Bearing that in mind – how do boxers workout? Do they spend hours on a the cross training machine, or pounding away on a treadmill? No, they skip (and run outside). Skipping is an excellent form of cardio exercise, and improves agility and footwork too. The monotony of a cross trainer or stationary cycle does not exactly challenge the mind – whereas skipping is almost an art form.

Speed ropes are the most popular ropes these days, designed to be light and fast, which makes skipping easier. Heavy ropes are no longer favoured, although they do still provide a challenging workout.

Here are none ropes that will go well in any home gym. They also make fun and cheap Christmas presents, ideal for motivating family and friends to get fit too!

	Everlast Leather Skipping Rope Buy new: £10.49 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	skip-hop Adult Speed Skipping Rope Buy new: £5.99
	York Leather Skip Rope – 8.5-Inch Buy new: £10.67 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	skip-hop Children’s 2.4m Speed Skipping Rope Buy new: £4.99
	Speedrope Skipping Rope Buy new: £3.99
	York PVC Speed Rope with Counter Buy new: £9.99 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	skip-hop adult (3m) speed skipping rope Buy new: £6.99 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	skip-hop Children’s 2.1m Speed Skipping Rope Buy new: £4.99
	Digital Skipping Rope Buy new: £8.99 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	Nylon Skipping Rope Speed Ropes with Plastic Handles Red Buy new: £2.49 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Wii Fit Plus - Buy for Christmas

Earlier this year the that Wii Fit plus was approved by the National Health Service as a good way to get active and fit. It is an excellent way to have some fun with the family while also being healthy. There are so many games and activities, from boxing, yoga, Pilates to tennis and golf. The Wii Fit Plus is the second fitness package from Nintendo for the Wii and offers more strength training and yoga workouts. The Wii Fit Plus is set to be one of the most popular Christmas gifts this year.

What is in the Wii Fit Plus?

• The Wii Fit Plus Bundle includes the game software and the Wii Balance Board.
• You can input the amount of time you want to spend on your workouts or select an area for personal improvement, and Wii Fit Plus will suggest a number of diverse activities for you.
• For the first time, you can mix and match which strength and yoga activities you prefer on a given day. The seamless exercise flows make it easier than ever for you to maintain their daily workout routines.
• The range of games and customization options will make you want to play every day. You’ll be having so much fun that your workouts will seem to fly by in no time at all!

The Wii Fit is designed to be both fun and also to give a good workout. The games require anything from light to intense effort to perform well. The Wii Fit is like having a personal trainer at hand 24 hours a day! To play the Wii Fit you need a Nintendo Wii console (from UK: Nintendo Wii Console (or from USA: Nintendo Wii console) these consoles come with Wii Sports included.

Order the Wii Fit Plus in time for Christmas

• Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii) from Amazon.co.uk
• Wii Fit Plus – Game Only (Wii)
• Nintendo Wii Console with Wii Sports

Click here for information on Wii Fit in the USA

The Door Gym Chin Up Bar

• Top selling fitness product
• Brand: Door Gym

Features

• Brand New Boxed
• Fits Doorways Between 24 – 32 inches wide
• Heavy Duty Steel
• No drilling required
• Also used for Sit Up + Push Up + Dips

Customer Reviews

Good Product - * Recommended Buy *
Easy to put together, works well and does everything it says it does. It arrived within one day of placing the order.

Brilliant Door Gym
This has got to gone down as one of my best amazon purchases. The door gym was delivered inside 36 hrs of ordering and was well packaged. It was very easy to put together, it is well made,very strong and sturdy. It is a bargain at the price.

Click here to order from our Store

The task was to develop a new portable home fitness equipment product. It also had to retail at £30 ($45) and be designed, built and sold in just two days. The winning design was the Body Rocker (working title “bum ball”), which provides a new way to work the abs, and trim stomach fat.

The body rocker actually looks like it has some potential as being an effective way to workout the abdominals. Designed to focus on the stomach muscles, it is a balance board for the core muscles.

The winning team managed to sell 10,000 units to retail giant John Lewis, so they should be on the shelves soon.

Just 20 minutes of any exercise 4 times a week can make a world of difference. Reducing stress, improving concentration and increasing energy levels are just a few of the many benefits to your wellbeing.

Don’t have time to visit the gym? What better way to maintain your fitness than working out at home? Well, Argos have got everything you need at low prices, including a great range of home gym equipment, football and golf equipment.

Hurry! Check our latest prices at Argos today.

Most good clubs supply their own Pilates equipment, however if you are training in Pilates at home, then you will need some of these items.

Why Use Pilates equipment?

Pilate Rings are commonly used in Pilates to add intensity to floor exercises. The ring’s resistance speeds up toning by targeting specific muscles. Especially useful in problem areas like the inner and outer thighs, upper arms, the chest and even the pelvic muscles.

Pilates Balance Balls are designed to challenge all Pilates exercise principles: breathing; centring; posture; movement; coordination; relaxation and resting. Improves body awareness and strengthens stabilising muscles. Suitable for beginners and professionals.

Pilates Mats provide stability while training, and as a result help to give you better posture, improved muscle toneand burn more calories while training. Good mats provide insulation, padding and grip, which are essential for relaxation, comfort and safety.

Body Sculpture Pilates Deluxe set £14.36	Reebok Pink Yoga Mat and Carry Case £15.65	Pilates-Mad Pilates Ring Double Handle £16.62
Reebok Pilates Band Kit £14.19	Tunturi Pilates Ring De Luxe £9.78	Reebok Pilates Ring £9.99
Reebok Level 3 Resistance Tube £10.73	Togu Pilates Balance Ball £9.37	Tunturi Pilates & Fitness Set De Luxe £19.56

Amazon currently have a huge discount sale on their Fitness equipemnt.

Discounts can be found on all brands, for all fitness equipment, from books and dvds to running machines and weight training equipment.

What to look for in a treadmill

A good treadmill has a built in calorie counter, body fat analysis, heart rate monitor and speeds up to 8mph (12kph). An incline option is also excellent for walkers, as walking up hill provide a much better workout. Cheap treadmills are often Manual Magnetic operated. These provide an excellent workout still, but lack the features of Motorised Treadmills. When buying motorised running machines, it is often wise to look for a model with safety cut off switches. These help prevent injury if you tire and fall or trip while running.

If you are looking for a high-end treadmill, then the Nautilus range of treadmills is one of the best choices on the market today. These are for the serious runner who needs the best in indoor training facilities.

Selected Treadmills and Running Machines:

	Carl Lewis Motorised Treadmill – MOTC99 Buy new: £219.01 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	York T101 Treadmill Buy new: £269.99 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	Carl Lewis Fitness MTM25 Manual Magnetic Treadmill Buy new: £90.01 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	York T501 Treadmill Buy new: £233.80 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	Body Sculpture Treadmill BT3150 Buy new: £280.14 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	Medicarn Motorised Treadmill Running Machine Buy new: £229.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	HORIZON FITNESS T207 MOTORISED TREADMILL WITH 2-YEAR ON SITE WARRANTY Buy new: £279.00 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

(all prices are correct at date of print)

Nike Team Large Duffle Bag (Black)
Buy new: £18.99

A good gym bag can make a trip to the gym or sports club a much more pleasant affair. Buy a bag that is large enough to fill all your gym clothes, towels, ideally with a separete section for shoes. A gym bag needs to be well ventilated. There are many on the market now, with just about every sports manufacturer making represted. Nike and Adidas dominate the UK market, however there are many smaller labels available, such as Freshwater bags and Roxy bags

Types of Gym Bag:

Holdalls, such as the Adidas – Core Holdall are great for most sports such as football, rugby and martial arts.

Backpacks are smaller, but obviously much easier to carry. Larger ones contain separate compartments for clean and dirty clothes, and some have shoe/trainer compartments.

Drawstring sacks are the smallest gym bags. Some are really only suitable for a few items for a quick change, but some are now made larger and are closer to a rucksack. But if you need more space, you really should buy a rucksack instead of a drawstring gym bag.

Selected Gym Bags from the store:

	Adidas – Elite Gym Bag / Drawstring Bag (Colour: Black / Red ) Buy new: £4.49 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	Adidas – +F50 Gym Bag / Drawstring Bag (Colour: silver ) Buy new: £3.89 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	Official England Rugby Gym Bag Buy new: £5.99 Usually dispatched within 24 hours
	Adidas +F50 Drawstring Sports Gym Bag Buy new: £7.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	Adidas Football Team Bag Base Compartment Buy new: £19.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Antler Organza Gym Bag (Raspberry)
Buy new: £30.00
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

	Columbia Sportswear Clatsop 33 Litre Daypack / Backpack Buy new: £18.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	Ripcurl Bubble Satchel Buy new: £15.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	Adidas BP Alpha backpack in blue Buy new: £14.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Browse our full selection of gym bags

LifeFitness X9i Elliptical Crosstrainer – Buy new: £3,150.00

Elliptical trainers offer a non-impact cardiovascular workout that can vary from light to high intensity based on the resistance preference set by the user. Most elliptical trainers work the user’s upper and lower body (although some models do not have moving upper body components). Using an elliptical trainer is designed to provide a cardiovascular workout rather than building muscles. Popular brands available in the UK include Infiniti, Body Sculpture, Horizon Elite, Lifefitness, NordicTrack, Reebok and Bremshey.

They can be self-powered by user generated motion or need to be plugged in for adjustment of motion and/or for supplying their electronic consoles and resistance systems. Current models incorporate adjustable resistance via friction belt (although this is becoming obsolete), magnetic or electromagnetic devices.

There are two major types of elliptical trainers, “front-drive” and “rear-drive” with the former having the elliptical drive mechanism at the front of the machine and the latter having the elliptical drive mechanism at the rear of the machine.

On some models, the incline of sloping roller ramps beneath the pedal-links can be adjusted to produce varying pedal motion paths. The result of such adjustment changes the burdens on various muscle groups in the legs. Some models can vary both the incline, resistance and stride length over the course of a workout according to a preset program. Some trainers can be driven in a reverse as well as in a forward direction.

Elliptical trainers are primarily driven via the legs, and most are combination designs having handle-levers attached to each pedal-link for the purpose of enabling a burden on the arms to provide a secondary source of driving power. The user grips the handles below shoulder height and pushes/pulls them while shuffling the feet back and forth within their elliptically shaped paths. Thus the oscillating handle motions are dependently coordinated with the constrained pedal motions.

Poorly designed machines are too dependent on the user’s leg power, producing excessive handle speeds as a result of mechanical ratios that do not provide enough advantage to the handle-levers. Consequently such machines feel to the user like their arms are simply going along for the ride, rather than sharing in the work. The better models offer a harmonious combination of arm and leg exercise in the correct ratios.

Some manufacturers produce commercial models which focus on durability and are made to withstand the more frequent use of the fitness club environment. These units typically sell for well over £2000, offering greater durability and programming than the typical home user would ever need.

An elliptical cross trainer is comparable to a treadmill in its exertion of leg muscles and the heart. Ellipticals produce an intermediate range of leg motion between that of stationary bikes and treadmills.

There are claims that the dual action exercise of an elliptical trainers can actually be more efficient in burning calories. The logic is that by exercising more muscle groups simultaneously, a more intense workout can be achieved in less time. It is also suggested that the perceived rate of exertion is lower. However, other studies have shown that the rate in which calories are burned on an elliptical trainer is similar to that on a treadmill. Regardless, elliptical trainers are growing in popularity. One reason may be that because the person who is exercising is not taking his or her feet off of the pedals, an exercise can be done at a gentler rate, still getting the same amount of results as a treadmill.

Varying the stride length on the elliptical trainer can recruit a larger variety of muscle groups. As the stride is lengthened, more calories are burned without any higher rate of perceived exertion by the user. Adjustable stride length feature on some newer ellipticals.

Selection of Cross Trainers from the store:

	Bremshey Orbit Trail-C Cross Trainer Buy new: £269.80 Usually dispatched within 6-10 business days
	NordicTrack CX650 Folding Elliptical Cross Trainer + Free High Impact Mat Buy new: £449.99 Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
	REEBOK 5.1e Cross Trainer (RE-13103) Buy new: £419.99 Usually dispatched within 6-10 business days

LifeFitness X7 Advanced Elliptical Cross Trainer
Buy new: £2,995.00

Horizon Elite 408i Cross Trainer – 2008 Model
Buy new: £999.99

Body Sculpture BE6115 2 in 1 Ellptical
Buy new: £179.99

INFINITI X985 CROSS TRAINER
Buy new: £315.00