It's that time of year again. The leaves are changing and falling. The air is crisp. My allergies are going so bonkers that my nose is essentially a faucet. In the words of...someone on Game of Thrones, I dunno, I never watched it: winter is coming. Which means your workouts will be making their way indoors, at least some of the time.
If you are a snow bunny, you may already own a pair of snowshoes or cross-country skis, or a fat-tire bike. You may already know that waterproof socks are Jesus's single greatest invention, after skin lubricant. But if your idea of a good time does not include frozen hydration-backpack tubing, you might want to bring your workouts indoors. Fortunately, you can create a comprehensive home gym of cardio equipment for yourself for a relatively small financial investment.
There are three main pieces of equipment that I will detail here, but first I will list some bigger-ticket items that you may be interested in: a stationary bike or a bike trainer (which allows you to turn your bike into a stationary bike); a treadmill; a rowing machine; an elliptical. These are the main pieces of cardio equipment that are available at most gyms. If you absolutely LOVE using one or more of these, consider buying one for your home. A treadmill is probably the most versatile, but the machine you should get is the machine you *want to use.*
Now for my aforementioned three, listed in order from least intense to most intense.
1) Mini Bike
I bought my husband this under-desk bike for Father's Day and he is enjoying it. It gives him something to do while sitting on phone meetings at his home office. Because it's not electrically powered, he is able to bring it in to work when he goes back to the office full-time. The links I'm providing in this section are all the exact equipment that I bought. I purchased this one in particular even though there are cheaper versions available because I wanted to buy a heavier one on purpose. A heavier one is more sturdy and less likely to move. Despite this, be advised that you will ideally want to use a non-moving chair and put the mini bike so that it backs up against something solid. Otherwise you may have to readjust very frequently to keep the fit perfect, especially if you crank the resistance up and are pushing harder against it.
2) Mini Stepper
Not gonna lie, I've wanted one of these for a long time, so I took the opportunity to get one. It has been an absolute joy to use. It's not really like climbing stairs, but rather like running in place. The range of motion is very small, but it gets/keeps the heart rate up and is extremely portable. I keep mine under the coffee table unless I'm using it. There's nothing like throwing a movie on HBO Max and getting on this bad boy for 90 minutes.
But if you want to take your workouts up several notches...
3) Climber
BOY HOWDY. This machine packs a punch. It is the single best piece of equipment you can purchase for your home, as far as efficiency. This machine uses your entire body. Not kidding. Your lower back will be sore. Your legs, your arms, your abs. Big range of motion with all of them. It is such a phenomenal workout that I can really only do it for a few minutes at a time, so I'll generally do 2 minutes on the climber, move to the mini stepper for 8 minutes, and go back and forth like that for an interval workout. I swear I am not being compensated by Big Climber for this endorsement, but it is just a great machine. Takes up a bit of room in the house, but it's well worth it.
I've also been pleased by how much my combination stepper/climber workouts have translated to run fitness. I haven't been running much but I've been doing plenty of this style of home workout, and I am able to perform really well when I DO have to run. The fitness translates in a way that an elliptical machine (for example) doesn't. And with similarly low impact.
So consider getting something fun for yourself for your winter training, whether you want to enjoy the snow or are more "indoorsy."
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