Are you looking for ideas for unique Christmas gifts?

HealthStyles Exercise Equipment has some great gifts for fitness enthusiasts in all price ranges!

Whether your gift is for an avid runner, a Cross-Fit or P90X junkie, or a friend or loved on who is trying to firm up or lose weight, here are just a few of the many possible gifts you can put under the tree for those important people in your life.

Most of us understand that to get where we want to go, we need transportation to get there. A vehicle of sorts, whether that be car, bus, bike, subway etc. The same concept holds true for our health and fitness program. Some of us have a gym membership, while others prefer to walk, run, bike outdoors. However, as we all know there are late nights, running late mornings, bad weather issues, and hot weather at this time of year, that can sometimes prevent us from using our preferred mode to get our workouts in. I’m constantly telling my clients that regardless if you prefer to workout outside or if you belong to a gym, there are going to be times where we just can’t get a workout in.

One of the most important Fitness Must Haves is to invest in a few key pieces for your home to create a Back-Up Plan! Despite budget or space issues, there are a wide range of options to meet your needs! The bottom line is, having a solid back-up-plan will help keep you moving and on track for your fitness goals! Here are few ways to create for yourself a back-up plan to ensure you always have a way to get a workout in!

Basic Cardio:

There are TONS of options for the home user to create a cardio workout. For the budget conscious there are numerous workout DVD’s you can purchase for minimal cost. P90x is great example of a full body, 90 day workout that can keep you going that requires minimal equipment and can be done anywhere! Most satellite and cable providers have a fitness channel in their basic line-up of programs. Do some checking to see if yours’ does and then check out the options.

If watching the TV doesn’t get it done for you, invest in an indoor, "spinning" type bike or rowing machine. Both tend to take up minimal space and can provide you with an awesome way to get some cardio in! Be prepared to spend between $700-$1300 for these.

If you prefer to spend a little more dough, there are tons of treadmill and elliptical options out there! Quality that will last starts at about the $1200 range, and there are tons of options to suit your needs. Visit a speciality fitness store, where you will get quality advice and support.

BEWARE: Don’t buy cheap! It is better to buy a different type of piece, than to buy a cheap version of an expensive product! For example, don’t buy a $800 treadmill when you can spend that $800 on a quality indoor bike or rowing machine that will last. You want your Back-up plan to be RELIABLE …that is the whole point!

Resistance Training:

Again you can do this with or without budget constraints. For about $10 you can get resistance bands at various tensions. Even for the hard core lifters, resistance bands can be effective if done correctly as part of an overall program. Add a door anchor for about $5, and you can essentially turn any door into a resistance training work station!

Another option for between $100-200, is a suspension training system, such as TRX or Jungle Gym. Suspension trainers use a nylon strapping system to turn your body into a functional training station! You can get an amazing workout using your own body weight and need about 8ft. of space and a door, ceiling or other sturdy place to attach the anchor.

If you want the feel of weights in your hands, for about $400 you can get a pair of Power Blocks! This unique concept offers 24 pairs of dumbbells in a one piece set! They are durable, easy to use and give you a ton of options! For an even cooler route, try the Kettleblock. With the same concept as the Power Blocks, instead of having all those kettlebells lying around, you have just a one handled block with the ability to select the weight you want with the push of a pin!

If a home gym or functional trainer with a weight stack where you can continually increase the resistance is what you need, quality home gyms and functional trainers begin at just above $1000 and go up from there depending on the variety of exercises you would like to be able to do with the gym. Again, purchasing an inexpensive functional trainer or gym is a bad idea. It will "feel" lightweight and the cables won’t have the smooth feel that you may have experienced in the gym.

Training while Traveling:

Training on the road can be a big challenge. Make sure to plan ahead, so you have a game plan in place.

Check the hotel to see if they have a workout out room, ask what types of equipment they have, how many pieces they have and the hours of the facility. If this will work with your schedule, you’re set. Even if they have a room, ask if they have a pool, and depending on the time of year, if it is indoor, outdoor and heated. I always travel with my swim bag as a back-up, back-up plan for hotel stays. There is nothing worse than counting on the hotel workout room, only to find out the bike or treadmill is broken or so unstable it isn’t worth the risk!

If all else fails, bring along your resistance bands and door anchor or a suspension system, (TRX). They take up little space in your suit case and are an awesome way to get a workout in. Mix in some body weight squats, lunges and push-ups, create a circuit and you are good to go! Don’t let travel and a lack of planning prevent you from staying healthy while on the road!

Let’s face it …Life happens. Having a Back-up Plan in place is a sure fire way to help you stay on track for your fitness goals and keeps you moving and feeling good! Everyone should have a few key pieces in their home, as well as a take-along plan for travel!

A little planning can go a long way!

Tonja Hadley, MA, CSCS
Personal Trainer
HealthStyles Exercise Equipment

Suspension Training is the latest trend in the "Core Training" movement. The TRX Suspensions Trainer is the leading creator of a safe and effective suspension trainer that is popping up in health clubs and personal training studios throughout the country. Here is more information and a video to give you an idea of what it is and how it works:

What is Suspension Training®?
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The Vision 7100 Suspension Trainer has recently been awarded the Shape You – November 2009 “Top Gear of the Year” Award for Retail Ellipticals. The S7100 is unique because of its PerfectStride system, which is exclusive to Vision Fitness. PerfectStride technology offers the ideal combination of biomechanical and ergonomic features.

What is a “Suspension Trainer” you ask? Well, as the name implies the suspension trainers pedal arms are suspended in mid-air, as opposed to running on a track or rail, which leads to less friction and wear and tear on the equipment. Also, by having the pedal arms suspended, you get a very smooth, comfortable, & QUIET elliptical motion. While the suspension is great, what really sets the S7100 apart from other ellipticals on the market is its incline feature. (18%-37%) Why is having an incline better you ask? Well the best way to describe it is to use an analogy that someone used for me. Let’s talk about cartilage in the knees and hips and compare it to the tread on the tires of our cars. Cartilage, like the rubber on our tires, breaks down and wears out over time of constant use. Fortunately for us, we can always buy new tires. Unfortunately for us, we CANNOT buy new cartilage for our joints. Now, what is the main thing that we do to help with the longevity of our tires? We rotate them. This helps the tires to wear evenly and not wear out too quickly from repetitive motion in the same area. Essentially, when we use standard fixed stride ellipticals this is making our cartilage wear out quicker by doing continuous, repetitive motion in the same path of movement. Hmmm, so how do we “rotate our tires”? Simple, we change the path of movement for our knees and hips. By actively changing the incline with the S7100 Suspension Trainer we can effectively change the wear and tear of our cartilage in our knees and hips by changing the angle and path of movement for our joints. So to re-cap, the bio-mechanics of the S7100 Suspension Trainer are superb and by using the incline feature you can effectively save the precious cartilage between the knee and hip joints. The NEW S7100 Suspension Trainer also comes with a choice of two consoles to better you workout with interactive feedback and programs to keep you motivated during your session. The Deluxe Console comes with 8 workouts, including the patented Sprint 8, Summit hiker, & Glute Burn. The Premier Console has 20 different levels of resistance, with scrolling messages on a blue lit LCD screen. The Premier Console has the same 20 levels of resistance but it jumps up to 18 total workouts including: Sprint 8, Summit Hiker, Glute Burn, Heart rate control programs, Custom programs, and Sculptor programs. Stop in to demo the Vision Fitness S7100 Deluxe or S7100 Premier Suspension Ellliptical at one of HealthStyles Exercise Equipment’s 10 Colorado retail stores. Or call us at 800-829-9705 for more information. Bill Allen HealthStyles Exercise Equipment Loveland Retail Store Manager loveland@healthstylesexercise.com

The use of fitness accessories to expand and enhance your cardiovascular and strength routines have never been more popular than they are today as is obvious by the number of equipment manufacturers that are getting into the fitness accessory game. Life Fitness, one of the major cardiovascular equipment manufacturers, is set to roll out Body Shape Kits this fall, which combine many of the most popular accessories sold by HealthStyles Exercise Equipment, into one all inclusive kit. Octane Fitness will combine an elliptical workout with stretch bands in the programming and design of their new ellipticals to be introduced later this Fall, to create circuit training workouts that add strength training to the traditional cardio workout. (more…)

The HealthStyles Exercise Equipment Team recently had the opportunity to attend and participate in the National Health and Fitness Business Industry Expo in Denver, Colorado. The annual event featured all of the latest fitness trends and showcased the current and future exercise equipment products that have, or will soon be available to the consumer market.

The fitness industry trends that surfaced within the Expo centered on the following: (more…)