How to Maintain Your Exercise Equipment

You've gone and done it. You went and spent hundreds of dollars on an exercise machine. There it sits, in the middle of the room just waiting for you to come for a visit; and visit you do. Every day you religiously workout. Weeks into your routine, you have no desire to stop. Soon, you have passed the dreaded six-week point and guess what, you're still motivated to continue.

I say this is great!! Keep up the good work. However, there is a slight problem: you have neglected to pay attention to your exercise pal. Yes, he needs love too.

If you read the instruction manual that came with your exercise machine, you will notice that they ask that before each exercise session, you check and make sure that all the screws and bolts are tight. Yeah, Right! OK, everyone out there who does this before your workout, raise your hands. I see a few out there, but most of you are just looking around at each other. I'll bet you that those of you who raised your hands are the same ones who floss their teeth every night. Am I right?

I realize that performing maintenance on your machine EVERY time you use it is a bit much, but it is a very important step that MUST be taken. Your safety depends on it. The vibrations caused as you exercise, DO tend to loosen screws and bolts. The machine DOES need to be cleaned. Since you have spent untold hundreds on this piece of equipment, you need to protect your investment and yourself.

If you don't maintain your equipment on a daily basis, at the very least do it once a week. As a reward to yourself instead of exercising on Friday, use that time to perform a checkup on your machine. Go through and make sure everything is "tight and right." Take a cloth and wipe it down. If needed, lubricate any moving parts (Be sure to check your instruction manual on how to do this).

If you maintain your exercise equipment on a regular basis, it will give you years of use. This will not only protect your investment, but will help keep you safe.