For those who are looking to purchase an exercise machine to help assist them in returning to the shape they were in their fit teenage glory days, here are a few things to keep in mind. When most people want to get in shape they are unaware of the realities of spot reducing, but I’ll get to that later. A bow flex can be a great help in the battle of the bulge, but it can be difficult to loose a lot of weight if the bow flex is unassisted. And some people will realize that the best things in life are free and will find ways to loose weight on a tight budget.

First of all that AB lounger you have isn’t revealing all of its secrets. The AB lounge is great tool that can be used for building nice ab muscles, but it won’t remove belly fat. This is an example of spot reducing, trying to loose weight in a certain area of the body by working out that part of the body. Spot reducing is impossible. The only way to get rid of that gut is to do any type of cardio exercise.  Cardio workouts such as running may not be as easy as using the AB lounger, but it is a sure way to burn tons of calories while simultaneously increasing lung efficiency.

A Bow Flex is a great tool for increasing muscle mass, but it won’t necessarily dehydrate that beer belly. The Bow Flex will burn calories depending on length of the workout as well as the intensity of the workout, but doesn’t compare to the calories burnt when running on a treadmill for the same duration. Although the Bow Flex isn’t as good a calorie burner as running it can be effective in the long run. The more muscle you have the more calories you will spend at the cost of living which makes staying in shape easier.

Like I said earlier, the best things in life are free and people who live on a tight budget may discover that getting outside and going for a run is the best form of exercise for them. Getting some fresh air and being in the sun for a while can lift spirits and break up the monotony of every day life. Now how does that sound for a workout? Keeping your sanity while simultaneously improving your tan, it’s a two for one and the only thing it costs is a little bit of your time.

So, before deciding which fitness machine to purchase ask yourself the following: What am I looking to accomplish? Burning fat is best done on a treadmill, or some sort of cardio device, and building muscle is accomplished on any resistance machine, such as a Bow Flex, weight bench, ect. Am I attempting to spot reduce? Remember, spot reducing is impossible and while an AB lounge will build abs it won’t crunch a gut. And what can I afford? There are plenty of workouts that can be done without a machine to assist you.  There are no excuses, with or without a machine it can be done, but ultimately it is up to you to do it.