Although there is no question that regular exercise is conducive to getting you fit, there is no similar certainty about which claims of work out equipment manufacturers can be trusted for accuracy or relied on for a buying decision. A chin up bar fastened to a doorway at home will not turn you into Hercules.

The most flagrant abuse you’ll see with work out equipment manufacturers, and not to single them out because as a group they are probably no different from any other kind of manufacturer, are claims that their equipment will provide you with a quick and easy way to shape your abs, lose weight, build huge muscles, or otherwise have a body that looks like a cover art for a fitness magazine.

There is no quick and easy way to tone muscles, lose weight, or get in shape, whether you want to achieve that result with one part of your body or reshape your entire physique. Physical training requires time, work, and effort. There are no shortcuts, and if there is a caution to be learned when evaluating the claims of workout equipment manufacturers that would be it.

What To Watch Out For

The kinds of claims that you want to be the most skeptical about are those manufacturer’s claims that say that their equipment or device can do things such as:

1. Make you burn more calories or lose weight faster than any other similar piece of workout equipment or other type of workout equipment in general.
It is a good general rule that fitness equipment that trains your entire body will probably burn calories at a faster rate than fitness equipment that claims to train only one part of your body such as your legs, your arms, your chest, or as is popular today you’re abdominal muscles. The longer you use the equipment, and the more work you put into it, the more calories you’ll burn. That is a law of physics and biology, there’s no getting around it otherwise.

If you are already in much better than average physical condition and have pretty much the physique that you would like to have, then it makes good sense to go ahead and purchase a piece of fitness equipment that will train and tone one particular muscle group or area of your body. Body sculpting is very hard work but it’s likely that the person who has already advanced that far in physical fitness as a very good idea of exactly the kind of equipment that he or she will need to finish the job. If your body fat percentage is too high then no ab machine or lat trainer is going to produce any definition.

For the person who has set realistic fitness goals for themselves, and has determined that a piece of fitness training equipment would probably help them achieve those goals, their first choice should probably be a piece of equipment that can provide them with a holistic approach to training, that is, one that will provide cardiovascular and aerobic benefits in addition to strength training. The only essential piece of work out equipment is probably a heart rate monitor.

2. Make you lose weight faster in one particular area of your body or tone only the muscles in one particular muscle group.
Your body is one complete unit and as much as we would all like to have a piece of equipment that would that would focus all the body’s energy on removing the spare tire around our middle, this is an unrealistic claim. Losing weight is a function of the number of calories that you consume versus the number of calories that you expend over any given period of time. If you want to lose weight in one particular area of your body the only way you can do that is by losing body mass across your entire body. It may seem that some people tend to pack on the pounds in one particular area or another but even if it were true they would have no different result.

3. Give you effortless results.
There is no free lunch. Muscles get bigger and stronger when trained with weight and against resistance. Body mass disappears when energy output exceeds energy input. You cannot build big muscles while you’re sleeping. You cannot lose weight eating whatever and as much as you want while ignoring the amount of calories that you expend.

Before you buy a piece of workout equipment based on manufacturers’ claims and the huge number of satisfied customer testimonials that you see on the net or in the newspaper or fitness magazines try to get a hold of the owner’s manual or any other specification sheets that the manufacturer may be providing. It may turn out that the manufacturer’s spectacular claims are based in part on the use of their equipment and also dieting or otherwise restricting the user’s caloric intake during the same period of time that the manufacturer claims you can reasonably expect results within.

You should be very skeptical of celebrity endorsements of fitness equipment unless you have information or reason to believe that a particular celebrity is an expert in physical fitness or with that particular piece of equipment that he or she may happen to be endorsing at the time. Before and after pictures from satisfied customers, and customer testimonials in general may be true. Almost certainly some are. You have no way of knowing, however, if the results of the customer providing the testimonial are typical, or if you could reasonably expect them also. The person who works out hard for four or five hours a day will achieve significantly different results with the same piece of equipment than the person who works out for a few minutes two or three days a week over the same 30-day period.

All of the above is the skeptics approach to buying workout equipment, and most other items that we buy in a consumer society. The question still remains, after you have evaluated all the advertising claims, and hopefully have separated the week from the chaff, how do you go about choosing the right fitness equipment?

Perhaps the best way to approach the task of purchasing fitness equipment is to start from the physical fitness goal that you want to achieve and then work backwards toward a particular piece of equipment, or perhaps several, that will best help you achieve that goal. It does not have to be electrical or sophisticated. It could be neoprene hand weights, or a balance ball, or a dumbbell.

Everybody says they want to be physically fit and although we all have a general idea of what that means you do not see the term defined very often. Physical fitness will mean something different to each person, so here is a good general definition that seems to cover most people.

Physical fitness is the ability to function effectively throughout your day, whatever physical activity your day may involve for you, and still have enough energy left over to handle unexpected stresses and emergencies so that you can finish the day tired but not so exhausted that one night’s rest cannot recharge you completely for tomorrow.

There Are Five Components to Physical Fitness:

Muscular strength – this is the greatest amount of force that a muscle, or a muscle group can exert in a single effort.

Muscular endurance – the ability of a muscle group performed repeated movements have less than maximum force for extended periods of time

Cardio respiratory endurance – the efficiency in which the body delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for muscular activity and transport waste products from the cells.

Flexibility - the ability to move a joint or any group of joints through an entire normal range of motion.

Body composition – the percentage of body fat that the person has in comparison to his or her total body mass.

Improving the first three components of fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance will have a positive impact on body composition and result in less body fat. Weight loss is always a big deal when it comes to physical fitness, and probably cannot be separated from it because excessive body fat detracts from all the other fitness components and reduces performance. In addition, excessive body fat detracts from appearance and generally has a negative effect on overall health.

Athletic ability is not the same thing as physical fitness. A person is considered to be athletic when they have better than average ability for speed, muscle power, agility, eye-hand coordination, or for soccer players, eye-foot coordination. If you want to excel in a sport then you have to train all five components before specializing in any: flexibility for golfing, muscle strength and endurance for boxing.

Physical fitness is holistic. Very specific training can improve any one of the individual components of physical fitness within the limits of a person’s ability, but a true physical fitness program seeks to improve or maintain all five components. If all this is terribly complicated then maybe you would benefit from membership in a commercial gym where a personal trainer could work with you on form, count, cardio and core strength. A gym will have a line of bikes, ellipticals, treadmills and dumbbells that you could try.

Choosing The Right Work Out Equipment

The right work out equipment for you is probably a combination of things to help you achieve each of the five components of physical fitness. Different people will have different goals that may emphasize one or two individual components of physical fitness over the others. Will the equipment help you achieve your goal – whether it’s to build strength by lifting weights, improving your cardio endurance, increasing your flexibility, or getting to a marathon runner’s body fat percentage?

Will you use the equipment? How many expensive elliptical machines, treadmills, and exercise bikes do you think are sitting unused and gathering dust in basements, patios and garages? It’s your money and you can spend it any way that you want but why not spend $10 for a fancy jump rope to see if you are that committed to improving your cardiorespiratory endurance and flexibility before spending $1000 for an elliptical trainer? How about a yoga mat? You only need the floor to do push ups.

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Stamina

78 Reviews
Fitness Inversion Table
Model: 55-1532A
$116.11
Folds for easy storage, weight capacity: 250 lbs..

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Help your body recover from the everyday effects of stress, gravity, and compression with the Stamina Gravity Inversion Therapy Table. Suitable for people 4 feet, 10 inches to six feet, six inches, this table will help increase blood circulation, strengthen your back, elongate your spine, and relieve muscle tension with regular use. Ideal for beginning or experienced inversion table users.

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Tone muscle and get fit with the Weider Club Inversion System. Featuring six preset inversion settings and InvertSelect™ adjustment, finding your perfect inversion setting has never been easier.

InvertSelect™ Rotation Adjustment
Find your perfect inversion setting with this quick-adjust feature that allows you to lock into six different inversion angles, ranging from 15° to 90°.

AxisSelect™ Center-of-Gravity Adjustment
Customize your rotation speed with this 4-position, adjustment feature that allows you to alter your center of gravity, changing the speed at which you train.

Foam Ankle Lock
Relax in comfort and safety with this adjustable, foam ankle lock that allows you to get on and off of the bench with ease.

Height Adjustment
Fit comfortably into the Weider Club Inversion System with this height-customization feature that allows you adjust the height of the bench in one-inch increments-from 5′0″ to 6′6″.

Contoured Padded Bench
Melt away into comfort as you train with help from this durable, sewn bench that’s padded for maximum support.

Weider Gym Equipment Inversion Table Details

• Adjustable height
• Ankle lock down
• Adjustable center of gravity
• Pivot lock
• Vinyl padded seat
• Extended angle lock down pop pin
• 250 lb user capacity

Weider Gym Equipment Inversion Table Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Good Product, September 1, 2008
By Rami Daman “Rami” (MI, USA)

This system looks to be the same as the Healthrider Inversion Table System but with uglier colors. I bought the Weider for the $229.00 shipped, but now it’s more expensive now for whatever reason.

This is a nice machine and sturdy. My friend has a different companies and it feels pretty flimsy in comparison. Assembly took about 3-4 hours and a ratchet and sockets (17mm and 13mm) and a couple of wrenches are very handy. No torque specs provided for bolts, so be careful not to over tighten certain bolts or screws.

The back relief is evident the first couple of times I use it. I can immediately look over my left shoulder without the normal neck pain I’ve had lately. Be sure to follow instructions for use.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
This thing rocks! (pun intended), February 11, 2008
By BWoolfolk (North Carolina)

I’ve had lower back problems for about 20 years. It comes and goes with the weather–getting much worse just before thunderstorms or heavy snowfall, but it’s never completely gone. I have been to numerous chiropractics and to physical therapy. All of them offered temporary releif, but no permanent solution.

I bought this bench about two weeks ago and have used it two to three times a day, for 2 to 10 minutes each time. I have found exactly the same kind of temporary relief I got with chiropractics and PT, including more mobility than when I don’t use it. But unlike chiropractic care, I only had to pay for this once. Then I could use it at will.

It is sturdy and comfortable, but once it’s together, the parts don’t line up as well as they could, and the little handle on the side that is used to adjust the angle doesn’t work well at all. I can only really get it into place for two of the positions, and I have to fight to do that. It’s possible that I could get it to work better if I took it apart and put it back together, but it’s way too difficult so I haven’t tried that yet.

It’s a nice bench if you have a space for it, but it’s very difficult to put together and, I’m sure, just as difficult to take apart, so don’t buy this one if you need a bench you can hide in the closet when guests come to visit. Once you build it, it’s there!

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Designed by a chiropractor, this natural back support system uses your body’s own weight to apply controlled pressure to the spinal vertebrae.

As you lie on Spine-Worx, your spine is pressed firmly against the length of its two unique padded and contoured rails, injection-molded to fit the natural shape of the mid- and lower back. The vertebrae in the spine are gradually and gently encouraged to realign into their natural positions, which helps to relieve backpain and improve overall mobility.

Children should seek medical advice before using Spine-Worx, as their skeletal framework may not be completely developed until they are 16-17 years old.

Spine-Worx Back Realignment Device Features

• Simple to use
• Realign vertabrae to natural position
• Helps to relieve muscular pain, pressure and irritation
• Portable and lightweight (2 lbs.)
• It’s like a chiropractor in your home

Spine-Worx Back Realignment Device Reviews

259 of 266 people found the following review helpful:
Spine-Worx is amazing!, April 24, 2006
By Appookta (Smyrna, SC USA)

I am a 62 year old male and have been using Spine-Worx for years, since back when it was called Spine Align. Not only does it help to maintain my spine in alignment between chiropractic adjustments, I find that I don’t need to see the chiropractor anywhere nearly as often as I once did. In fact, I haven’t been to my chiropractor for months, and I used to go at least once a week. By using Spine-Worx, I’ve stopped chest pains, numbness in my fingers, headaches, pain in my hip from an on-the-job injury, pain in my knee and ankle, and there are probably others that I can’t think of right now. Anything that a chiropractor is helpful for regarding the spine, this device can provide assistance. (It will not rotate the ilia; it only helps the spinal vertebrae.) While it can’t diagnose an individual’s particular problem as a chiropractor can (such as a rotated ilium), it gives general assistance to every vertebra in the back. While it has been said that it cannot adjust the neck (cervical spine), in adjusting the rest of the spine, it helps in getting the neck to straighten itself out. In addition, I’ve found that, when I’ve already gotten movement to the other parts of my spine, by raising my hips and lower back off the Spine Worx while keeping my shoulders and neck on the Spine Worx, I have indeed gotten my neck to pop back into alignment. The more time I spend on it, the better the results I get. I can’t say enough for this item.

If you are accustomed to chiropractic care, you should not have any trouble with this. If you’ve never had your spine aligned, you might be in for a surprise when your vertebra pops back in line. Also, the longer your spine has been misaligned, the more discomfort you may feel as the device straightens your spine out to be as it was meant to be. For these times, I recommend using the Spine Worx after a hot shower or hot bath so the muscles will be most relaxed and not tight, in hopes that they won’t be tight and try to pull the vertebra back out of alignment again. Discomfort might be the sensation of pulling along the spine of the muscles that are attached to the individual vertebra that is suddenly in a new position, and related sensations. I feel that, if you stick with it, using it the recommended 15 minutes per day, you will feel better and have better health.

In any case, it’s certainly worth a try. I have three of them, one for the car (I get extra pressure by pushing against the steering wheel for adjusting the thorax), one for the house, and a spare in case something happens to the others: I don’t ever want to be without my Spine-Worx!

86 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent product, immediate pain relief!, December 19, 2006
By Carolyn Rampone “Carolyn D’Amico Rampone” (Plantation, FL USA)

I ordered this out of desperation after a slipped disc kept me bent over and in constant pain for two weeks. I have too high a deductible to run to the doctor for everything so this was my last chance before undergoing expensive tests and treatment. It worked like a charm and got my spine back in alignment. I felt a few pops and then relief. I find 6 or 8 minutes all that is needed and only when I feel back strain. I did not experience anything negative and had no trouble at all finding the right position. The Spine Worx comes with explicit instructions on how to align yourself and the proper way to get up after treatment. I can see where there could be trouble if you fail to follow these instructions. I used this in combination with the Homedic’s Shiatsu massage chair and have been completely pain free for about two months now. This was pain muscle relaxers and pain killers couldn’t touch!! I highly recommend this product if you are willing to follow the recommended guidelines.

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Related posts:

1. Stamina Gravity Inversion Table
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Let the Stamina Inversion Therapy Table relieve the pressure!

Stamina Inversion Tables help relieve aches, pains and chronic stress by reducing pressure on spinal discs, ligaments and nerve roots, increasing blood circulation, strengthening your back and elongating your spine. Just a few minutes a day of relieving the pressure of gravity on your vital systems can produce a refreshed feeling of well-being that lasts all day!

Studies show that inversion therapy has numerous positive effects on the body that help you live more vivaciously and age more gracefully. Add the Stamina® Gravity Inversion Table to your home fitness routine to get relief from many forms of back pain, improve circulation, or decompress after a workout or a stressful day. The Gravity Inversion Table’s pivot arms rotate smoothly to invert up to a full 90 degrees, while the heavy-duty steel frame and durable nylon bed provide stable support. When not in use, fold it away and store it. The Gravity Inversion Table gives you the features you want and need for an effective home inversion therapy program.

Stamina Gravity Inversion Table Features:

• Heavy-duty steel frame is backed by a 3 year warranty
• Durable, comfortable nylon bed measures 43″ (109cm) long x 19.5″ (49.5cm) wide
• Adjusts to fit heights of 4′10″ (147cm) to 6′6″ (198cm) with a height adjustment beam that is clearly marked in centimeters and inches
• Foam-padded, easily adjustable ankle collars hold you securely and comfortably in place
• Quick-adjust footrest puts you into the correct position to invert and keeps you stable while mounting and dismounting
• Adjustable nylon tether strap presets the maximum inversion angle
• Foam-padded handlebar returns are easy to reach from any inversion angle
• Lightweight, portable, and foldable for easy storage
• Attractive black steel frame with black nylon support bed and protective side covers
• Skid-resistant floor protectors maximize stability as you mount, dismount, and invert
• Three adjustment settings on the pivot arms control rotation speed
• Anchor knob interconnects structurally with height adjustment beam to ensure quiet, smooth rotation
• Assembled size (maximum when extended to accommodate a 6′6″ tall person): 80.5″ (205cm) long x 28″ (71cm) wide x 62.75″ (159cm) high
• Required workout area: 104″ (264cm) long x 52″ (132cm) wide x 96″ (244cm) high
• Folded size: 76″ (193cm) long x 28″ (71cm) wide x 16″ (41cm) high.
• Weight: 54 lbs. (24.5kg)
• Weight capacity: 300 lbs. (136kg)
• Warranty: 5 years frame/90 days parts

Stamina Gravity Inversion Table Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
Very good for the price, March 31, 2007
By B. McEwan “yellokat” (Brooklyn, NY USA)

On the advice of my chiropractor, I decided to buy an inversion table, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money because I feared it would be yet another piece of equipment that would end up collecting dust in my spare room, along with my rowing machine and exercise bike. So I purchased this Calm system because it was inexpensive and I figured I could sell it or send it back if I ended up not using it.

Well, so far I and my spouse have found it to be very good for relieving back pain, and best of all you don’t have to spend a lot of time on the machine. About 3 or 4 minutes a couple of times a day is all it takes to relieve lower back spasms and stretch out the spine.

Also, the machine is quite light weight and easily folds to shove in a closet or behind a wall unit. Overall, I am pleasantly surprised and would recommend this system. There is no need to spend a lot of money in order to experience the benefits of inversion therapy.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Great quality for the money, December 31, 2007
By K. Petralia

I saw this product for twice the price on multiple websites before it occurred to me to check Amazon. It provided noticeable relief for my husband’s lower back pain, though didn’t do much for my upper back/neck. It’s very easy to assemble, and highly adjustable for just about anyone of any height. The footpad is pretty comfortable, even when you make it really tight, but I would recommend wearing shoes (even hightops, if you have them) for extra support. It’s not that easy to fold up and put away, so you really need to put it somewhere you don’t mind seeing it every day, especially if you will use it often.

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Related posts:

1. Fitness Inversion Table
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