However, regardless of how great treadmill exercise can be, you might find that it starts to get a little boring after a while. At this point, you might decide to simply switch to a new piece of equipment, if you’re hiring from Hire Fitness, or you may decide to try some tricks for getting more out of your workout.

1. Work Those Hips

No-one ever said that you’re restricted to walking forwards on your treadmill. Why not have a go at side-stepping instead – you’ll work your outer and inner thighs, alongside your calves, abs, hips, and obliques. Sideways walking will strengthen your balance and it can be easy- once you get used to it. With your left hand on the front rail, and your right hand on the right railing, turn your body so that the right rail is in front. Just remember to train both sides equally.

2. Go Uphill – and backwards

Since you now know that you don’t have to walk forwards on the treadmill, why not try going backwards instead? It can take slightly more concentration, and you will have to go at a slower speed, but this can work perfectly when it comes to strengthening your glutes, quads, and calves. If you’re not completely comfortable walking backwards, you could simply turn off the power and lean into the front of the treadmill, then use your leg power to push the belt manually.

3. Enhance Your Strength

A lot of people seem to forget that the treadmill is more than just a good way to work out your lower body. You can easily engage in chest presses and dips with the treadmill. Do engage in a triceps dip, stand normally, and put your hands on the rear rails, leaning back towards your heels and bending your arms, before pushing into a starting position.

4. Tabata Intervals

An amazing workout using treadmill hire doesn’t have to take all of your spare time. Start by warming up, then set your treadmill to about a 10% incline, and sprint. Perform about twenty seconds of high intensity running, followed by ten seconds of rest (or walking), then repeat this for twelve sets.

5. Put Your Hands Up In the Air Sometimes

This might look kind of strange, but it’s great for increasing your heart rate and giving you a little bit more of a challenge. Simply walk with your arms overhead, or move your arms up and down throughout the entire session.

The post Top Tips for Treadmill Workouts appeared first on Hire Fitness.

As great as a gym membership may appear to be for some people, it’s certainly not the right option for everyone. In fact, many people find themselves signing up for a gym membership only to end up wasting their money when they discover one of the secrets we’re going to outline for you below. Hopefully, this list will help you to make a careful, more informed decision about your fitness efforts.

1.     It’s Not as Healthy as you Think

Telling people that you’ve started going to the gym can seem like the best way to highlight your journey towards a fitter, happier you. However, gyms might not be as healthy as you think. In fact, one thing to remember is that there are often germs everywhere. After all, there are huge numbers of people using the same equipment, sweating on the same materials, and puffing the same air, which can all increase your chances of falling victim to illness. Most of the time, machine users won’t even bother to wipe away their sweat when they’re done using a machine.  Here at Hire Fitness, we clean and sanitise each machine before it goes out on the next hire and all our machines are serviced regularly to ensure maximum performance.

At the same time, those “healthy” smoothies that are available at the gym can contain a lot of calories – often far more than you would expect. It’s often a better idea to simply make your own juices at home, or drink water instead!

2.     There’s No Room for Shy People

If you’re shy, then the gym could be a very daunting place for you. Unlike with fitness equipment hire, where you can simply workout from the comfort of your own home, gyms place you in a position wherein you’re constantly observed by others. After all, just as you will need to wait in a huge queue just to get on the machine you want to use, when you finally get a chance to start working out, there will be people waiting around you too.

At the same time, the changing rooms are constantly full of people, and if you want to make sure that you’re not going home covered in sweat, then you’ll need to overcome your embarrassment about stripping off in public.

3.     Gyms Aren’t Always Cost-Effective

Finally, limited-time deals and offers can make gym memberships seem like an affordable solution for fitness, but the truth is that they’re often more expensive than you’d think. Fitness assessments are designed to sell you personal training sessions, and upsells are hidden in almost every aspect of your membership. There’s nothing to cover you if something goes missing from your locker in a gym, and if you forget something that you need, you’ll either have to purchase it there, or go back home again to pick it up.

Most people really don’t use their membership as often as they would need to in order to get their money’s worth. However, when you hire gym equipment instead, you can hire for as long as you like, and use your machine as frequently as you like without having to worry about shyness or hygiene. In other words, hiring equipment is just like going to the gym, without the hidden downsides.

The post What Your Gym Doesn’t Want you to Know appeared first on Hire Fitness.

Exercise can help you lose those extra pounds and used regularly, a treadmill for running or walking will keep you fit.  Alternatively a cross-trainer is a great all over body work-out and will give you good results quite quickly and an exercise bike is so easy to use, you can do it while watching your favourite TV programme!  Rowing machines are great if you prefer to sit down whilst exercising and vibration plates can stimulate muscles much more quickly than we can do ourselves, so floor exercises performed on a vibration plate can be done in half the time.  Watch out for our brand new instructional videos on each of these categories of fitness equipment.  We think you’ll like them and will find them beneficial.  

At Hire Fitness, we can provide a machine that suits your requirements in terms of specification and cost and with minimum rental periods of just 4 weeks, you can hand the machine back when you feel you’ve had enough.   If you’re still not sure what to hire

The post New Year’s Resolutions 2017 appeared first on Hire Fitness.

Fitness tips for Christmas 2016

Fitness and Christmas are not usually words that are used together at this time of year!  But having worked hard all year long to keep fit and keep the weight down, Christmas comes around and lots of your hard work is undone in a matter of days.  It’s a tough one – with so much lovely food, parties and general festivities, it’s easy to put on 4-5 pounds in a short space of time.  So what do you do?  You read our fitness tips for Christmas 2016 and you keep strong, so when new year comes along and everyone else is struggling to lose the pounds, you’re smug in the knowledge that you prepared well for the holiday season!

• • Moderation:  Remember that it’s important not to over do it on the mince pies and bubbly!  Enjoy yourself and eat and drink,  but just do so in moderation and be conscious of exactly what you’re eating and drinking.  When faced with a delicious buffet, always pile on the coloured foods in favour of any others as usually more colourful = more healthy.
  • Alcohol:  Don’t forget that alcohol is surprisingly calorific – each glass of bubbly contains around 90 calories!  When mixing drinks, always try to opt for slimline mixers as they contain less calories than their ‘full fat’ counterparts!
  • Water:  Keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water every day.  We should all aim for around 2 litres of water a day – that’s about 8 – 10 glasses a day.
  • Strut your stuff:  Why not strut your stuff at the Christmas parties, even if you’re not good at it!   Did you know that dancing can burn up to 250 calories an hour?
  • Keep eating:  Never miss a meal.  It’s important to have at least 3 proper meals a day.  If you decide to miss a meal thinking you can make up for it at the next meal, you’ll be doing yourself a disfavour.  Muscle can quickly begin turning into fat, which is the body’s response to perceived starvation.  Eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, with healthy snacks in between if needed.
  • Healthy snacks:  Try healthy snacks in between meals or when at a party – such as raw veg and dips.  Try to say no to crisps, peanuts and sweet treats.  You’ll be proud of yourself when you do.
  • Sleep:  Make sure you get plenty of sleep over the Christmas period.  A rested body and a rested mind regulates your mood and helps you make the riight choices.
  • Turkey:  Don’t cook your Christmas turkey in lashings of butter or oil.
  • Puddings:  Rather than Christmas pudding, mince pies and Christmas cakes with cream, you could opt for something a little more healthy such as fresh fruit kebabs or natural yoghurt and fruit.
  • Exercise:  Even though  you’re undoubtedly busy with Christmas preparations, try to make time for some exercise.  You’ll feel better for it and you’ll function much more effectively.  If you can’t make it to the gym or you don’t have time to step on your treadmill at home, at least try to choose the stairs rather than use a lift and walk or cycle where you can instead of taking the car.

  In spite of all of this, Enjoy yourself!  Remember these fitness tips for Christmas 2016 and have a very healthy and happy Christmas and new year.

All at Hire Fitness.

The post Fitness tips for Christmas 2016 appeared first on Hire Fitness.

The FITT Plan for Physical Activity

FITT helps you remember the guidelines that should be included in any fitness plan.  FITT stands for:

• Frequency
• Intensity
• Time
• Type

When planning a fitness programme for yourself or others, use the following FITT principles to help you add in the detail for the programme:

FREQUENCY

Decide how often to exercise – preferably a little and often

INTENSITY

Choose how hard to train – it’s best to choose an activity that is at least moderate in intensity such as walking

TIME

Decide how long to train each day – for example, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate activity every day

TYPE

Decide what method of training to use – for example team sports, family activities, active hobbies etc.

Extra Fitness Tips for Children

School aged children should be given the time to be active every day; this should be moderate to vigorous in nature.  During the school day, sedentary periods should be interspersed with short bursts of activity or exercise and ideally, physical education should take place every day.  Encourage children to keep an activity diary or log so they can begin to understand how much exercise they’re doing and increase this where necessary.  They should always be praised for taking part rather than just for winning and positive behaviours should be encouraged, particularly in children who are less active.

The post How fitness planning helps you achieve appeared first on Hire Fitness.

What does a Cross Trainer Do?

A cross trainer is a piece of exercise equipment which combines the motions of a treadmill, climber and exercise bike into one package. This means you get the combined benefits of cross country, hiking, and biking all in a singular machine. With an elliptical machine, your legs move in an elongated oval motion, hence the term “elliptical”.

Here are just some of the many benefits associated with cross training.

1. Burn more Calories

Depending on the intensity of your training sessions, you may find that you burn more calories using an elliptical trainer than you do using an exercise bike or treadmill. The actual workout will feel similar to a brisk walk, though you will be exerting just as much energy as you would if you were running. Many elliptical trainers burn up to ten calories a minute.

2. Reduce Joint Stress

Another benefit in using a cross trainer is that you reduce impact on your joints. Though the machine provides a workout that is similar to jogging, it avoids the constant pounding that running can have on your legs. Because your limbs remain in a constant state of contact with the machine in question, the operation of a cross trainer limits the amount of impact that is generated towards your joints. This is why many fitness experts recommend elliptical trainers to people who suffer from physical ailments such as arthritis and bad joints.

3. Safe to Use at Home

Another great aspect about cross training is that when you stop working out, the machine stops too. The amount of resistance on your trainer will determine exactly how much effort you have to exert to stay in motion, and the speed will be determined according to your movement. This means you don’t need a professional watching you to make sure you’re doing things correctly.

4. Complete Body Workout

If you hold onto the handle bars during your workout, you’ll be getting a full body workout that spans across your legs, arms, stomach, back, and your entire body. Some people prefer to avoid using the bar because it causes them to move more slowly. On the other hand, not using the bar could also enhance the effort exerted by your abs in keeping you stable. Choosing the workout that works for you will take some personal experimentation.

The post Why are Cross Trainers so Good for you appeared first on Hire Fitness.

HIRE FITNESS NEWS

We’re excited to report that we’ve started work on our mobile responsive website so you’ll soon be able to easily view and order items for hire from the convenience of your mobile phone, without having to navigate your way through the full website on the small screen!

We’re very excited about this and we’ll be adding new features too, to make your journey even easier. We’ll let you know when it’s ready to use but we’re hoping it’ll be around the autumn.

If there’s anything that you think we should include that would make life easier when ordering from us, then do please let us know.  Just drop us a line and we’ll definitely consider any further enhancements.

The post Hire Fitness Mobile Website appeared first on Hire Fitness.

Following, we’ll provide a couple of quick and simple tips designed to help you tackle the extra pounds, burn calories faster, and above all create the body that you’ve been dreaming of all year long.

Step 2: Drink Plenty and Eat Healthy

If you’ve been devoting your free time to high-intensity workouts, but you’re still not seeing the benefits, you might need to rethink your current diet. After all, what you eat is the fuel that keeps you moving through a difficult exercise regimen. If you are filling your body full of foods that are designed to clog up your metabolism and slow down your system, then you’re bound to struggle when it comes to sculpting that bikini-body.

Replace high-fat foods and carbohydrates with plenty of fruit and vegetables to keep you feeling satisfied throughout the day. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and processed sugars, which means that your body can break them down quickly into energy. At the same time, keep yourself hydrated with at least eight glasses of water a day to help ensure that your systems remain running smoothly at all times.

Step 3: Avoid Alcohol

When the beach is beckoning and your friends seem to be constantly inviting you to barbeques and other sunshine-friendly events, it can seem as though passing up alcohol is something of an impossible feat. Unfortunately, that extra glass of wine or bottle of beer could be negating all of the hard work you’ve been doing to get your body ready for swimsuit season.

A standard glass of wine contains about as many calories as a piece of chocolate, and a pint of beer has the calorific equivalent of a packet of crisps. If you drink five pints of lager a week, the extra calories you consume can add up to about 44,200 calories a year, which is the equivalent of around 221 doughnuts.

Step 1: Build the Right Muscles

This is not just one for the lads! Although women generally tend to avoid strength training because they’re concerned that it will leave them with bulky muscles and an unsightly figure, the truth is that working on your muscles is actually a lot more important than you might think. Not only will building your muscles by hiring a rowing machine and a set of weights help your metabolism to work faster, but it’s also not going to give you those huge muscles you’re worried about.

With the right workout, you can focus on building lean muscles that give you nothing more than a flat stomach, perfectly toned abs, and a set of stunning thighs, all while improving your energy levels, and increasing your chances of losing weight faster in the future.

The post How to Get Fit and Earn Your Summer Body appeared first on Hire Fitness.

So we attended the Health and Wellbeing at Work exhibition at the request of the new and exciting Better Health at Work Alliance (BHWA).  The exhibition was at the NEC in Birmingham on the 8th and 9th March at which the BHWA had a stand – where we camped out thanks to their generosity!

The BHWA is a fantastic new industry led initiative bringing together workplace health experts to offer employers free help and guidance on how to improve employee engagement in the health and fitness arena. Hire Fitness is proud to be a Founder Member of the BHWA and we’re delighted to be working with such a wide range of industry professionals.

We believe a healthy body is a healthy mind which is crucial in any workplace and we strive to ensure employers are aware of the options available to them to help their employees improve their levels of fitness.  To find out more, go to Better Health at Work Alliance

The post Health and Wellbeing at Work Exhibition appeared first on Hire Fitness.

1.  Use an Exercise Bike

Exercise bikes are known for being incredibly gentle on the joints, allowing you to get your heart pumping as though you were taking part in your favourite sport, without making your injury worse. You can indulge in daily exercise with an exercise bike with a much lower risk of injury than if you were to spend thirty minutes a day walking. Cycling is heavy on the muscle groups in the thighs, and most of the work being done takes place within the quadriceps and the gluteus. Most professionals recommend using an exercise bike to rehabilitate yourself after an injury to the Achilles tendon, or knee ligament.

2.  Use a Step Machine

A step machine or ‘stepper’ provides a low-impact option for exercise, which mimics the action of running by moving your legs in alternating patterns. Studies have found that cross trainers and steppers are capable of providing fitness gains similar to running, and the entire lower body musculature is used during a workout, specifically the gluteus, calves and quads. However, hip use is a little higher when using a stepper, so it is not the best option for those suffering from hip injuries.

3.  Use a Cross Trainer

Cross trainers are a fantastic option for rehabilitation, and can be utilized well by those with calf or Achilles based problems. With cross trainer hire, Birmingham residents don’t even have to leave their home to benefit from the low-impact workout of a cross trainer. Although it may feel like running, using a cross trainer is actually much easier on your muscles and joints then simply pounding the pavement. You can adjust the levels of your cross trainer to suit you, and make sure that the resistance is perfect for your muscles.

4.  Use a Rowing Machine

Using a rowing machine can help to build tone in muscles and strengthen cardiovascular function, whilst boosting stamina. They also don’t place any strain on your joints or back when you are using them, which can make them ideal for rehabilitation purposes. Rowing machines also put you in control of your own level of resistance, which can make the recovery process easier. Remember though, when you’re overcoming an injury, you should always work at the pace suggested by a medical professional.

The post Sports Injury Recovery appeared first on Hire Fitness.