Exercise equipment
Exercise Equipment is any equipment used for physical exercise to produce and promote fitness health for specific areas of the body. The terms "exercise equipment" and "fitness equipment" have become interchangeable but only exercise can produce fitness. This suggests that the term "exercise equipment" is preferable when referring to this type of equipment.
Exercise balls
Exercise balls are available in a number of forms. There are large Pilates balls specifically suited to Pilates exercises. Medicine balls are somewhat larger than a basketball and are used as a training aid for a variety of different exercises. There are also a number of different types of timing balls used in developing accuracy and timing of martial arts strikes and kicks.
An exercise ball can also be used to help treat low back pain and to prevent future back pain episodes. The ball helps by strengthening and developing the core body muscles (the belt of abdominal and back muscles) that help to stabilize the spine (or vertebral column). An exercise ball creates instability to the exercise that normally wouldn't be there, forcing the body (and the core) to keep balanced. This strengthens the muscles that are doing the balancing.
Exercise balls work for many types of athletes, including older people and pregnant women. There are specific exercises developed for use with the ball that are appropriate for these and other special interest groups.
Weights
Weights come in many forms, machines, Bulgarian Bags, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, sandbells, and barbells. A dumbbell is a small bar with weights on either end, and is held in a single hand, a barbell on the other hand is a large bar with weights on both ends, and both hands are used to grip it.
Dumbbells and barbells are both useful for exercising different muscle areas and maintaining safety throughout a workout, but machines are both safe and also what is known as an isolator. Machines usually only have one path of motion, meaning that it follows a direct path through a system of pulleys and/or attachment to an immobile frame. Some examples of weight machines are Smith Machines, leg press and Mechanical Shoulder Press.
Homemade Weights
Sandbags of various weights, water-filled kegs, ropes, tractor tires and generally other heavy objects can be used for exercise. These more awkward weights and exercises utilize even more muscles, such as forearm muscles involved in gripping the weights. Each of these are examples of free-weights that are exercised with while standing and incur full body impact. These are alternatives to store-bought weights and can be had on a budget. Sandbags and kegs can be filled to various weights and tuned for the individual exercise practitioner.
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