Friday, November 29, 2013

Your Simple Guide To Cross Fitness Equipment

Keeping your body toned and in great shape takes a lot of commitment and consistency. You might want to hit the gym for a complete workout; or, you could just exercise at home if you own some fitness equipment. Moreover, there are many forms of exercises that you can perform to target specific muscle groups.

Nowadays, health-conscious people are fond of doing cross fitness training. To explain further, it is actually a workout program that uses different types of exercises like running, swimming, weight lifting, cardio, and boxing. What people like about it the most is that it introduces you to various exercises and sports making it a lot more fun and interesting. Also, it decreases your risk of having repeated injuries from a single type of exercise. You can also incorporate other activities in your routine like Tai Chi, Yoga, or swimming.

Other advantages of cross fitness training include effectively targeting muscle groups that you want to work on, successfully keeping your mind focused, and efficiently managing your weight.

Since it is a workout, it also uses various pieces of equipment to help you maximize your routine and achieve your exercise goals. Smaller pieces include the medicine ball, ropes, plyometric boxes, and speed ladders; whereas larger ones include cross trainers, weights, and others.

Medicine balls help strengthen the muscles of your chest, abdomen, arms, and legs. They are usually held against your chest then thrust them to your gym partner, who will also be catching the ball at the other end. You can also place them on your abdomen to create enough muscle tension when doing crunches or leg raises. Keep in mind that these balls are also heavy even when they are small; and because of that, you will have to be extra cautious in using them to avoid any injuries.

Ropes that are thick and heavy are also great for cross fitness training. You can climb up with them or do oscillations and slams. Using them is good for your arm, upper back, and leg muscle groups. Plus, they become more challenging if they are thicker. The Manila rope is a popular choice of most athletes and gym goers. Additionally, tension ropes can strengthen your arms because they create resistance every time you pull them.

The plyo boxes and speed ladder allow you to develop your agility in movement, particularly in footwork. Many athletes who play soccer, basketball, boxing, and other sports use them to improve their speed.

Stationary bikes, treadmills, and elliptical cross trainers are also amazing pieces of cross fitness equipment because they help you achieve an optimum cardio workout. Most of these equipment are manufactured to calculate your heart rate and calories you have to burn by requiring your age and weight. They have a digital control system that allows you to enter these specific details, and an output system that lets you know if you have reached the computed heart rate. You just have to mount on these pieces encode your age and weight and start exercising. They are so convenient and easy to use.

On the other hand, free weights come in different sizes, shapes, and weights. Round weight plates are commonly used and placed on the ends of a barbell. Many people prefer working with them because they allow all the muscle groups of your body to work as you lift them. Nevertheless, they are not as safe as weight machines. Speaking of which, weight machines have incremental weights attached to a pulley which lifts them as you exercise. What is more, these machines have illustrations and instructions to guide you on how to use them and what specific muscle groups they target. You can select your preferred weight by placing the pin to the corresponding weight plate.

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