I’ll be honest; I am not a fan of exercising. Yes, I know I feel great afterwards, but I just really don’t like it. I can always come up with a better plan of drinking a glass of wine on my couch while watching a girlie movie instead. I also don’t enjoy the whole aspect of changing into workout clothes and being generally uncomfortable for 30 minutes, especially after I’ve worked a full day. And, I am definitely not the one who is going to get up any earlier than I already do to exercise before I begin my day. That’s just not going to happen and I know it. I’ve tried, and my snooze button has always won out. All of that being said, I know that exercising is something that is part of being healthy and taking care of myself in general, especially as I get older. So, after a lot of trying to figure out how to actually get myself to exercise, I discovered that having portable exercise equipment around actually works out well for me. Here me out, it is not as crazy or ineffective as you might think.
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Benefits of Exercise
First, I decided that I needed to make exercise a priority by doing some research. The evidence backing up the benefits of exercise for your mood and body are endless and well documented. Some of the ones that really got me off the couch:
Exercise Helps to Control Weight and Increase Strength
This one is obvious, but it also allows me to eat more of what I want without having to count every single calorie. Also makes me look better in my jeans, a little anyway.
Exercise Fights Off Diseases and Health Conditions
Exercise decreases the unhealthy triglycerides in your blood and helps to boost HDL, or the “good” cholesterol. This helps keep your blood flowing efficiently, decreasing heart diseases. Regular exercise can also help to prevent stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and cancer.
Helps Boost Your Mood
Most of us struggle with down moments from time to time, especially with the day to day grind of a regular work and home life schedule. Regular exercise is said to help boost chemicals in your brain that help you feel relaxed and happier. (Check out my post 6 Ways to Start Treating Mild Depression Naturally for more info.)
Exercise Helps Combat Insomnia
I am not one of those people that can fall asleep or stay asleep easily. Exercise has been shown to help insomniacs like myself. (Check out my post How to Sleep Better – 8 Natural Tricks to Get Better Sleep for more info.)
Why Portable Exercise Equipment?
Ok, so now that we know why it is good to exercise and that we should actually do it, how on earth did I think about portable exercise equipment? Well, my main time to exercise was right when I got home from work, before I ate dinner and before I had a chance to sink into the couch with the before mentioned glass of wine, but I didn’t like having to relegate myself down to the basement or an upstairs bedroom away from my dog and husband and the goings on in the main living areas. I also didn’t like the idea of having to change into restrictive workout clothes and/or a sports bra. And, if the exercise machine of choice was out of sight, it was out of mind, which means that it wasn’t going to get used. I figured that if I came home from work and was staring right at it and could jump right on without even having to put shoes on, I might actually use it. And, believe it or not, I actually did. The best part is that if I do have people over and don’t want them to have to see my exercise equipment, I can easily pick it up and move it out of the way or into another room.
Portable Exercise Machines I Use
Below are a few of the portable exercise machines (and one non-portable) that I actually use. Hopefully, one of them will work for you as well.
Portable Rowing Machine
Rowing machines provide one of the best workouts around. They use all muscle groups and get your heart rate up super efficiently. The Sunny Health and Fitness Portable Rowing Machine is incredibly lightweight and works really well for me. It has a small control panel that shows calories burned, time, row count, etc… The extra great feature is that there is a resistance setting. I generally keep it on one or two, but the great thing is you can increase it as you get stronger. And, it is a very economical choice.
Portable Elliptical Machine
This is another Sunny piece of equipment, and it is a little bulkier than the rowing machine, but still easily movable non-the-less. It has the same small control panel as the rowing machine, but this portable elliptical machine gives a fuller range of motion, so I feel like I am moving and sweating more. I also removed the stomach support. I just felt like it got in the way more than anything. The downside to the Sunny Air Walk Trainer is that there aren’t any resistance settings. Some people online have used bungie cords wrapped around the bottom to get the resistance they need, but I actually prefer to just use a couple of ankle and wrist weights. I only use 1lb to 1.5lbs, but that feels like more than enough to make things a little more difficult when I want them to be. This is actually the machine that I use the most.
Portable Exercise Bike
This is a great main stay to my portable exercise machine empire. It works great, has a nice control panel to keep track of time and calories, and also has a resistance dial. It is also inexpensive. This one is also easily movable and what I use when I am feeling the laziest.
Fast HIIT Workout
Ok, this one is not really portable, but you only need 14 minutes on this thing to get a really great HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout. I really love this machine so I wanted to mention it. This one is a splurge and you probably won’t keep it in your family room since it is not the easiest to move, but I will actually use this machine when I want to burn some serious calories. They have more expensive models, but I just went with the basic one and it does the job great. If you have the budget, I would definitely give this a whirl.
My Next Portable Exercise Equipment Purchase
I feel like I have a pretty good line-up of machines to use and rotate from, but I think that my next purchase will probably be a portable treadmill or pedal stepper. I’m considering the two below options. I’ll update this article if and when I do buy.
Portable Stair Stepper
I wanted to call this post The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Exercise because that’s really what it is, but decided against it because I’m not really lazy if I’m actually exercising for once… right? I hope that my little work-around for exercising helps you get on the exercise bandwagon like it did for me. Exercise has officially become a part of my routine thanks to a few pieces of portable exercise equipment and I think that is a huge accomplishment that I can finally check off my to-do list.
