What Aerobic Exercise Equipment Do You Need?

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What's the best aerobic exercise equipment? If you're planning to use aerobic exercise to improve your fitness during the menopausal years, good for you! You're giving your health and longterm wellbeing a fantastic boost.

The good news is, you don't NEED any equipment at all - except a good pair of walking shoes for women, running shoes or trainers. Exercise like walking, jogging or running can all take place in the great outdoors, for free!

But if your schedule's too tight, you want to take advantage of spare time slots at home, or you really don't fancy the idea of jogging in public, then using some aerobic exercise equipment could provide the answer.

Many of the machines you'll find at a gym are also available for home use, or you could start with something as simple as a step or a skipping rope.

Aerobic exercise equipment selection

Which are the most useful pieces of equipment you could buy, to enhance your aerobic exercise program? Let's start with the easy and basic, and work up to the more expensive options.

Skipping rope

Jump Rope Workouts are quick and simple to do. Skipping gives your heart and lungs a great workout, makes you more agile and works on the muscles in your legs, arms and torso. A simple rope is not very expensive, and you can also buy more elaborate ropes which give you a reading for the number of calories used per session. Skipping can be hard on the knees, so start slowly and gently and build up as you get stronger.

Step

So simple, but so effective, a step is a very simple bit of kit you can use for an exercise routine that burns those calories as it works your heart and lungs and tones your leg muscles.

A step is small and easy to store. Look for one with adjustable height so that you can make your exercise session more demanding as you become fitter.

Stepper

A stepper is a neat little machine where you simply stand on the foot paddles and off you go. You can alter the resistance to make the exercise tougher. A stepper is great to trim backside and thighs.

Rebounder/Mini-Trampoline

Fun and easy to use, a mini trampoline is a versatile piece of aerobic exercise equipment. You can jog on it, dance on it, or simply bounce on it - whatever exercise you do, you'll be boosting your heart and lungs, improving your muscle one and giving your stamina, balance and agility a helping hand. A rebounder folds flat for easy storage.

Exercise Bicycle

If you love cycling, but hate traffic fumes, don't like dodging cars and buses or don't have anywhere to ride to, then this is the piece of equipment for you. You can pedal away happily in your home, toning your leg and rear muscles and working your heart. When it gets too easy, just up the resistance level and pretend you're cycling uphill! Great for the novice or more experienced exerciser.

Top Treadmills

You can run, jog or walk on a treadmill, and you'll be able to watch your progress and increase the incline and speed when you want to walk faster.

The treadmill is wonderful for getting your heart rate up to target, and some even come with a built-in heart rate monitor. You can exercise whatever the weather, and some machines fold flat so you can hide them away under the bed or in a cupboard when you're done.

Read about Nordic Track Treadmills and the Nordic Track c2000 Treadmill.

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