Exercise Equipment That You Don’t Need
Many people buy an exercise product to jump start a new weight loss or fitness plan. After all there’s nothing like having the right tools to get you on track, right? Well, not exactly. The makers of exercise products want one thing and that’s your money. While many products can be useful they’re not necessary to lose weight or get fit. In this report we examine a few of the most popular products.
You will learn the right uses for each product as well as what they can and cannot do. You can then use this information to make an informed decision about how you should spend your money.
Swiss Balls
Swiss balls are the big rubber balls you see in every gym. People use them for many different exercises. Swiss balls are great for:
- Doing physical therapy,
- Increasing core strength, or
- Improving balance.
However, they are not needed to lose weight.
If you are looking for an effective way to boost your weight loss, strength training is excellent. For optimal results focus on the following muscle groups:
- Glutes (butt)
- Quads (front thigh)
- Hamstrings (rear thigh)
- Lats (upper and mid back)
- Pecs (chest)
- Delts (shoulders)
Why this group of muscles? These are your largest muscles, so building these muscles will greatly increase the amount of calories you burn twenty-four hours a day.
Strength training with Swiss balls will help to build the core muscles of your abdominals and lower back. Building your core muscles is great for your overall physical fitness. However, building your core muscles will not help you lose weight.
In the Don’t Go Broke Activity Plan, I recommend that you do exercises that focus on your core. However, there is no need to buy a Swiss ball to do these exercises.
Ab Machines
Who doesn’t want great abs? Having a six pack has become the ultimate goal for men and women. And no wonder! With magazine pictures of rippling, glistening six pack abs, it’s pretty hard to feel good about our own too soft tummies. When I refer to an “ab machine”, I am referring to any piece of equipment that has “ab” in the name, or that focuses on strengthening the abdominal muscles. This includes devices such as the “Ab Lounge”, the “Ab Roller”, etc.
The creators of these products try to convince you that if you want to eliminate fat around your midsection, you should work your abdominal muscles. However, that is not the case. If you want to lose fat, you should strength train the large muscle groups of your body: your glutes, quads, hamstrings, lats, pecs, and delts.
Training your core is a part of the Don’t Go Broke Activity Plan. However, this suggested core training is not intended to help you lose more weight. There are many benefits to core training but weight loss is not one, so you should not spend any money on it.
Your core is your trunk and includes not only your abdominals but your back, shoulders, and chest. Training your core can help prevent injury and lower back pain. It is an important part of your fitness routine.
If you have one of these “ab machines”, by all means use it (unless the machine causes back or neck strain). But if you do not have one, do not waste your money. Unless your body fat percentage is approaching the single digits, you will never see your abs. Instead, focus on the simple abdominal exercises in the DGB Activity Plan.
In subsequent posts we will look at 9 more types of exercise equipment that you do not need.
Exercise Equipment That You Don’t Need (Part 2)
Exercise Equipment That You Don’t Need (Part 3)
Exercise Equipment That You Don’t Need (Part 4)
Weight loss can be enhanced and better maintained with strength training. For more information on my favorite strength training tool, read my review of the Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells.
Photo by leoniewise.
Related Posts From Dr. Kal
- Exercise Equipment That You Don’t Need (Part 4)
- Setbacks Are Hurdles Not Failures
- Best Way To Lose Belly Fat
- Don’t Blame Me, It’s the Leptin!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Dr. Kal,
I bought a mountain bike last year that is gathering dust because I found I like running better than biking for cardio. This year I am considering the ab roller (aka: devil’s wheel) and a walmart pullup bar that will fit inside a door jamb.
My reasoning is I don’t make it into the garage to do my weight bench exercises (I’ve had that for years)… too cold, too much clutter or mostly too lazy.
But I reason if I pull a few dumb bells from the garage and cut my cardio in half to 30 minutes, 5 days a week.
Then do the other half of my work outs in the strengh building area with a sensible diet… that should be the best of all worlds.
So my question is do you think I should incorporate the dumb bells first before buying anything? I’m getting over the flu so I’m still waiting to start up again.
Hey John,
First, don’t start strength training until you are completely over the flu.
I would definitely start dumbbell training before purchasing any more equipment. Always establish the habit for free if you can Then spend money on it.
I would get the pull up bar. I have an Iron Gym pull-up bar at home. I don’t have and wouldn’t get the Ab Roller though.