Home exercise equipment
For endurance sports in your own four walls you need certain aids, which are not always cheap and often require a lot of space. Especially the various ergometers (bicycle, treadmill or rowing machine) are very expensive and take up a lot of space. Those who cannot or do not want to afford these devices for reasons of space or money can fall back on cheaper and above all space-saving aids.
A skipping rope is a good solution for this, as it is cheap and does not take up much space. It is also a very good way to spend your energy and train your endurance. Duration and intensity are determined by the athlete himself and can be increased during the training phases.
Variations in training can be achieved by changing pace, different exercises and reciprocal training. Professional boxers in particular spend most of their time training with skipping ropes to improve their endurance. Those who want to do completely without any aids can do an endurance training on the spot.
In doing so, you run on one spot and thus save a lot of space. In addition, you can watch television or listen to music while you are exercising. This variant is especially suitable for beginners who cannot yet run ten to 20 km in a row and are just starting their endurance training.
Another alternative is running on stairs. Usually everyone has a few steps in the house or apartment that they can use for endurance training. Running up and down stairs is an effective exercise for endurance training and brings additional positive effects from strength training.
Just one step is enough to train endurance. You can use this step like a stepper and take one step up and then down again. Those who decide to buy a training device for at home should inform themselves about a few things in advance.
In principle, several devices should be compared before deciding to buy one. For example, there are trainers with mechanical brakes and equipment that do not have this function. With the mechanical brake you can get out of rhythm faster, which many people find unpleasant.
The trainers that do not have a mechanical brake usually work with magnetic or eddy current braking systems. This ensures a more even flow and makes training much more fun. For such an exercise bike you have to plan between 150 and 200 Euros.
The already mentioned ergometers are preferable to exercise bikes, as they indicate the output in watt and you can reach your training goals very precisely. This function is especially advantageous for patients, as the patient can exactly maintain the performance prescribed by the doctor. Thus the risk of overloading the cardiovascular system can be minimized.
Bicycle ergometers cost between 350 and 3500 Euros, whereby one does not necessarily need all the additional functions that are offered, so that one does not have to buy a bicycle ergometer for 3500. Rather, you should choose the device according to your needs. Another variation of exercise equipment for home use are the so-called elliptical or crosstrainers.
These are trainers which simulate normal walking and not only strain the lower extremities but also the upper body and shoulder girdle. As in cross-country skiing, the hands grip two vertical bars. A disadvantage of this device is the high movement complexity, which is not so easy to perform for older people.
Coordination plays an important role and can cause problems for older people who want to do sports on such a trainer. Unfortunately, the cross and elliptical trainers only show a watt number on the more expensive devices, according to which you can control your training. The prices for such a trainer vary between 300 and 3500 Euros, similar to the prices for ergometers.
As a tendency, one should of course have a look at all devices (also treadmills and rowing ergometers) and compare before deciding to buy. Above all, one should carefully consider whether a device with a watt display is suitable or not. This variant has the advantage that you can control your training very precisely and thus achieve the greatest progress.
