Buying Exercise Equipment
 

In the home I grew up in, we went through various phases of purchasing and not using exercise equipment. We bought a stationary bike (that got the most use), a treadmill (some use in spurts), and a home total gym 80s style weight set (minimal use).

My wife and I are looking into purchasing an eliptical machine so that we can trim some weight (mine is lazy weight, hers will be baby weight).

I'm curious to know what the general experience of board members is in the exercise equipmant purchasing. Have you found that you get your money's worth? Or is it like every other weight loss plan...it works for a while, but quickly fades?

We had a stationary bike once that got little use. We bought a weight set about five years ago that sat for two years with little use. But I have been using it religiously for the past three years. Some days it is all I can do to muster the discipline to work out, but I like the way I feel.

I would like to get a treadmill for the winter months and put it in the TV room, but my wife is not thrilled with the idea. So we run at the indoor track.

Yeah, winter and the hot humid days of summer are always tricky...you want to work out...but you don't want to kill yourself doing it.

In the past, we didn't get much use. But, we have a room that is now a dedicated work out room (with tv and radio in it) and we are using the equipment now. One of us uses the room pretty much every day.

The biggest thing when we got the equipment is to find things that we know we are going to use. we currently have a treadmill and rowing machine. We do have a stepper machine, but that is not used as much. Have entertainment media in the room makes it much easier. It also helps if you have the space to leave the equipment out...if you put it away and you have to take it out, that is extra time and you can convince yourself its not worth the hassle.

anyway, good luck.

never buy new exercise equipment. it has no resale value, and you can take advantage of people who want to get rid of the unused clutter. check out craigslist.

I've never had much interest in buying exercise equipment. What works for me is to join a gym close to home and just get there 3 times a week. There are always too many distractions at home. Once I'm at they gym there's really nothing else to do but work out.

I like Utestar's workout/entertainment room idea, though. Maybe when I get a kid or two out of the house.

I suppose a treadmill with TFT-LCD technology (TV/AV function ) is going to work for you just fine.
we have got one and with a safty key ,our seven year old son could also use it .
we put it on the third floor where we have enough space for doing excercise. i wouldnot let such huge machine gazes at me in our living/tv room either.

We have an eliptical that gets a lot of use. My wife uses it regularly and so do I. We also have a dedicated room with a TV, her pilates mat, some free weights and the eliptical.

We have an elliptical (high end Nordic Track) that gets quite a bit of use. I think if you want generic weight sets, home gym, etc, craigslist or garage sales are great. If you want good quality stuff (very sturdy, with electronics) like a bike, treadmill or elliptical then find a good quality name brand one -- then it will have some re-sale value if you find that you do not use it.

Our eliptical is high-end. We bought it on Craigslist. They definitely have a resale but the seller wanted someone to pick it up so it limited buyers.