Do you own an overpriced clothing rack?
Okay, let’s start today with a show of hands, who here has an overpriced clothing rack? You know that treadmill, or stair climber, or elliptical machine, or maybe that fancy Peloton spinning bike. It’s that piece of exercise equipment that you just HAD to have because if you had the exercise equipment in your house you were “going to use it every day”! Now reality check, how long did that last? One month, two months, maybe it gets dusted/cleaned off a couple of times a year because this time you are going to use it “all the time.” I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, having exercise equipment in your home is convenient but to actually use it regularly takes a certain discipline, that honestly, not many people have.
Boredom can set in quickly
When you have a single piece of equipment you have to get creative with its use or you are going to be bored in no time at all. Peloton has addressed that with a membership that will allow you to do other workouts besides spinning, but you are going to need some extra equipment to do that. The treadmill, if you spend the money to get a programmable one, will give you some options of varied intensity and pitch but be prepared to buy a tv or an iPad to watch while you are walking/running because looking at the wall in front of you is going to get old quick! The elliptical is a great low impact cardio workout but again you need variation or it will become a clothing rack in a couple of weeks.
Where to put the Exercise equipment so you will use it
Having a large piece of equipment in a place where you see it all of the time is best, it’s a little reminder that it’s there, you spent the money on it and you should be using it. So the living room? Your bedroom? Most of the time neither of those places are ideal since it’s an eyesore and it’s a common area in your house. You most likely cannot use it when others are in the room because you’ll be disturbing them. A basement is a popular place if you have one, but that brings on the problem of out of sight is out of mind. Give this part serious consideration before making that purchase.
Be realistic about the amount of use it will get
I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy exercise equipment for your home, I just want you to be realistic about how often you will use it vs. the expense of the item. You could work out at Coach Mel’s 3 times a week for two and a half years for what a moderate piece (based on $3,000) of exercise equipment would cost you. You would not have an overpriced clothing rack in your house and you would have workouts that change every 4 weeks to help with the boredom factor…not to mention you get me! If you want the convenience of working out at home we’ve got that covered too with a virtual-only membership. All you’ll need to purchase is a few different size sets of dumbbells and an exercise mat. Classes are taught live so you will have real-time cueing and form corrections. You can do unlimited workouts from home for over 4 years for the same cost as that piece of equipment.
To see our complete schedule of classes go to coachmel.punchpass.com. From there you can create an account and see all of our membership options.
The clothing rack vs. a few small pieces of equipment
The photo above is of my treadmill…I hardly ever use it mostly because it resides in my son’s room. I am realistic about the fact that I would rather be outside walking or running but I keep it because I do clean it off and use it a couple of times a year (you all know how much I hate the cold), but it is not my main exercise choice, I personally prefer to have weights in my hands working with you!
We all know the benefits of using exercise to be healthy BEFORE we NEED to be healthy, we just need to be realistic about how we are going to get that exercise and avoid purchasing an overpriced clothing rack.