When planning your fitness regimen, it is a two way street when coming to a decision to opt for a home gym facility or to use a commercial gym. Both have their advantages, it really comes down to what you feel will work best for you.

Often expense plays a major role in a gym users’ decision – whether a home gym is an affordable solution or will gym membership is more valuable, it really depends upon your financial situation.

Although home gyms do not have to be expensive, there is a vast choice of products in the marketplace and you do not always have to invest in expensive machines to get a great workout. There are many effective yet inexpensive products on the market that will help you deliver great, if not better results.

Here at Escape Fitness, we can cater for home gym users and commercial gym facilities alike. With our dedicated customer service team on hand to provide valuable advice and catalogue of industry leading fitness equipment packages – we will help you find the right equipment, tailored to your personal needs.

Home Gym

So you decide to opt for a Home Gym – remember that fitting out a room with a few essential pieces of equipment can be relatively inexpensive, so long as you do it right.  There are many different ways to set up and utilise your home gym, but you need to ask yourself these few questions first:

1. What are your fitness objectives – are you looking to lose weight, build strength, tone your body?
2. What are your fitness equipment requirements – what tools do you need to implement into your home gym to meet your fitness objectives?  For example, if you are looking to build strength – you’ll need to consider which products will work best for you dumbbells, free weights etc..
3. Layout and space – think about how much room you have and the minimum floor space requirements to implement equipment into your home gym.

Home gyms are becoming increasingly popular as they are convenient, you can work out any time you please, without restriction and within the comfort of home. They also save time as you do not have to travel nor do you have to wait around to use particular pieces of equipment, like you would in a commercial gym. Others find comfort in home gyms as they no longer have to be concerned of others around them in the commercial gym and give them freedom to train as they want.

Finding the fitness equipment package for your Home Gym

Here at Escape we can help you find the equipment that will work best for you. Once you have an understanding of what your fitness objectives are, we can help you choose what equipment will help you meet them objectives.

If you are looking to build strength Escape Rubber Dumbbells are available in a number of designs and weight increments and are perfect for beginners to advanced users alike. We also have available a number of powerbags, kettlebell and rep set products.

Losing weight a priority? Then our range of Reebok Step and Deck cardio products can help you shed those pounds.

And don’t forget we have a large range of balance, pilates, speed training, body assessment tools and flooring solutions for your home gym.

For more detailed information on the products we have available, please visit our site www.escapefitness.com or call a member of our team for advice on 01733 313535.

The club worked with Life Fitness to redesign the new facility, which now offers a functional fitness space as its main focal point.

The area features equipment supplied by Escape Fitness, including free weights, cables, medicine balls and performance kit such as plyometric boxes and kettlebells.

A seperate boxing fitness training area has also been provided, which includes a full size boxing training ring and a number of hanging boxing stations.

The redevelopment additionally includes the introduction of three personal training pods, specially designed areas where members can work out in privacy either alone or with a personal trainer.

Each of these is equipped with free weights ranging from 1kg to 20kg, medicine balls, stability balls and a set of wobble boards.

Also provided is a Dual Adjustable Pulley from Life Fitness, plus personal training equipment including the new Life Fitness Hammer Vest.

Everywhere in the club, Life Fitness has provided a raft of new 97 series machines for its main cv area, which is divided into two new sections.

On one side, cv machines face banks of LCD screens, while the other offer equipment with integratesd LCD screens for a more personal exercise experience.

A further facility at the club, part of the Next Generation group, is a heavy resistance gym, which has seen the introduction of a new Olympic Lifting Platform, also from Life Fitness, to complement its Hammer plate loaded machines.

Anthony Morrison, Account Manager at Life Fitness said:"After surveying members, Life Fitness identified the needs of the club and dramatically changed the layout to boost the club's thriving personal training business.

"By improving equipment, creating a structured member pathway and meeting member requirements, the Harbour Club can continue to generate essential revenues through personal training."

Personal trainers therefore need to incorporate wellness and functional training into their routines if they want to stay ahead of the game.

Clients are being exposed to mind and body techniques more than ever before as classes like pilates, yoga and tai chi become more popular. In fact the IDEA Fitness Programmes and Equipment Surveys for the last two years indicated a growing interest in both personal training with either yoga or pilates.

Personal trainers who learn mind and body techniques will be able to help their clients explore how they feel while exercising. Body awareness is crucial to movement control.

The exerciser needs to not only understand intellectually what is required in doing an exercise, but also to concentrate on how their body performs through each phas of the movement. This is where trainers need to have the skills to educate their clients on the purpose as well as the technique of each exercise. An integrated approach means trying in education, functional exercise selection and mental focus with movement.

An integrated approach also means using selected exercise tools at the correct resistance levels to improve how the client moves during their everyday activities. For example, using medicine balls tp train correct lifting technique for a young mother with children is functional.

Combine the training by making sure there is a focus on the core muscles to improve balance and control while using the global muscles, breathing correctly through the phases of the movement. Explore how she feels as she picks up that exercise tool. Find out whether she knows which muscles are working during the movement. And by encouraging her to imagine picking up toys and her tots while she performs the exercise, will mean good back health in the future. This really is an integrated approach.

The focus needs to be on multi-muscle exercise where there is demand on postural muscles to support correct exercise technique. Adding concentration on how the body feels as it goes through the exercise makes the client pay attention to all the details connecting the mind to the body through movement.

Most importantly the trainer can talk about how doing this exercise correctly over time will improve the ability to carry out daily tasks or perform in their sport.

Today's clients are looking at personal training as a lifestyle option with a wellness aspect. If a trainer wants to be successful they must deliver more than just physical training methods. They need to address both the mental and physical aspects to make their clients healthier, fitter and happier.

The facility which has undergone an extensive refurblishment of the gym, two studios and spinning areas, forms the blue-print for Esporta's non-racquet clubs in the future and is the first in the series of clubs to be revamped this year.

The new design comprises seven zones, with the gym consisting of a Cardio Theatre with Upright and Recumbent Lifecycles, Cross-Trainers, treadmills and Summit Trainers, together with 12 additional pieces of CV equipment with attachable entertainment screens.

It also has dedicated areas for Treadmill, Cross-Trainer and Crew classes.

Resistance machines also include products from the Signature Series, Pro2SE range, Hammer Strength MTS (Motion Technology Selectorised) and Hammer Strength Ground Base.

There are ten stations from the Circuit Series and the Personal Training Zone features two Dual Adjustable Pulleys and a comprehensive selection of functional fitness equipment.

Escape has supplied all of the studio equipment suitable for many different types of group exercise classes.

The range features RBK Decks, Steps, Adjustable resistance tubes, Rubber Handweights, Rep Sets, Training Bars, Medicine Balls, Foam Rollers and Dura-Balls together with all the appropriate storage and matting.

To officially launch the new concept to the business, Esporta held a two-day conference in May for all its Directors, Senior Managers, General Managers and Fitness Managers.

Over 120 delegates attended the event which included a number of practical workshops to showcase the new facility, as well as training sessions about the strategy behind the implementation of the new innovations.

Facilities at the £2.5m Roko Chiswick Bridge include a 20m swimming pool, a five station hydro spa, sauna and steam room facilities and a dedicated health and beauty suite.

The club has been designed to comprise four distinct zones, which includes a consultation area fitted with a selection of equipment for instructors to use when designing tailored programmes for members, a free weight space and ladies zone.

The main gym space makes up the fourth zone and offers a full range of Life Fitness Signature Strength equipment and 95T Engage Treadmills with integrated TV screens, as well as a boxing area supplied by Escape Fitness.

The club's three studios have been specifically designed for classes they host.

The Mind- Body studio features dark wood and dim lighting in an attempt to create a relaxing environment for its yoga, pilates and tai chi classes, while the Energise studio uses feel light wood and natural lighting for its higher energy classes. A group cycling studio completes the group exercise facilities.

Escape will also responsible for the refurblishment of GLL's existing studio spaces in portfolio as well as new builds.

Wendy Balch, wellness group exercise and fitness service manager at GLL said: "The diverse nature of our centres members are very different from location to location.

"We have worked with Escape Fitness on a number of studio projects in the past and are looking forward to partnering with them again to develop a group exercise offer that meets the needs of all of our customers."

GLL manages more than 65 local authority leisure facilities within the M25.

Member are always looking for different and more innovative ways of training to stave off boredom and operators are learning that, by integrating freewights with other equipment in interesting layouts, they can do just that.

Sales of freeweights have followes a steady upward curve over the last 10 years and demand for dumbbells currently appears to be almost insatiable, so health clubs are clearly using them more.

There is also more innovation in the way freeweights are being used in facilities. We are moving away from offeringrows of dubbells stacked in one dedicated freeweights area, which can be intimidating. Instead clubs are developing more interesting and imaginative gym layouts, which make freeweights more usable for different types of members.

Virgin Active, for example has installed dumbbells in dedicated discreet workout areas, where new or less confident exercisers can familiarise themselves and become comfortable using the equipment in privacy.

The continuing growth of personal training and small group training is also helping to keep demand for freeweights high as operators create specific areas in their clubs to drive this important revenue stream. Virgin Active has personal training hubs with freeweights provided, along with other useful accessories including core boards and BOSUs.

We also recently created a functional fitness area at Welti, an independent club in Shropshire, for personal training with a freeweights zone: a stabilisation area with sprint tract, plyometric platforms and medicine balls: and a combat zone with a boxing platform, kettlebells and punch bags. Such areas cater for people of all abilities and are a great way of introducing them to all equipment, including freeweights.

Changing the look of dumbbells has also helped make them less intimidating – using materials like steel and urethane, and colours other than black.

The initative, supported by Escape Fitness at The Voyager School will be strictly non-contact and focus on teaching technique, which can lead to accredited awards – preliminary, standard, bronze, silver and gold – from the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA)

Members of the Royal Navy Boxing Club helped launch the first eight week course last month, Peterborough school sports co-ordinator Chris Davitt, said the classes have sparked much excitement among the children.

"There's been a huge amount of interest for the after-school boxing classes, which are all about having fun, learning new skills and improving fitness." said Chris, who belives the sessions will also improve discipline among children as well as their attendance.

"Our experience shows that children who take part in physical activity in school have a higher record of attendance than those that don't."

Chris has worked with local ABA coach, Phill Prout, who runs as amateur boxing club in the area, to introduce classes. Escape Fitness is lending its support by providing equipment including boxing gloves, skipping ropes and free-standing punch bags.

Peterborough's school sports co-ordinators will follow the success of the scheme with a view to rolling it out to the city's 13 secondary schools in the future.

Get your guard up…. School children get an inspirational introduction to the skills involved in boxing.

It's suitable for all users from beginners to professional athletes. The range of bars allows the user to safely simulate everyday functional movements in all three planes of motion, thus encouraging improvements when engaging in everyday activities. The Stretch Station has a footprint of only 1.44sq m (15.5sq ft) and features an integral and easy to follow full colour exercise manual attached to the frame. Organised by muscle group, this demonstrates 96 different stretches for each of the 12 body parts, providing a comprehensive resource for all exercise demands.

Things move on, trends change, yet many clubs continue to offer the same classes using the same kit and are disappointed that their studio areas aren't as profitable as they could be.

They could learn a lot from the IDEA Health and Fitness Association's 2007 Survey on Fitness Programs and Equipment. This research reveals the key trends taking place in the US fitness industry, but is nonetheless valuable reading for operators closer to home as we start to experience similar trends here in the UK. The research shows that operators are finding increasingly innovative ways and are using a variety of equipment to keep members motivated and help them to achieve their goals. Mind-body classes like pilates and yoga continue to lead the way but outfoor sessions like boot camp are stating to boom. A particularly interesting finding is the trend towards using smaller pieces of equipment, rather than large and expensive kit.

Stability balls and resistance tubing or bands top the list of the most frequently used types of exercise equipment, but balance equipment including BOSU's, wobble boards and balance boards, are also very popular and are expected to experience further growth in the future.

Flexibility is the key to making the most of studio areas. Optimise the space with classes and equipment that make the most of the square footage available. Circuit training classes, which are currently enjoying a revival, are an ideal way of doing this. Their success lies in the fact that they are simple and cost effective to implement and run, which is why the RBK global master trainer, Steve Barrett, has helped develop the Escape Circuit Training package.

The circuit, which consists of 15 stations and three levels of intensity, provides personalised training within a group exercise environment/

Participants follow a 12-week programme during which time they attend 24 sessions and benefit from personal assessments at the start and end of the scheme.

Health and Fitness operators should address each aspect of the studio environment, from classes and equipment to music, lighting and decor, to create spaces that are both popular and profitable.