So You’ve Hired Some Home Fitness Equipment. Now What?

Congratulations on the beautiful piece of hired fitness equipment now sitting in your home!

Hiring a home treadmill, treadmill, exercise bike, cross-trainer or rowing machine is a brilliant way to embark on a fitness routine. Whether your focus is on building muscle, losing weight, increasing strength, improving your cardiovascular endurance, raising your energy levels or keeping mentally healthy, exercise is a key component in achieving your goals.

Taking a holistic approach to achieving your fitness and health goals will greatly increase the effectiveness of your home workouts. In addition to using your exercise equipment regularly, here are five other areas to focus on to maximise the benefits of your new fitness regime.

Nutrition

You don’t have to embark on an extreme eating plan to achieve your fitness objectives. Eating good quality, fresh food is the best way to provide your body with adequate fuel to complete regular workouts and help your body recover more quickly. If you do want to change your diet drastically, we recommend you speak with a qualified dietician or nutritionist to obtain personalised advice – Remember to check out our “Nutrition vs Exercise and Why Diet Matters” article.

Hydration

Even the gentlest exercise can lead to dehydration, so it is important to keep up your fluids. Make sure you’re drinking regularly throughout the day, but particularly before, during and after an exercise session. Read more about the importance of hydration and how it is linked to the effectiveness of your workout here.

Sleep

Without adequate sleep, your body will not produce enough growth hormone to repair the damage done to your muscles during a workout. Getting into a routine of going to bed and waking up at a consistent time is one of the best things you can do to support your exercise goals. Minimising screen time before bed, ensuring a dark and quiet environment and comfortable bedding will also help improve the quality of your sleep.

Footwear

When exercising at home it may be tempting to wear your thongs (or even go barefoot) but wearing the right shoes will help prevent injury and make your home workout as comfortable as possible. Read more about choosing the right footwear for treadmill workouts here.

Stretching

You may experience some initial pain and stiffness when starting a new exercise routine, as you begin using muscles which haven’t been stretched for a while. Stretching before and after a workout session will help keep your muscles flexible and maintain a good range of motion in your joints.