Obsession Fitness | Exercise Equipment & Fitness Trends

Each month Obsession Fitness features an exclusive five question interview with a leading fitness industry professional. This month we reached out to Nicole Moneer Guerrero for her world-class background as a fitness competitor, model and trainer.

Nicole Moneer Guerrero is a Top 5 nationally and Top 10 internationally ranked PRO fitness competitor and fitness/bikini model, as well as a skilled personal trainer and educator. She is an NASM personal trainer and an AFAA group exercise instructor for Life Time Fitness where she advises private clients and leads large group classes.

1. Obsession Fitness focuses on home gym equipment. Do you have a favorite type of exercise equipment?
Foam/Body Rolling, which is a type of stretching. I use Yamuna balls, Power-Systems Massage Bar and SPRI Foam Rollers. As a competitive athlete my body takes a beating and rolling helps to lengthen my muscles, improve circulation and relieve tightness. I do it with all my clients and everyone should incorporate it into their workouts as a warm-up or cool down.

Click here for the full interview and more photos

There's a fitness revolution underway. Technologically advanced exercise gadgets and equipment innovations are transforming not only how we exercise, but how we stay motivated to exercise.

The Wii Fit, at the forefront of this movement, has gained massive media attention. But there are many other new gadgets and exercise equipment advances that will keep you fired up about fitness.

We rate the top products based on futuristic factor, fun factor and fitness factor.

See the ratings...

The Perfect Pushup puts a new spin on one of the oldest exercises, the pushup.

Invented by Alden Mills, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, the Perfect Pushup features rotating handles which allow your arms to rotate naturally when you do pushups the same way they do when you throw a punch or press up a dumb bell. This breakthrough feature accelerates results by engaging more muscles in the arms, chest, shoulders, and back. Read more and compare pricing...

The Lifecore LC-900 Recumbent Bike puts an emphasis on comfort, precision and a quiet ride. The padded high back seat is vertically adjustable and includes customizable lumbar support — a rare feature for any exercise machine. It also features one of the smallest exercise bike footprints that we've seen. It can be easily moved to any room and fits nicely in tight spaces.

The Lifecore LC-900 Recumbent Bike stands out with its unique iPod inspired control panel with an easy to use toggle wheel and unusually large, crisp readouts. There are 12 preset programs, 4 heart rate control options and data for up to 9 users can be stored and tracked. Read more and compare pricing...

Coming in near the middle of the ProForm Elliptical line, the 850 SpaceSaver features SMR Silent Magnetic Resistance and the choice of 10 intensity levels that can be easily changed without interrupting your workout. Eight programs give you great workout variety and allow customization of your routine. The oversized pedals make it easy to find a comfortable foot placement. The SpaceSaver design lets you fold away your elliptical for storage when not in use. The ProForm 850 SpaceSaver Elliptical is a solid piece of cardio equipment trying to pack a lot of features into a moderately priced machine. ProForm dominates the budget market and this is a good value, but compare to the Schwinn 430 Elliptical Trainer if you're looking for a step up in quality. Read more and compare pricing...

There are now more home gym and fitness equipment options to choose from than ever. With the escalation of online shopping there's a huge array of products of similar quality and durability, but at various price levels. It's important to research and consider many factors before buying a high-end home gym. Read online reviews, peruse reader comments on sites like Amazon.com and Obsession Fitness, and compare the equipment at your local gym or fitness equipment store. Finding the right piece of equipment to suit your needs, and one that keeps you motivated, is an important part of reaching your fitness goals. Home Gym Reviews

Bowflex is one of the most popular and visible fitness companies, manufacturing a broad array of strength and cardiovascular exercise equipment, featuring leading edge, space saving designs. Owned by Nautilus Inc., who also produces equipment for Schwinn Exercise, Stairmaster and Pearl Izumi, Bowflex has grown into an industry giant with millions of new, satisfied home users annually.

This commentary will spotlight two very popular Bowflex products -- the SelectTech 552 Dumbbells and the Bowflex line of Treadclimbers.

The Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells will change your concept and use of dumbbells forever. They combine up to 17 sets of weights into one unit using the patented SelectTech dial system. It's one of the most space saving and modifiable free weight systems ever created. Say goodbye to 17 individual dumbbells cluttering your exercise space. With a simple turn of a dial you can automatically change the weight on each dumbbell in 2.5 lb, 5 lb or 10 lb increments, depending on the model, enabling you to progressively increase your workout and strength.

The Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells are available in three models -- SelectTech 220, SelectTech 552 (the most popular) and SelectTech 1090

Our second product, the Bowflex Treadclimber is manufactured in four primary models -- TC1000, TC3000, TC5000, and TC6000. These break through cardio machines allow you to walk normally as on a treadmill, but assimilate a natural step-like motion using two platforms that raise and lower separately. When you step down with one foot, the other platform inclines, creating the sensation of climbing a gradual hill. The Bowflex Treadclimber effectively provides the combined advantages of both a treadmill and a stair stepper.

At the bottom of the Bowflex Treadclimber spectrum, the TC1000 has a maximum walking speed of 3.8 mph (6.1 kph), while the most expensive model, the TC6000, can reach a top speed of 4.5 mph (7.2 kph). The TC3000 and TC5000 each clock in at a maximum of 4.0 mph (6.4 kph).

But horsepower is just one important aspect distinguishing each Bowflex Treadclimber model. The TC1000 starts with 3 basic functions -- Speed, Distance and Time. Stepping up, no pun intended, to the TC3000 model adds Calories per Minute, Total Calories and Total Steps. The TC5000 includes two added functions -- the Climb Indicator and the Heart Rate Monitor. At the top end of the series, the TC6000 incorporates all of the above plus distinctive exercise programs, including Cross Training, Intervals, Plateau, The Brooklyn Bridge and The Golden Gate Bridge. The Heart Rate Monitor on the TC5000 and TC 6000 incorporates a wireless chest strap and an integrated display showing heart rate at a glance for maintaining appropriate calorie burning levels.

In addition to our highlighted products, Bowflex dominates the home fitness niche with a diverse line of complete home gyms - the Bowflex Revolution, Bowflex Ultimate, Bowflex Ultimate 2, Bowflex Xtreme SE, Bowflex Xtreme SE 2 and Bowflex Blaze.

Bowflex continues to advance and innovate health and fitness products of high performance, effectiveness and affordability. They've had a powerful impact on the way we regard home cardiovascular and strength training exercise, becoming a seamless part of a healthy lifestyle for millions.

Read more at ObsessionFitness.com

Bowflex is an industry juggernaut producing a vast range of highly effective exercise equipment. Their fitness and strength training machines are among the most widely used on the market with millions of new satisfied customers each year. We review several Bowflex models below and will update this section with new reviews regularly.

In addition to improving strength, power, coordination, and muscular endurance, Bowflex home gym equipment can help with weight reduction, enhance the immune and cardiovascular systems, and help prevent injuries. These revolutionary systems deliver the gym-quality results you want in your own home. And with the Bowflex space saving designs you won't need a room full of equipment.

Bowflex offers a wide range of resistance machines that use Power Rod technology for serious strength training -- the Bowflex Blaze, the Bowflex Xtreme XTLU, the Bowflex Ultimate and the Bowflex Ultimate 2. They also offer two models which use their Spiraflex plate technology, the Bowflex Revolution and the Bowflex Revolution FT.

In addition to the line of complete home gyms Bowlex also offers Dumbbells, Treadclimbers and other fitness accessories.