How many of us have made our wish list for Santa while munching on high calorie holiday season food? Facing the festivities – and cookies – of the holiday season, it’s not a surprise that Santa is asked for so much exercise equipment. Not only does workout equipment weigh down the sled and pose a wrapping challenge; Santa must maneuver down the chimney with extreme caution. Nevertheless, before so much is asked of St. Nick, you need to decide whether you want a treadmill, an elliptical cross trainer, a bike, or a stair climber and examine your fitness goals and lifestyle to determine what piece of equipment is best for you.
If you find that the treadmill is at the top of your list, you aren’t alone. According to a survey done for Life Fitness, manufacturer of the Lifecycle exercise bike and other fitness equipment, more than 30% of the 1000 people questioned said the piece of exercise equipment they’d most like to receive this holiday season is a treadmill. Strength training equipment was a distant second with 13.5%, followed by exercise bikes at 11.9% and elliptical cross trainers at 11.3%.
Chuck Barnard, General Manager of a leading American health club wasn’t a bit surprised by the survey results. "We have 100 pieces of cardiovascular equipment in the club, and nearly 30 of them are treadmills. It’s a high number, but we need to have this many because treadmills are so popular."
Industry figures back up Barnard’s observation. Americans spent US$1.5 billion on treadmills in 1996, according to the Fitness Products Council, making them the most popular piece of exercise equipment. What’s more, since 1987, consumer use of treadmills is the only form of machine-based aerobic exercise that has increased each year.
"We can attribute the growing popularity of treadmills to many things. Most importantly, that they can accommodate people of all fitness levels," says Barb Usmail, exercise physiologist for Life Fitness. "People can jog or run or do whatever they want at their own pace while toning muscles and burning calories."
But, before you turn your list over to Santa it is a good idea to get acquainted with the different types of equipment available. Visit a local health club (many have one day passes) and try the different machines. In addition to assessing the different workout each piece of equipment offers, it’s important to ask yourself if you’re enjoying it. Other considerations are the level of cardiovascular exercise, and whether you need low or non impact exercise programs.
No matter what you ask Santa to bring, keep the fun factor in mind. The more you enjoy the piece of equipment you are working out on, the better chance you will have at keeping that New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get in shape.