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Have you ever noticed when you slip on the television right before you go to bed how all the late-night infomercials are filled with the newest and latest revolutionary forms of exercise equipment. Whew! I mean it is all over the TV. Not only that-I also noticed that the shopping channels are cluttered with things like treadmill machines and elliptical machines. They are really popular.

The thinking person who doesn’t disengage his brain when watching TV, will sense immediately that the big pitch is all in. But here is my 85 year old great grandmother, bulging at every seam, listening with baited breath to the seductive voice inviting her to regain her girlish figure by thrusting herself on this magical machine that pummels off all those pounds she’s worked so hard to accumulate over these many years in just six weeks. Youth may fade and bodies deteriorate, but vanity perseveres.

As you’ve no doubt surmised, I lack expertise in the fitness realm, but please don’t stop reading. With all the excellent TV infomercials and the sophisticated new and up-dated plaza gyms opening up, I need to get with it and see what the attraction is. I’m really motivated by all the densely populated gyms, pulsating with sweating, tenacious bodies, thankfully clothed in the latest designer “sweats”.

With all the shtick and flippancy of some of my remarks, we must now assume a more serious posture and focus on whether or not these gyms and their exercise equipment are the way to go for those of us determined to get and keep in shape. Are we really just being duped; do we really need them, and can they really do the job?

So the question still remains: do we really need all these machines? The professional trainers have nailed the answer: It is not a need, it’s a convenience or comfort aspect of exercise. Stretching, bending, crunching is easier to do with the help of the machine at home. It’s more comfortable and it still does the job, even as you exercise in front of the TV, watching the newest infomercial hyping the next great machine coming up.

For many people, going to the gym is a social affair. My lady friends sign up together and make it a real gathering place; some men do this also. Quite frankly, distractions annoy me when I’m concentrating on my exercise; I take them seriously. I prefer to keep my social life separate from working out; social isolation is no issue for me.

I finally realized that it takes more time than one thanks to exercise at a gym, therefore I choose to exercise at home. Yes, exercise equipment is expensive, but I’m willing to cut back elsewhere and buy the machines that will serve my purpose. I like what they do for my body and for my well-being. It’s really a matter of individual preference.

I believe that you need to diversify your exercise routine. For example you might have an intense aerobic exercise, then switch to AB exercises mixed in with some light weight training. So it is really up to the individual to choose what he is comfortable with. I personally love exercise machines because they do their job, they are convenient, and I can go in to the other room and do my exercise in private. Believe me it is much quicker than changing my clothes, jumping in the car and going to the gym.

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