I’ve designed an attractive little gym room in my house and I am looking to buy the best piece of equipment. Should I get an exercise bike, spinning bike, stepping machine or elliptical trainer?
It’s interesting that you included the adjective “attractive” as that changes the discussion slightly. It would appear that beyond the utility of the piece of equipment, it needs to elevate the space from a design perspective. Dear reader, a piece of gym equipment is not objet d’art.
Most often it becomes a clothes horse, overpriced dust collector or even a playing station for the family cat. Most households that have spent money on gym equipment have probably used it a few times before it fades into the general clutter one finds in many suburban homes.
However, you’re alluding to an attractively designed space. A feature of sorts. The Water Cooler sincerely hopes that your intentions are to use the equipment as opposed to showing off your gym room to friends who come over for the next fondue. Do people still enjoy fondues?
It’s also interesting that you are asking only about cardio equipment. I would presume that the dumbbells and kettlebells have already been bought and displayed. As you should know by now, if you want the best bang for your buck, you’d do well to incorporate strength training into your holistic regimen.
If design is a concern, worry not, dear reader. Without mentioning brands directly, search “luxury” or “premium” home fitness equipment and you will be delighted with simple lines, brushed metal and a host of high-end designs that scream luxury and class. Don’t get too excited and forget to read to the end.
Earlier this year, Business Insider in the US published results from the US’s Sports and Fitness Industry Association, tracking the exercise participation rates of Americans. The association has data spanning almost four decades on various fitness and exercise participation trends.
And that’s an important point. Trends most often become fads, and fads, as we all know, fizzle out and slip out of conversations while pieces of equipment gather dust against the study wall. What do we know about 2025? Cross-training participation plummeted in 2019, down 31.9%. Yet despite this, a colleague told me last month she wants to start CrossFit and a few others go on about Hyrox. While still down, Hyrox’s functional cross-training popularity may be behind a slight rise in cross-training participation numbers in recent years.
The numbers say that group stationary cycling, or spinning, flatlined during the pandemic, falling 40.4% by 2021 while remaining in this range with a slight increase recently. Pilates is on the up (as much as 40.2% from 2019), as is yoga (up 23.3%).
These numbers talk to trends (and fads). So, if you want to invest in the sleekest centrepiece that can deliver the impact and fitness utility you desire, you need to try to beat the fads because your snooty friends surely won’t be impressed by a Thighmaster leaning up against a rebounder.
Luckily, there is one activity that stands the test of time. Its participation rate is stable: 56.8-million Americans used it in 2024, a 0% change from 2019.
Now if most people’s reaction to the idea of a regular exercise routine is a wince and suggestions of torture, then you’d be happy to learn that the one piece of cardio equipment that has stood the test of time was invented in 18th-century England as a torture device for prisoners. You read that correctly.
Enter the treadmill, or if we are going to be pedantic, the step climber, which is part of the same family. The tread wheel was invented by Sir William Cubitt, who, it is said, was disturbed by the idleness of prisoners. Prisoners were forced to walk on the device for hours on end — not unlike the scenes that greet you when you enter a modern commercial gym.
If we assume that you’ve made provision for strength training (the predecessors to the dumbbell date back to the 5th century BCE in ancient Greece) and you want a cardio machine that is functional and good for your heart and fitness, invest in the trusty treadmill. A beautifully designed one in your attractive gym room will stand the test of time.
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