Cardio

One of the core pieces of equipment for anyone building a home gym is a cardio machine. Cardio is the most accessible and beneficial form of exercise for overall health and wellness, and is recommended for a whole host of different health benefits that you can’t get from solely weight training. Cardio is vital for warming up your muscles safely and efficiently, to prevent injuries from stretching and straining the muscles too much when lifting weights, flexibility training or doing any other movements that might put a lot of pressure on your muscles. Cardio is not just excellent for helping you to achieve your goals, it’s incredibly important to ensure that you’re working out safely and aren’t at risk of injury.

The whole point of cardio is to get your heart racing and your blood pumping, which is excellent for your overall fitness level, but also has a whole host of other benefits, including:

• Improved heart health
• Better appetite regulation
• Increased fat loss
• Maintaining healthy blood pressure
• Strengthened immune system
• Improved mood and outlook, due to the endorphin rush you get after cardio
• Better sleep, and all of the health benefits that come with sleeping well

Cardio is also the most accessible form of exercise, and it doesn’t take a huge amount of research or in-depth safety considerations before stepping on the treadmill! Weights and lifting on the other hand can be difficult and dangerous, particularly at very heavy weights, which is why a cardio machine is the perfect starting point for any home gym, regardless of your level of experience or expertise. There are a range of cardio exercises you can do without machines, but for many people having a machine such as a treadmill, bike or elliptical allows them to track their progress better and makes the process of warming up for a workout much quicker and simpler.