Your Fitness Program Special Equipment
Keeping a program simple ordinarily rules out expensive equipment. But some equipment will make it possible to add the spice of variety to the program. For example, barbells may help to make flexibility an easily achieved goal.
One or two exercise mats provide the base for many lying-down exercises. Mats can be purchased from sporting goods stores or made at home out of 1.5-inch foam rubber. If made at home, the mats can be covered with a fabric that goes with the room. The material may be terry cloth, vinyl-coated fabric, canvas, or some other type that is soft, easily washed or wiped-off, and durable.
If the mat has a line running down its center lengthwise, it will make body alignment a simple task. The line can be made out of a similar fabric of a different color from the mat covering the proper.
The mat or mats should be sized to fit the individual’s body. The perfect mat is somewhat longer than the user is tall, and wide enough to provide protection against bumps and bruises. That means it should be wider than a line drawn from heel to heel when the person lies flat and stretches both legs as far apart as possible. Another way to measure the ideal mat width is to lie flat and extend the elbows as far as possible straight out from the shoulders. The points reached by the elbows indicate a good width. The good mat has plenty of “give.” It also springs back into position when pressure is removed.
Choosing and arranging permanent equipment may take a little thought. With care and planning, the room’s appearance need not really suffer. Equipment may come in chrome, steel, or natural wood.
Got a space problem? No room at all for privacy while charging through a workout? No place to install and use an exercycle or treadmill? Think a minute.
Can space be created? If the exercise equipment had to be stored, where would it go? Can that storage space be turned into an exercise area? A separate room isn’t necessarily the only solution. Closets may be useful in solving the no-space problem. A walk-in closet may serve as a special niche for some types of equipment. A two-foot-deep enclosure can be created along a wall by installing folding doors; some equipment can then be hidden behind the barrier. When the doors are opened, presto! The area becomes a miniature gym.
Because exercise equipment has to be ready for use without much advance preparation, it may be desirable to feature it as part of the overall layout. An exercycle may be placed in a corner in a cleared space. A set of barbells may rest on a simple bench that holds them in notches for safety. Ballet bars may double as towel bars when not serving their fitness functions. For real permanence and solidity, exercise benches might be recessed into the walls. They could be covered with throws when not in use.
If, on the other hand, Spartan simplicity is preferable, formal equipment may be dispensed with totally. Many exercises can be performed without any equipment at all. For example, various sets of exercises have been designed for practice in the shower, sitting down at the work desk, or standing up in an ordinary room.
Many household items can be converted to exercise props. Weights can be made out of plastic dish detergent or bleach containers. The containers need only be filled with sand or water. If desired, the weights can be attached to the ends of a bar made of a broom or mop handle. Numerous heavy objects such as telephone books, or bricks wrapped in towels can also be incorporated into exercises routines.
A little creativity can turn other everyday items into perfectly adequate fitness equipment. A length of clothesline makes an admirable jump rope. Two solid chairs of the same size can be placed back to back a couple of feet apart to form a parallel bars. A heavy towel, held with arms spread an appropriate distance, can be used to provide both variable resistance and a massaging effect. Different exercises to increase endurance, equilibrium, speed, suppleness, strength, and coordination have been devised utilizing lengths of cloth.
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