Choosing the right exercise machines for women can be a bit challenging. Certain factors have to be considered.
The question of what weight loss machines are better suited for women cannot be answered properly without prompting another hinging question: Should men and women even exercise differently?
There is no straight-up YES or NO answer to this question. The closest we can get to answering this question is that men and women should train “similarly,” but not “identically”. It’s a case of same principles, different approach. The difference comes down to a matter of words.
Let’s explain.For men and women, the goals are the same: strength, endurance, aerobics, balance, and flexibility training. (We will save lectures on these for a later time).
However, differences still exist between women’s physical fitness tendencies and those of men. Women are more inclined towards aerobics, balance training, and flexibility, while men are often more likely to engage in strength training and endurance.
I like to dissociate men’s and women’s exercise systems in terms of addition and subtraction. Men tend to do more isolation workouts, which means they sculpt their bodies by adding up mass and weight in specific areas. On the contrary, women lean toward total body workouts which focuses more on mass and weight reduction.
There are still other factors that mark women’s exercise systems distinct from men’s: workout programs, intensity levels, focus on certain body parts, pregnancy, diet, among other things. All these bear directly on the workout expectations, experience, and results.
That takes us back to the question of what weight loss machines are ideal for women.
Women’s workout goals and expectations are directly related to what exercise machines they should train with.
So, what characterizes a female exercise machine? For us, a good weight loss machines for ladies is defined by the following:
- Lightweight
- Portable
- Easy to use
- Flexible
- Easy to maintain
- Smooth performance
- Give results easily
- Safe to use
- Be adaptable for mostly calisthenics, shaping up and overall fitness
Our recommendations for top female gears will hinge mostly on the above categories. We will assume you intend to buy, but if you’re looking to use a public gym, then this review article is still for you.
That said, let us look at some of the best exercise machines that can help women look, feel, and perform at their best. These machines have been proven to help women improve their health and make them stronger, more toned, and shapelier.
10 Best Home Exercise Machines For Ladies
Alright, here are our top picks for the best home gym equipment for ladies:
1. Treadmill
Pros
- For strength, endurance, and balance training
- Full body workout
- Burns more calories than any other machine
- Improve fitness
- Control your workout
- Improves your heart rate
- Multi-person use
Cons
- On the pricey side
- Not portable
- Needs space
- Requires electricity
No other workout machine gives a total body workout value than the treadmill. It’s the best machine for you is your workout tends toward strength, endurance, and aerobic.
Treadmills can be used for running, jogging, or walking. It helps you burn calories, increase fitness, and improve your heart and lung conditions.
Check out these stats on a 30 minutes treadmill workout:
- Walking at 3 miles per hour burns about 8 kilojoules/2 calories per kilo of body weight. This means that if a person weighs kg, he burns 800 kilojoules or 200 calories every 30 minutes.
- Jogging at 6 miles per hour burns about 21 kilojoules/5 calories per kilo of body weight. This means that if a person weighs 100 kg, he burns 2100 kilojoules or 500 calories every 30 minutes.
- Running at 9 miles per hour burns about 30 kilojoules/7 calories per kilo of body weight. This means that if a person weighs 100 kg, he burns 3000 kilojoules or 700 calories every 30 minutes.
The above stats on the treadmill workout is just too impressive. No other workout will give you a well-rounded body workout like running—and that’s where the treadmill comes in.
Another benefit of using a treadmill is being able to control your workout with intensity adjustment options. If you wish to own your treadmill, the benefits are even more: train anytime, no gym charges, and family members can benefit.
Indeed, the treadmill is the BEST weight loss machine for ladies (and for everyone, for that matter). We cannot say it any other way.
The most prominent downside is that treadmills are not inexpensive workout equipment. However, you can get cheap treadmills under $500. You can also consider factors like durability, ease of use, features, functionality, warranty, among other things.
Check out our resource on the best treadmills for home use.
2. Stationary Bicycle
Pros
- Aerobic, balance, and endurance training
- Improves general fitness
- Tones and strengthens the thighs, legs, and stomach
- Boosts cardio fitness
- Improves lower body strength
- Weight loss
- Can burn up to 600 calories per hour
- Safer than road training
- Allows for interval training
- For therapy fitness
- Easy to use
- Can also be used outdoors
- Multi-person use
- Doesn’t require electricity
- Affordable
Cons
- Decreased sexual function (with extended use)
- Focus on the lower body
The stationary bike is great fitness equipment, much like the treadmill. Riding a stationary bike can help you burn calories and body fat, boost your cardio fitness and strengthen your entire body. The physical results are a slimmer, fitter, stronger, and more toned body.
Specifically, though, the exercise bike focuses more on your lower body. It tones and strengthens your thighs, legs, hips, and stomach muscles. It also strengthens the joints in those areas. The benefits are HUGE.
Depending on the intensity of your workout and your body weight, you can burn up to 600 calories and more in one hour on a stationary bike. In this regard, only the treadmill does better.
The stationary bike great indoor workout equipment. With it, you can work from the comfort and safety of your home or at the gym, unlike cycling outside. Built to mimic an outdoor riding experience, the stationary bike can also be enjoyed in your balcony, verandah, garden, or just about any place where you can enjoy open fresh air.
If you want to buy your stationary bike, you can check out our article on the best stationary bicycles for ladies.
This article provides more information on the stationary bike: why it’s a great weight reduction machine and the best models to buy.
3. Ab Roller Machine
Pros
- Endurance, aerobic, flexibility (upper body) training
- Strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles
- Strengthens and tones your arms, shoulders, and waist
- Helps reduce extra weight
- Light machine
- Easy to use and convenient to handle
- Doesn’t require electricity
- Affordable
Cons
- No significant demerits
The Ab roller machine is great fitness equipment for strengthening and toning the muscles on your stomach. It also works on your waist, hips, arms, and shoulders.
It’s small and light, which makes it easy to handle. You can enjoy it from anywhere in your house or store it out of sight without needing an extra pair of hands to help you move it around.
If you want to reduce belly fat—fast and easy—the Ab Roller Machine is a great choice. Another BIG upside: it’s a super cheap ab machine.
4. Stepper Machine
Pros
- Strength, endurance, aerobics, and balance training
- Great for lower body workout
- Weight loss
- Targets the abs and legs for strengthening and toning
- Improves cardio
- Great calories burner
- Easy to store
- Doesn’t require electricity
- Affordable
Cons
- Not ideal for upper body training
- Can be challenging if used for a long period (sweet downside!)
How do you feel after climbing several flights of stairs? Your heart rate rises and your leg muscles begin to tense up, right? This is an excellent, natural workout on your entire body and your legs particularly.
A Stepper Machine is designed to replicate that.
The Stepping Machine is ideal for weight loss, endurance training, and cardiovascular improvement. It focuses on the lower body, targeting the legs and abs in very effective ways. This device engages all your body muscles in a challenging resistance exercise that involves standing on stepper pedals and matching one foot after another like in normal bicycling. This exercise can be intense. It helps your body grow stronger while burning lots of calories.
The stepping bike is for every type of user. However, it can be exceptionally ideal in some situations: it’s perfect for ladies who want their leg muscles more toned without them becoming bigger; ideal for persons with lower body joint problems, and suitable for someone training for a climbing event.
5. Cross Trainer
Pros
- Endurance, aerobics and balance training
- Total body workout
- Accelerated weight loss
- Improves cardio health
- Works on the legs, calves, thighs, glutes, buttocks, tummy, pecs, and arms
- Zero impact on the joints
- Multi-program and flexible intensity adjustments
- Doesn’t require electricity
Cons
- Challenging on the legs
The Cross Trainer is great gym equipment for accelerated weight loss, cardiovascular improvement, and muscle toning. It compares favorably with the treadmill in these regards but feels both easier to use and more protective of the joints. Also, it isolates larger muscle groups, unlike the treadmill.
The Cross Trainer is used for total body workout, which helps burn a large number of calories. However, it can be adapted to different workout styles and varying intensities to target specific muscle groups on the body. The machine can be used in the following ways:
- Front pedaling
With your hands on the moving handlebars, keep your back not too straight (in a slightly forward-leaning angle) while you pull and push on the handles and match the pedals in a forward motion. This style uses your arms, chest, and back muscles.
A variation of this can challenge your legs, thighs, and stomach muscles. To do this, place your two hands on the inner handlebars in the middle of the machine, while you tuck your elbow and chin in slightly.
- Backpedaling
Again, with your hands in the handlebars, assume a slight sitting position, while you backpedal. This focus on your calves, glutes, quads, and buttocks.
- Hands-free
Taking your hands off the handlebars gives you’re an intense workout to the legs and abdomen. It can be done in a forward or backward motion. This builds a tremendous amount of body balance and works your legs and abdomen mostly.
However, this can be risky as you can fall off the machine. So, please, practice slowly.
Overall, the Cross Trainer is one of the most effective gym equipment for weight loss. For this reason, we recommend it most highly.
6. Rowing Machine
Pros
- Strength, endurance, aerobic and flexibility training
- Improves cardiovascular health
- Total body workout
- 60% legs, 20% core, and 20% arms
- Burns calories
- Ideal for users of all fitness levels
- Low impact on the joints
- Lower body conditioning
- Better posture
- A great alternative to the treadmill
- Mid-range cost
Cons
- Needs initial coaching
- Not portable
The Towing Machine is a great fitness machine that will help you improve strength and cardiovascular health, while you achieve a slimmer and toner body. It’s also suitable for calorie burn and posture improvement.
Even though the Rowing Machine gives a total body workout, it can still target specific muscle groups, depending on your chosen program. Generally, it strengthens and tones the legs, core, and arms in a 60:20:20 proportion on a scale of 100.
People of all fitness levels can use this device. It has adjustment settings that help users customize programs and intensities to preference. This provides comfort and safety.
The Towing Machine is a mid-range price exercise machine and is easily available for purchase.
7. Gym Ball
Pros
- Flexibility and balance training
- Strengthens, relax and stretches your muscles
- Improves your posture
- Tones muscles and improves the figure
- Flat tummy
- Easily available for purchase
- Easy to use
- Doesn’t require electricity
- Affordable
Cons
- No significant demerits
Don’t judge a book by its cover.
To most people, the Gym Ball doesn’t fit the picture of what gym equipment would look like. Looking at it you just wonder what exactly it is that it does in the gym.
Well, a lot!
Why is there a Gym Ball in almost every gym? This simply emphasizes its importance in the gym. The Gym Ball is used mainly in flexibility and balance training. But it does more.
Working on your flexibility with the Gym Ball stretches your muscles and joints, helping you achieve better posture, relaxed muscles, and strengthened body.
All exercises with the Gym Ball require body balance. Without a steady and firm control on the ball, you cannot effectively carry out any workout program using it. Trying to keep yourself balanced on the Gym Ball engages your entire body, muscles, and brain, helping you achieve the following simultaneously:
- A total body workout
- Firm and tones body
- Calories burn
- Core workout
- Balance training
The Gym Ball is cheap and easily available for purchase. It’s an amazing gym equipment women love to use.
8. Inversion Table
Pros
- Flexibility training
- Lower back pain therapy
- Spine stretching
- Can help tone the torso
- Helps circulation
- Doesn’t require electricity
- Affordable
Cons
- Requires flexible
- For fit or agile users
- Not ideal for people who have glaucoma, ear problem, or heart condition
- Tiny risk of fall
An Inversion Tables is great for stretching the back and spine. To do this, you stand in them upside down for several seconds or a few minutes before you invert the position with your legs strapped to the machine tight and safely. This process is repeated any number of times as you want.
There are several types of Inversion Tables. Users often choose the model that helps them to also exercise on the machine. Typically, this is an endurance training that incorporates torso rotation and ab crunches into your overall workout experience on the Inversion Table.
The Inversion Table is ideal for treating back and spine pain, stretching the spine, and torso workout. These exercises give a total body workout that strengthens your body, tones your muscles, and burns some calories.
There are few downsides to consider.
The machine is for flexible and agile users. Persons should not use it who has glaucoma or related eye problems, ear problems, and heart conditions like high blood pressure. There is a very tiny possibility of fall in the unlikely event that the straps holding you to the machine should unlatch.
Overall, the Inversion Table is a great fitness equipment and a should-have for those who want to treat back and spine pain.
The prices vary depending on several features. But generally, it’s an easily affordable fitness machine.
9. Vibration Exercise Machine
Pros
- Strengthen muscles and improve cardiovascular health
- Weight loss
- Massaging effect that relieves joints and back pain
- Relives stress
- Improves circulation
- Improves bone density
- Fair price range
Cons
- Requires electricity
The Vibration Exercise Machine is a recent weight loss device. Unlike most exercise machines that require muscle contractions, this one uses vibrations which are generated by the machine. It transfers it to your whole body, working out your muscles and joints. This workout helps you lose weight by aiding cellulite reduction.
Few things about this machine stand out impressively. The generated vibrations give a soothing tingling sensation in the body and a massaging effect that relieves the stress, aches, and pain in the back, joints, muscles, and other parts of the body. With loosened-up muscle fibers and veins, blood flows easier around the body.
10. Morning Walker
Pros
- Improves body balance, flexibility, and reflexes
- Ideal for therapy fitness
- Assists weight loss and improves fitness level
- 15 minutes equals 10000 steps of brisk walking
- Muscle toning
- Relieves arthritis and joints pain
- Increases bone strength and density
- Improves circulation
- Compact, portable and easy to use
Cons
- Shouldn’t be used in isolation
- Runs on battery or electricity
When we think about exercise machines, we tend to forget fitness equipment like the Morning Walker and the Gym Ball. We fail to realize how not only super important but also how integral these devices can be to the whole workout experience.
Morning Walker is ideal for before and after main workout sessions. They are essentially vibration or massaging machines for therapy fitness. Using vibrations, the machine sends currents through your body which helps release tensed muscles, unlock stiff joints, free clogged nerves, and relieve sore pains, so that you can exercise more efficiently and safer. It’s also advisable to repeat this process after your workout. This helps your body relax and rest better, ready for a go-round next time.
The Morning Walker can assist in weight loss if used correctly. According to fitness experts, users can shed off about 10.5 percent off excess body fat using a vibration machine. With the Morning Walker, a 15 minutes use gives the same benefits as a 10000-step brisk walk.
Aside from therapy fitness, the Morning Walker comes with a lot of other benefits. It helps you improve body balance, flexibility, coordination, and posture.
There are demerits, however.
The Morning Walker cannot be used alone as a fitness machine. For more rounded fitness benefits, it’s recommended that it be used together with other more conventional gym machines.
The device comes is compact, portable, and easy to use. There are two models: one uses batteries while the other operates with electricity.
Final Thoughts
We have concluded our review of the best weight loss machines for ladies. All the listed equipment are great fitness machines. You know your workout expectations better than we do. However, we suggest that you choose fitness equipment that provides a more rounded workout experience.
Again, we will repeat the five exercise goal categories you should aim for strength, endurance, aerobics, balance, and flexibility. Buying a fitness device that meets at least a couple combinations of these categories gives you a good return on investment.
However, to get an even better output, we can take home one useful tip: Remember that women’s workout systems are as much about exercise as it is about proper dieting.
Daniel Amankwah is a fitness expert for 4EvaFit Lifestyle, personal fitness coach, personal trainer, blogger, and a motivational speaker living in Acton, Massachusetts. His affection for a healthy lifestyle has penetrated through the noise in the health, fitness industry and empowers people to create sustainable prescriptions for lasting health, happiness, and confidence.
A background as a business researcher coupled with a personal passion for fitness help brings our readership a thoughtful curation fitness guide and fitness product review. His burning desire is to share his fitness experience and offer some encouragement to anyone that is working to better themselves physically through healthy eating habits and being active.
As a visionary, his vision is a world where daily acts of self-love and care are a regular part of life.
