DaytonDailyNews.com

Convenience is the biggest reason people opt to work out at home. Here are some things to keep in mind if you've been thinking about setting up your own home gym:

Location and space available: The size of a home gym is a matter of personal preference, as the quality of a workout is not dependant on how much room is available. Decide where you plan to work out and make note of square feet and height of the area. This will help you to make a wiser choice when it does come time to purchase equipment, being that bulkier pieces can take up a considerable amount of space and tend to look smaller in the store than they do once you get them home.

One of the greatest benefits of exercising at home is that it saves time. You can work out when the mood strikes you, no gym bag to pack and unpack, no waiting for equipment or driving back and forth to the gym. Having the phone ringing next to you, or people coming in and out of the room, however, can interfere with your workouts, so when it comes to location, try to choose a space where you're least likely to be interrupted or distracted.

Type of equipment: Traditionally the most durable, inexpensive, compact, portable and versatile pieces of exercise equipment include resistance bands, jump rope, wrist weights and dumbbells. Resistance bands weigh only ounces and take up practically no space, and so are also great for traveling, and dumbbells also fit neatly into a small area. Wrist weights are ideal because you can use them alone, or as a way to increase resistance when doing dumbbell exercises without having to purchase additional sets. They are also wonderful for anyone who has trouble grasping objects.

A wonderful new product that I recently discovered are FitDecks (ww.fitdeck.com), invented by Phil Black. Black got the idea from a card game that he played while attending Yale University. He and his roommates would shuffle a deck of playing cards and do pushups that matched the card that was selected, such as doing 10 pushups if drawing the 10 of spades. He took this deck-of-cards workout and created FitDeck, incorporating dozens of exercises he later learned as a Navy SEAL. There are many decks to choose from, each containing illustrations and instructions describing dozens of different exercises, stretches, and movements. The current line consists of 24 FitDeck titles ranging from Pilates to a Navy SEAL workout.

Another great product is the GoFit Gravity Bar, which allows you to do suspension training at home. Suspension training is designed so that your body weight is all the resistance you need to perform exercises that build overall strength and increase balance and core stability. The resistance level can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing your body angle. The Gravity Bar mounts in any standard doorway and is especially good for toning the abs and low back. For more information, visit www.gofit.net.

Expense: Decide how much money you wish to invest. If you are unaccustomed to exercise, my advice is to start with less expensive basics, until you are certain you are going to stick to your exercise program. Typically, its best to wait until you have at least 6 to 8 weeks of consistent training under your belt before expanding your gym to include more expensive equipment. If you find that the items you want are way over your budget, consider buying them used.

For aerobic conditioning indoors, treadmills, stair steppers, elliptical trainers and stationary bikes are great choices, providing an opportunity to get a cardio workout year round regardless of weather. The downside is that these machines take up a lot of space and can be expensive, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

If you want to get a good cardio workout but lack the money or space for bulky equipment, step benches are inexpensive, lightweight and don't require a lot of space.

Marjie Gilliam is an International Sports Sciences Association Master certified personal trainer and fitness consultant. She owns Custom Fitness Personal Training Services. Write to her in care of the Dayton Daily News, call her at (937) 878-9018 or send

e-mail to OHTrainer@aol.com. Her Web site is www.ohtrainer.com.