Every night while watching TV, I see so many ridiculously horrible advertisements for cheap fitness equipment, and it boggles my mind why anyone would ever buy such low-end, flimsy weight or cardio equipment. For example, we have all seen the heavy-duty stair climbers spread across gym floors nationwide, and they all are as tall, or taller than we are, on average that is. In order for the fitness equipment at gyms to be effective, and durable, they must have some weight to them, to prevent instability and ensure safety. However, lately I have seen several cheap, small, and lousy looking stair steppers that according to the infomercials pushing them, are the best thing since sliced bread. Nothing could be further from the truth. In almost every case what looks to good to be true is. Unfortunately, a piece of gym equipment, whether cardio or strength based, can’t be replicated by a company producing “similar” pieces of fitness equipment for 95% less. That is impossible, but not according to these infomercials, which is the reasoning behing us taking the time to write this blog and make potential buyers of exercise equipment all over the world aware so they don’t get ripped of by some 3rd tier home gym supplier.

The recent increase in the amount of people in the United States that purchase fitness equipment for their home is a good sign. Are we finally realizing that happiness is attained through gym equipment rather than designer clothes? We here at Kings of Cardio sure hope so!

Recently in the news, there has been even more coverage focused around heathcare, than the average daily dosage. It is well known that the U.S.A. is the only first world nation on the planet that does not offer a comprehensive, universal healthcare system. The counter argument to that is something in the realm of “well that’s why we have the best doctors.” That argument is flawed to say the least. Our nation is not even in the top 10 when it comes to highest life expectancy rates! Why? One reason is that 9/10 people would be clueless if you asked them what an elliptical is, or what a stair climber is, or what their favorite piece of fitness equipment is. Home gym equipment, gym equipment, sports equipment, or weight equipment is foreign to most people.

Let us give you some advice, if you spend more time eating every day, then you do exercising, then you will be unhealthy and you will not have the rock hard body that you would like to have.  Using gym equipment should not be as difficult as math. Your daily exercise routiner should not have the same level of intensity as one of your study sessions. So get up, get out and get something. Don’t just waste your time away like a fat ass sitting on the couch all day and waiting for something good to happen. You must make it happen through staying true to your fitness routine. Daily exercise, along with personalized fitness goals, will enable you to look and feel like you really want to. How many times in your life have you looked in the mirror and told yourself that you are going to start exercising in some form or another? Aren’t you tired of always just hoping and wishing? Isn’t it time to get something done? Even if you have not done any cardio or strength training in the last 10 years, you can still get in shape. You do not have to start of by running on the treadmill for 2 hours everyday at top notch speeds on the “interval training” propgram. The great thing about exercising is that you are your own boss. If you have not worked out in a very long time, then just get on the treadmill for like 10 minutes and walk at low speeds. Do this everyday until you feel comfortable picking up the pace. The key is to walk a little bit longer and start moving a little bit faster as you progress in your workouts.

Somehow people have turned against building muscle mass and as far as I can remember, there have not been any reputable athletes that have not endorsed lifting weights. Go and pump some iron today. Weight lifting will increase your muscle mass, tone your body and make your clothes feel tighter when you put them on, if you are a true weight lifting machine then you know what I am talking about. Add weight lifting to any cardio routine and it will dramatically increase your overall results from exercising. If you want to look sweet, fell good and be a champ, then you have to mix up your home gym exercise routines and not just walk on the treadmill for a mile or so. That is for wimps and simps!

The REPUPATION of the manufacturer who produces the exercise machinery you are looking at is important as well. GREAT NAME BRANDS INCLUDE KETTLER, BODY-SOLID, BODYCRAFT, PRECOR, LIFE FITNESS, STAR TRAC, CYBEX AND STAIRMASTER. Try and do some quick homework on the brand name of the piece of home or commercial fitness equipment that you are looking to buy. Most of the time you will find that the company you are looking into is entirely legit and manufactures quality machinery (especially if you purchase with the Kings of Cardio) but sometimes you will find that the company in which you are looking into doesnt have a good reputation at all. Many off-brands and private labeled products come with illegitamate warranties and are prone to breaking down. It is absolutely a must that you not buy brands such as these. With all of the great fitness equipment brands such as Precor, Life Fitness, Star Trac and Cybex (some other too), why in the world would you ever gamble on a company that has negative reviews? It would make no sense. If you really want to be the guy who gets Georged by some sly fox salesman on some toy, they call a piece of cardio equipment, then by all means go for it! Maybe you can be the guy that gets a piece of fitness equipment that matches up with those of your friends that cost double what yours cost. I tried to be that guy with a stereo system once. When some slicksters came up to my car and offered me what looked like a $2000.00 stereo for $150 and some Tupac CD’s, I jumped at the opportunity, hahhahaha opportunity, and bought it ($125 and some CD’s….seriously). Then after I bought this sweet looking stereo from these sharks, I called all my friends and told them to meet me at my house to see the new amazing stereo I bought at a fraction of what they all paid for theirs and well we all know what happened…..unless your a… well…. anyway it didnt work at all, and that is exactly what is going to happen to you when you buy some piece of exercise equipment called the Super Track by some freak who goes by the name of Super John the Fitness Don. But like I said, if you really want to give it one shot, then go for it and gamble! Good luck and remember we told you so. BUY A PIECE OF HOME GYM EQUIPMENT THAT IS MADE BY A REPUTABLE COMPANY!

HERE ARE THE TOP 10 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU ARE BUYING FITNESS EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR HOME

1. QUALITY of the machinery itself. Most of all, does the equipment allow its users to mimic natural cardio and strength motions, because without natural simulation, you will not want to use the equipment. Equipment that people don’t like to use gets an “F” in our grading of equipment. Its stability, reliability, durability and structural integrity are all very essential towards the quality of a machine.
2. WARRANTY is very important. What kind of warranty does the unit come with. If the stair climber you are buying breaks down in 3 months how do you get that taken care of? What happens when the keyboard on your Life Fitness 93x Elliptical goes out and the machine will not work? These kinds of questions must be figured out prior to purchasing equipment. You do not want to buy a product only to learn it is a lemon and there is nothing that you can do. Make sure you have stipulated in writing exactly what you warranty entails.
3. PERFORMANCE is sometimes overlooked. You would assume that the performance of the fitness equipment would be at the top of everybody’s list when it comes to what to look for when purchasing home gym equipment, but it isoften forgotten, and people buy into the glitz and glamor of superfluous gadgets such as fans and Mp3 inputs. Features that provide more glitz than substance such as those previously mentioned, do more harm than good, and do not have a positive impact on the performance of your fitness product.
4. LEGITIMACY of the company is key. Make sure you do not purchase from a company that gets bad reviews. There are way too many ripe apples out there to gamble on a rotten one just because the cost may be a little bit lower. You also want to make sure that the warranty you are promised is legit. The only thing worse than buying home gym equipment with little no warranty, is buying fitness gear that comes with an illegitimate warranty! Nothing is worse than assuming all will be well if and when something happens, and when it does, you get the run around from the company you bought it from. The Kings of Cardio pride themselves on making sure the customer is taken care of is a fast and friendly manner. We understand how important exercising  it is to our everyday lives and for some of us, if we miss a workout, then our day is ruined. That may seem a little over the top, but some people really do not function as well if they are used to working out when they get up every morning, and miss their training due to broken equipment. Actually, many people work out religiously either before or after work, and take great pride in their physical fitness, so we pride ourselves on making sure your equipment is always up and running. Our customer service operators are open 24 hours a day for any and all service problems. For that reason alone, we have set ourselves apart from every other fitness company on the planet when it comes to the speed and efficiency of our customer and technical support teams.
5. USER FRIENDLY pieces of fitness equipment are the way to go. The days of manual treadmills and air bikes are over. Not only that, but the days of loud motors, as well as noisy drive and braking systems, are over as well. We are not saying that the more technologically advanced your unit is, the better your results. If you have been following, we are not advocates of spending more money on superfluous electronic/gadget/accessory upgrades. What is important however is making sure you choose a piece of equipment that does cater to your needs. It is also helpful to have substantive programs on the equipment in order to keep your home exercise workout routines sharp and fresh. Certain Heart Rate programs for instance allow for users of cardio equipment to have the machine automatically adjust itself in order to make sure that its user stays within his or her target heart rate zone. Staying within desired heart rate zones throughout your cardio fitness training (your heart rate is equivalent to your pulse) allows you to perform at a higher level and increase your results by up to 35%. That is a perfect example of how to use a program  on your piece of cardio fitness equipment and turn it into a  real “USER FRIENDLY” machine. Programs that are actually beneficial when it comes to helping us get in shape are those that allow its users to set goals for themselves and that keeps your physical fitness training fun and challenging. We always like to remind people that you do not want to be one of those guys or girls that goes to the gym, wanders around for a while, says hi to people, drinks some water, does a couple reps her and there and then goes home. Properly using your user programs on your home gym equipment or commercial gym equipment will make it so you are never one of those social butterflies while exercising. Sticking to using your programs will allow you to  have a specific plan, with set goals and stay focused.
6. The Cost comes in the sixth spot in our 10 most important factors to consider. You will find polarized costs when it comes to buying all sorts of fitness equipment for your home. For example, there are treadmills that cost $6500 and there are treadmills that cost $165. Furthermore, home gyms, stair climbers, free weight equipment, abdominal products, upright and spinning bikes, rowing machines and all other residential and commercial gym and health club machinery have the same wide range of pricing. The trick is to find what is right for you  and not spend too much. You don not want to spend too little either. For example, there may be  a piece of fitness equipment such as a treadmill that you really like and the price is listed at $1150. There is also another treadmill for $785 that functions just fine, but you do not like it as much, but somehow you convince yourself that you do not need the nicer treadmill and that you will learn to love the less expensive model because it will keep some extra green in your jeans. Before you know it, you never use the treadmill because it is not stable and is very light weight. Not only do you not enjoy using it, but the times when you do, your workout is consistently interrupted due to mechanical failures and technical problems with the machine.So instead of getting a machine that you really wanted and knew was a sure bet, you tried to cut corners and paid for it, literally. It is hard enough to exercise as it is that the last thing anybody needs is equipment that compromises the fluidity of your workout. In the same breath, if you are 5′5 and weigh 150 lbs., the last thing you need to do is spend a zillion dollars on very heavy, commercial/industrial, health club fitness and exercise machinery because it would be more than you need.  For instance, people call the Kings of Cardio all of the time with the intention of starting their own aerobic and cardio routines in the comfort of their own home and we are exited, they are exited, but there is only 1 problem, they weight over 400 pounds and only want to spend $1000.00!!!!!! If you weigh over a certain amount the only kind of equipment that will be right for you is commercial exercize fitness equipment. The reason that you will need gym machines that are commercial is because not many cardio pieces of equipment have mechanical capacities over 300 lbs. Your best bet is to actually call and speak one on one with a fitness expert working with the Kings of Cardio LLC. 800-990-1108 is the phone number and personal trainers are standing by to help you in your quest to find exercise machinery that is right for you.
7. The REPUPATION of the manufacturer who produces the exercise machinery you are looking at is important as well. Try and do some quick homework on the brand name of the piece of home or commercial fitness equipment that you are looking to buy. Most of the time you will find that the company you are looking into is entirely legit and manufactures quality machinery (especially if you purchase with the Kings of Cardio) but sometimes you will find that the company in which you are looking into doesnt have a good reputation at all. Many off-brands and private labeled products come with illegitamate warranties and are prone to breaking down. It is absolutely a must that you not buy brands such as these. With all of the great fitness equipment brands such as Precor, Life Fitness, Star Trac and Cybex (some other too), why in the world would you ever gamble on a company that has negative reviews? It would make no sense. If you really want to be the guy who gets Georged by some sly fox salesman on some toy, they call a piece of cardio equipment, then by all means go for it! Maybe you can be the guy that gets a piece of fitness equipment that matches up with those of your friends that cost double what yours cost. I tried to be that guy with a stereo system once. When some slicksters came up to my car and offered me what looked like a $2000.00 stereo for $150 and some Tupac CD’s, I jumped at the opportunity, hahhahaha opportunity, and bought it ($125 and some CD’s….seriously). Then after I bought this sweet looking stereo from these sharks, I called all my friends and told them to meet me at my house to see the new amazing stereo I bought at a fraction of what they all paid for theirs and well we all know what happened…..unless your a… well…. any way it didnt work at all, and that is exactly what is going to happen to you when you buy some piece of exercise equipment called the Super Track by some freak who goes by the name of Super John the Fitness Don. But like I said, if you really want to give it one shot, then go for it and gamble! Good luck and remember we told you so. BUY A PIECE OF HOME GYM EQUIPMENT THAT IS MADE BY A REPUTABLE COMPANY!