Hello there John McGuan here. I hope you guys had a great holiday! With the relatives coming into town there was merriment to be had by all. Accompanied by big holiday dinners and parties. Luckily we still had our treadmill to help in these indulgent times. With all that egg nog we ended up gaining five pounds each! As wifey and I toasted champagne on new years eve. We made a mutual decison to double up on our epic weight loss bet. I kissed her at the stroke of midnight and said “its on baby”

New years day came after a long night of celebrating and I was ready to start the year on a healthy note. I hopped on the treadmill, turned on the football game, and continued on my fitness quest. Wifey wandered in after a few minutes and proclaimed “Get off that treadmill tubby I have a pedicure in thirty minutes “What was I to do? I couldnt sit on the couch and twiddle my thumbs and I have to keep wifey happy.

She was on the treadmill and I asked her if she would be interested in getting a cross-trainer as well. She thought that would be a wonderful idea. After getting the green light I made another call to my friends at Kings Of Cardio and got the ball rolling!!

After the call we weighed ourselves. I am 11 pounds and wifey is 10 away from our 20 lb goal. I cant believe it she’s taken the lead!! She pranced around and is so delighted with her progress. I’ve got work to do guys gotta get back in the lead. I cant overstate how thankful I am to have purchased our fitness equipment. I got a great deal on the crosstrainer and im really looking forward to being physically fit in 2010. Wifey is too. Thanks again!

I like your idea of a community blog about getting healthier. So here’s my story. For the past few years I’ve gained about a pound a month. Getting older, this happens–but the math doesn’t look too good. A pound a month for the next 20-30 years? No, really bad idea. So I did two things. Cut white carbs, all of them. White bread, donuts, white potatoes, rice, pasta. I found good substitutes. Yams! Carrots. Quinoa. (A different kind of grain.) And dark chocolot is fine to eat, and now they say it’s good for you. So I’m not missing much. And I used my rower for a half hour every morning. Just one half hour, rowing steady while watching the news. I now lose 2 pounds a month, maybe mostly because of my diet, but I need to keep my skin tight, not flabby, so I add muscles, which weight less. So that’s my story. I swear it will work. Twenty-four pounds a year. Pounds that will stay off.

It’s nice to be home for the holidays and see family and friends. Catching up on what all of your favorite people are doing is always a good thing. The only bad part apart going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas is that we tend to eat way too many calories during while we socialize and hang out with the people that are closest to us. Try and imagine the last time you went to a family gathering and did not leave 10 lbs. heavier? The problem with consuming too many calories is that it can be very detrimental towards our health and long term happiness. The recipe for mixing your favorite indulgences while remaining healthy can be easy to follow as long as you live by the code of “moderation.” In other words, anything in moderation is fine, and as long as you are active and exericse regularly, those extra calories consumed during the holidays with family will burn right off!

Every year around this time the Kings of Cardio begin an amazing 8 day clearance sale on all of our fitness equipment. In an effort to liquidate our surplus, we are now cutting costs on all exercise equipment to all time lows, that are far below minimum advertised pricing guidelines.  Never before could you buy a top-of-the-line cardio piece, for 50% off of its minimum advertised price, but now you can. We have rowing machines that need to go. Thousands of treadmills that we are are basically giving away. Our Life Fitness and Precor Ellipticals are being sold for such low prices right now, that Precor and Life Fitness called us directly to find out what is going on! Sarah Barker, our receptionist, told both companies that we are giving the people what they want;  Home gym equipment with fantastic reviews, at the guaranteed lowest price in the nation!

There are so many things that hold people back from living their life to the fullest and staying healthy. We do not want one of those things to be the cost of the sports gear, so we guarantee  for 1 full year after you purchase home fitness equipment with us, that if you find the piece of fitness equipment you purchased with us, whether a new treadmill, used elliptical, or demo exercise bike, for a lower pirce than you bought it for, we will refund you the differnce, plus a 10% cash spiff. That is how sure the  are that we are providing the highest quality sports equipment on the planet, at lower prices than every other fitness equipment store in the world. Don’t believe it? All you have to do is call one of our friendly and informative fitness experts and you will notice right away that our employees know the pros and cons of every piece of gym equipment that are currently in the health and fitness industry, along with all fo the classic, discontinued models of the past.

This is a PSA to all football players, basketball stars, baseball players, swimmers, or any other kind of athlete, or an aspiring athlete, you will be blown away by how amazingly low our prices are on all of our exercise equipment and home fitness products. When you call to purchase, mention code 491009 and you will receive a free floor mat and 2 extra years of electronics coverage on your sports equipment. A thick, hi-density rubber floor mat can easilly be placed under t pieces of exercise equipment to dampen noise and reduce static.

If you are not really juiced up for this years NFL and NCAA Football seasons then there is something wrong with you! These guys are such great athletes and we take great pride in supplying them with the best fitness equipment known to man. If you want to find out how structurally sound an Elliptical Cross Trainer is, then put a 6’5, 310 lb. middle line-backer on it and if the fitness equipment remains quiet while in use, and does not rock back and forth, well, then you have found yourself a winner! Big, strong and sometimes fat people are really the best way to determine the strength and quality of gym equipment.

edit: Side note, if your name is Julie, and you are 5’5 and 130 lbs., it does not matter if the piece of cardio fitness equipment you are looking for can support the weight of a Giant, it just matters wheter or not the exercise bike, fitness stepper, home gym, treadmill, or elliptical is comfortable for you.  That is not to say that you should not be concerned over the structural integrity of the exercise equipment that you may potentially purchase, we are just saying the mechanical capacity (user weight capacity), is of no importance to you. Sports equipment and gym machinery will always support at least 150lbs, unless specified otherwise.

However,  most of the people that call the Kings of Cardio, are not small and skinny, in fact, for the most part, they are big and heavy. In order for exercise equipment and gym gear to work safe and effectively, it must be sturdy enough to withstand continuous usage over time by people of all shapes and sizes. For these two reasons, we make sure that we provide our customers with the highest quality fitness equipment on earth and in return they love us for it! We hope…

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.

Are you looking for sports equipment? If so, you have come to the right home fitness store! When is the last time your fitness equipment broke down? If you are like most people, then your exercise equipment and other sports equipment has had many service issues, and the home gym supplier that you purchased from, has done little to help.

The Kings of Cardio set ourselves apart from the rest of the fitness business by actually taking care of our customers. When you call and inquire about exercise equipment, we do not like to just give you a quick price, and then make the sale. Our fitness experts go the extra mile and pay attention to detail more than your standard sales rep just trying to get in your pocket! Whether you are looking for a treadmill, elliptical, an exercise bike, rowing machine, or other “fitness” equipment, our friendly staff full of friendly and informative personal trainers and fitness experts would take great pride in helping you chose the right piece of hoem fitness equipemnt for you!

Speaking of “Sports Equipment”, I was recently involved in an argument with a group of friends over which sport was more dangerous, Rugby or Football? I personally believe, and basically know for a fact, that American Football is much tougher on the body and causes more injuries than Rugby. Those sports fanatics that argue the other side, base their flawed argument on the fact that SPORTS EQUIPMENT is used in American Football and their is no SPORTS EQUIPMENT in Rugby! W A T ?????? That arguement makes zero sense.

The arguement that Rugby is more dangerous because they do not use sports equipment such as football helmets, shoulder pads and so on, is wrong for several reasons. First of all the flow of the game itself, American football that is, is sooooooo much faster than Rugby. The speed difference is extrememly relevant because when players move faster in Sports, whether or not they are using sports equipemnt, they are prone to more injury than if they were moving at slower speeds. For Example, if two cars collide and they are each moving at 10 miles and hour, there will not be nearly as much of an impact as there would be if they were moving at 50 miles per hour. For those of you who do not think the speed differential between American Football players and Rugby players is equal to that of the example mentioned above, then you are right. The speed difference is much greater! Football players are that much faster than rugby players that whether or not they are wearing sports equipment or not is irrelevant.

If you are looking for Precor, Life Fitness, Star Trac, Kettler, BodyCraft, Cybex, BodySolid, Hoist, First Degree Fitness, or any other brand of fitness or weight equipement, then look no further. You have arrived at the promise land! Call 800-990-1108 right now for more exercise equipment and fitness info! Talk to you soon….

People sometimes forgot the strong coorelation that ties together how well we perform at work with how much exercise we do on a daily basis. It has been said that due to the fact exercsising releases stress, professionals are much calmer at work after they exercise and therefore work more deliberately without rushing.  Next time you have a really bad day at work, try to exercise for at least a half an hour the next morning before work and see if that next day goes better for you as a result of exercising before hand.

The great thing about getting into the groove of working out before or after work every day is that you convince yourself that you must exercise in order to perform your best. As a result, you will turn into someone who actually cares about their health and will look forward to getting better everyday. Always remember, every day you either get better or you get worse. There is no in-between.  Are you determined to run on the treadmill, ride the exercise bike, train on the elliptical cross-trainer, climb stairs on the stair stepper, use rowing machines, or build muscles on home gyms. We sure hope so, your health and mind depend on it.

As we near July, it has become evident that I have not done all that I need to in order to look good in my bathing suit for the summer, and I am not ready to accept that. Every single year I promise myself that by the time summer comes around I am going to be toting a six pack and not weigh more than 170 (I am 6’0). The nor weighing more than 170 pounds thingn is only when I am not weight training really hard, if I was lifting weights every day and eating lots of protein and around 4000 calories, then I would be satisfied at like 180 pounds or even 190 pounds as long as my body fat percentage remained under 6.5%. But anyway…..back to the swimsuit thing and I am not totally out of shape, there has been some work done on my part, but you get out what you put in and right now I don’t have too much that I can take out, so I have to put a lot more work in and just pray that by mid-July, my swimsuit body will be ready, if not, I will consider myself a total failure….just kidding, kinda, sorta. Ha! Anyway, as I mentioned, I am 6’0 and right now I weight around, like, ummmmmmmmmm, 183 pounds. I need to get down to 170 pounds and I was looking for some good ideas from the KOC bloggers and bloggets as to what my best course of action is? Should I just go all out and exercise for like 4 hours a day? Different people have told me different things. I have heard that yeah, if you really want to look your best and feel your best, get some cardio and strength equipment for your home and just go crazy. Don’t let up, no matter how sore you are, just keep pumping iron and doing cardiovascular workouts and the rest is history. The counter argument to that, which I have heard quite frequently as well, is that if you try and push yourself too hard, through daily physical training, cardio and strength training, that you will become so sore and beat up that you will just burn yourself out due to exhaustion and just not want to exercise anymore at all.

I have always tried to make time to workout but finding the time or energy to do so is nearly impossible. I usually carry my gym bag in the trunk of my car so I can stop by the gym after work. The thought of working out daily is always on my mind but hardly ever an action. There have been times when I am excited to go to the gym but after I get out of work and start driving in traffic my energy is drained and all I want to do is get home and relax. There have even been times when I get to the parking lot of my nearby health club only to find myself parking, getting out of my car, getting my gym bag, walking a few feet and then walking back to my car and driving off home. The times when I have actually managed to walk inside the gym, I find the machines busy, and that gets me frustrated. Since I usually like to workout to relieve stress and stay in shape I realized that the frustrations that I got from trying to get a workout where defeating the purpose of why I wanted to exercise. It wasn’t until about 2 months ago that I decided to buy a recumbent bike.

I now workout at home, usually right in front of the TV while I watch my favorite TV shows. Working out at home for me has proven to be the best most effective thing I could have done. It is not a hassle, and I usually find time to exercise at least 1 hour a day 5 days a week. I think that working out should be a life style that improves our overall wellbeing. Not only is exercising good for the body but it is also good for the min. After I workout, I find myself full of energy, relaxed, and I simply feeling good about myself. What makes me even more excited is that I have started to see results. Since getting a regular workout is no longer such a hassle for me, I do it regularly and I have dropped 5 pounds and my legs and my bum are starting to get a very nice, sexy, feminine definition, which I absolutely love!!

Jaylene Miller