. I actually have two of them. They are different sizes. These exercise balls are a great tool. I use mine to sit on, to bounce my depression away, as a way to increase or decrease the intensity of an exercise, and just for fun.
The last tool is a Pilates ring. This tool can be used in place of weights and resistance bands, and there are specific exercises that are unique to the ring. There will be more about the Pilates ring in upcoming posts.
The last thing you need is a player of some kind for your workouts. I have my workouts on my computer and I have an old CD player. You can use your phone or iPod as well.
That’s my whole home workout area. I like to change it up occasionally so I stay motivated. Once the initial investment is made, it doesn’t cost much to keep it up. It is best to buy high quality equipment – it will last longer and there is less of a chance of injuring yourself.
So get your equipment and make a spot for yourself. You deserve it and it is the best health insurance you can buy. Have fun and take care of your body.