Exercise has become an integral part of everyday life of most people. An individual spends at least some part of his life in exercise. Exercise can be done with equipment or without equipment. Gym equipment helps in exercising a specific part or group of muscles or organs of the body. Today a wide range of gym equipment are available in the market.
The most common gym equipment are multigyms, treadmills, swiss balls, dumb bells, bar bells, rowing machines, exercise bicycles, balance boards, abdomen exercisers resistance bands and punching bags. There are various facilities, equipment associated with gym equipment like heart rate monitors, sauna baths, swimming pools etc.
A multi gym consists of incremented weight plates that move up and down on steel guides. It usually consists of attachments for exercise of chest, arms, thighs, calves, shoulders and pectorals (sometimes called wings or pecs).
Treadmill is an equipment used for running without moving any distance. It consists of a conveyor belt which slides on rollers on which the individual can run or walk.
Swiss ball or yoga ball is a rubber ball of 50 to 85 centimeters which is used to develop balance and exercise the abdominal and back muscles.
Dumbbells and bar bells are the traditional gym equipment. They consist of variable or fixed free weights attached to a small or long bar. They are lifted against gravity to tone muscles like biceps, triceps, forearm muscles, chest and shoulder muscles etc. They usually come in pairs.
Rowing machines are gym equipment designed to stimulate rowing in water. They are used to exercise pecs and back muscles.
Exercise bicycles are stationery bicycles with resistance discs for wheels. They are used to exercise thigh and calf muscles.
Balance board consists of a board fixed on a bearing. It is used to develop balance.
Abdomen exerciser consists of an inclined board with leg rollers for doing sit ups. It is used to exercise the stomach and abdomen muscles.
All the above equipment except free weights have attached electronics to monitor number of cycles and other parameters. Resistance bands are elastic bands and in these the resistance of the band to stretching is used to exercise muscles like quadriceps and deltoids.
Punching bag consists of sand filled cushioned bags or other rugged material bags for practice by boxers. They are either hung from the ceiling or fixed on a stand.
Most professional gyms have the above mentioned equipment along with other facilities like swimming pools, sauna baths, steam baths etc.
For a home gym, a multigym with a few dumbbells and barbells are sufficient for workout of the entire body. The starting price of a multigym is around 1500$. The cost of other equipment varies according to the make.
