I did a mini-poll a few months ago on a message board. Out of my 13 respondents, 62% said they work out at home. I don’t believe this is all due to preference though.

Reasons for using a home gym included time savings, money savings, convenience and privacy. I got the feeling that more people would be using the public gyms if time and money weren’t a consideration.

The social exercisers were big fans of the accountability and motivational factors that come with the public gyms. The group classes and variety of equipment were also important reasons. One person said she uses the public gym because she doesn’t have exercise equipment at home. Others mentioned that being at the gym helps them focus because there aren’t any household distractions.

I voted with the home goers. I find that exercising with others is too much of a social situation for me and my workout suffers for it. As far as saving money and not having equipment, those don’t apply to me. I’ve spent plenty of money on quality home equipment. It’s worth it to me. I prefer to sweat in private.

If you prefer to work out at home, you might like my other blog, Home Fitness for Women.

Are you having trouble focusing? Go for a walk and get some oxygen to that brain of yours!Seriously. I was overwhelmed this morning with my to-do list for the day. I needed to organize everything I had to do in the right order to make my day as productive as possible. I just could not focus. So, I actually used my exercise to procrastinate. What an excellent idea that was!

I got on my treadmill with no music and no TV and just started walking. I let all the thoughts in my head just roam around and sort themselves out. (Kind of like when you are trying to sleep at night and your brain won’t shut up.) Before I knew it, my thoughts organized themselves AND I had added 10 minutes onto my workout!

Try it!

I was tired. I was cranky. I was stressed. (And apparently a little whiney.) My back was aching.

The chiropractor told me that walking is the best thing to loosen up my back and restore movement, but the LAST thing in the world I felt like doing was getting on my treadmill!

But sometimes, you’ve just gotta do whatcha just gotta do…

I put on my sneakers, stretched a little and started walking. 2.0 MPH to start loosening up my back… 2.5 MPH to warm up some more…. 3.0 MPH… I figured that is where it would stay for the next 30 minutes. After all, I was only walking to get movement in my back.

I started feeling bored. I started thinking about how sick I am of having my back hurt. I started thinking about my weight. I started thinking about every stressful thing going on in my life. I started to get ANGRY!

So, I RAN!!! I cranked my treadmill up to 6 MPH and ran for as long as I could stand it. (It wasn’t very long.) Over the next 30 minutes, I staggered my treadmill speed between 3 and 6 MPH.

Amazing things started to happen! I started feeling better. It was like the stress was being sweat right out of my pores. My thought patterns turned from negative to positive. I went from tired to motivated. I started coming up with new business ideas and stuff like that.

I found it only appropriate for me to share this story. There are just so many benefits to exercise: physical health, mental health… and even business growth!

(Just don’t tell my chiropractor I ran!)

Have I mentioned before how much I love my treadmill? I do. I really do. Treadmills are so versatile. You can walk, jog or run. You can choose what kind of incline you can handle for the day. If you change your mind, it’s as simple as pushing a button. You can exercise while listening to music, while watching TV or just let your mind run empty.

Walking is such a natural exercise too. We’ve all been doing it since we were toddlers. It’s not complicated. It’s not confining. No worrying about the stance width will fit our bodies. No discomfort of a hard seat.

No other exercise or piece of home fitness equipment offers all that a treadmill has to offer. If it weren’t for my treadmill, I’m not sure I would exercise at all. And that is what matters most… That we just do it.