WELCOME TO HOME FITNESS DIRECT
At Home Fitness Direct, we take care of you by taking care of how you exercise at home. We've put together the finest range of quality equipment to satisfy every budget and every body.

EXPERT ADVICE
We listen to your needs and goals, your requirements and restrictions - such as how much time and space you can give to the equipment, is your back up to it, any relevant medical conditions we should know about. We can then recommend the ideal piece of equipment for your needs.

THE BEST EQUIPMENT
All our equipment has been personally selected by myself and a dedicated team of experts. We are absolutely committed to the range that you see on our website and contained within our brochure. Unlike many of our competitors we are selective and do not simply list every product available made by any brand. There are some big name brands missing from our site, the reason for this is simple, I would not have their equipment in my own home so why should I expect you to have it.

THE BEST PRICE
We constantly strive to give you the best equipment with the best service levels at the lowest prices on the internet. We are the only on line retailer that can offer you approved factory reconditioned Life Fitness commercial exercise equipment (click for details) at a fraction of the new selling price.

OUR PEOPLE
Many of our staff are members of the Register of Exercise Professionals - the Fitness Industry Association's quality assurance register. They help select our product range and can offer you individual advice on the right equipment for your needs. We also have the largest support network in the UK to help with space planning, delivery, installation and servicing of your new equipment.

Let us help you enjoy the benefits of being fit.

Jonathan Adler
Managing Director

OUR COMPANY

• Home Fitness Direct is part of PTE Plc
• Established for over 25 years.
• 8 Outlets within The UK.
• 85,000 Sq Ft of warehousing.
• Over £1 millon of stock held.
• National delivery fleet.
• Trained engineers UK wide.
• Fully stocked parts depot.
• ISO 9002 ACccredited.
• PLC since 2002.
  

EXERCISE BIKES EXPLAINED

Exercise bikes are ideal for this type of fitness training. The great thing about indoor exercise cycles is that they are low impact on your joints and gentle on your lower back.

The natural cycling posture is to lean slightly forward and many people with troublesome backs find this position relieves pressure on the spine while at the same time building up muscle strength. A good workout on an indoor exercise bike can burn off 350 to 450 calories to help you lose weight, which is one of the best things you can do for your joints.

Exercise is also much safer using an indoor upright exercise bike and more comfortable than on a road bike, there's no traffic and no bone jarring road surfaces. And because our upright exercise bikes are stationary and silent you can watch TV, listen to music or even read a magazine while exercising to your heart's content.

Extracts From "Which? report : Exercise machines"

So what's the best way to get your own body in shape? Recent sales figures suggest many of us are tired of wiping another person's sweat off the equipment at the gym, and are looking for quality exercise equipment to use at home.

Some cross trainers and exercise bikes are as good as those you use in the gym, but you should fight the urge to buy a cheap one.

We found these wobbly, boring and uncomfortable - a combination that will have you reaching for the stop button long before you reach your target weight.

You're far more likely to stick with a machine that makes exercise interesting so we'd recommend paying enough to get a solid machine with at least a few different exercise programmes and a heart-rate monitor.

Programmes
More expensive machines tend to be more solid and offer features like water bottle holders and reading racks but, frankly, if it's a toss up between a reading rack or an exercise programme, we'd advise you to ditch the books.

Programmes make your workout more interesting and effective by varying the resistance level, which governs how hard you have to work.

They can make it feel like you're strolling through a valley, tackling a small hill, or even taking on the Three Peaks challenge.

Calorie counters
To help you track your progress, most machines display basic feedback about speed, distance, time and - supposedly - your calorie expenditure.

The calorie counts can only ever be estimates (the machines don't know enough about your metabolism to be accurate) but we were surprised that even those on some expensive exercise bikes or cross trainers don't take account of the resistance level. So they give the same readout whether you're really pushing yourself or just taking it easy.

To check whether a calorie reader does factor in resistance, try using the machine for a minute at both high and low resistance and see whether the calorie readout differs.

Heart rate monitors
It's definitely worth buying a machine with a heart-rate monitor. Even the monitors on cheaper machines tend to be accurate, and they bring an extra dimension to exercising. Some machines, for example, have programmes that vary the resistance to keep your heart at a specific rate.

Handgrip monitors can be a bit of a pain if you want to let go of the handles. The ear-clip or chest-strap versions, found on more expensive machines, are more handy. An alternative is to buy a chest strap unit that displays your rate on a watch (from £35), or on the machine's display (from £30).

Several of the machines' manuals mention the so-called 'fat burning' and 'cardiovascular workout' heart-rate zones. But our exercise experts think these can be misleading.

The maximum heart-rate calculation on which they're based takes only your age into account, even though the maximum heart rate of a sedentary 40-year-old won't always be the same as that of a super-fit and active one.

To improve your fitness level, it's more important to train for 35 to 40 minutes several times a week, than tire yourself out quickly by trying to achieve a particular heart rate. As you get fitter, your heart rate during exercise should gradually come down, and should recover to its normal level more quickly.

Exercise Bikes-specific features

Assembly
Avoid falling at the first hurdle. Find a friend to help you set up at home. Even some of the simpler ones need two people to assemble them safely.

Fly Wheel
Check the weight of the flywheel, not all manufacturers publish this, but a solid weight, say over 12kg will give you good resistance and a smooth motion.

Calorie counters
If these are dependent on the speed you're running at, they're more useful than if they're independent of speed. Some calorie counters don't take account of whether you're scaling Everest or doing the equivalent of a gentle stroll through the park.

Even so, they give you only a rough estimate of how many calories you're burning. They are slightly more accurate if you can input your age, weight and sex.

To check, compare the readings for a few minutes when you're pushing yourself and again when you're not. They should vary.

Console buttons
These are usually plus and minus buttons for resistance. Pressing and holding them down makes the value change faster. They need to be large so that you don't miss hit them while you are exercising, and respond to your touch well.

Display
Check if there are descriptions of the various programmes on the display. On some models all your workout information is displayed simultaneously, but on most there is too much to see at once, so you may see some information constantly, and have the option or scroll or alternate to check other functions.

Drinks holders
These are useful but they should be deep enough to prevent the bottle falling out as the frame shakes.

Moving Handlebars V's Fixed Handlebars
Consider whether you would prefer handlebars that are fixed position against ones that pivot.

Saddle & Adjustability
Consider the comfort and cushioning of the saddle as well as whether it moves up and down and forward and backwards.

Feedback
Feedback modes give you information on your current workout. They vary between machines, but often include speed, pulse rate, incline, calorie counter, the current programme you've selected, heart rate measurement and total exercise time and distance.

Handgrips
These should be textured to prevent sweaty hands from slipping.

Upright V's Semi Recumbent
An upright bike invariably puts stress on the lower back, if you have lower back problems consider a semi recumbent bike.

Heart rate monitors
These are usually hand sensors on the handle bars (usually left and right), but some machines include wireless chest straps. You wear these on bare skin or over a thin layer of wet clothing. Some have the hand grips in the static handlebars, some in the moving. When located in the moving handlebars, you get a constant readout, whereas when in the static handlebars you need to reach for them.

Responsive Programmes
Keen users will want to have options for setting their own user profiles, in addition to the preset programmes.

Speed display
This is usually given in MPH or KMPH; you can usually choose which to use.

Weight
If you choose one of the heavy ones, you will need to consider where you're going to put it, or even if it'll be able to make it up five flights of stairs, if that applies to you.

What features should I look for in an exercise bike?

Exercise bikes are a perennial favourite, and a good choice for older, frail or unfit people.

Although the exercise is generally targeted towards the lower body, it still works the cardiovascular system (heart and lungs) and is good for improving endurance and burning fat.

The cheap bikes are adequately built but less solid than more expensive versions, so can get wobbly when you're cycling like a thing possessed.

They're generally light enough to move out of the way easily, but their lack of interesting features means you might never get them out again.

Look out for:

• A frame that feels sturdy when you're cycling
• A comfortable, adjustable seat
• Enough space between the body and handlebar to make mounting and dismounting easy
• A seat positioned just behind the pedal axle to ensure a good range of motion
• Wide pedals with straps to keep your feet in place
• Sturdy wheels for moving it around
• A heart-rate monitor