The frenzy for exercise equipment is every increasing. Media channels are flooded with one spectacular exercise machine after another, each designed to target a new appendage or muscle that has yet to be reached. Some would lead even me to believe exercising is fun; others confirm one's belief that it's pure torture. Whatever you may think it is everybody's doing it!

The message they are broadcasting to the viewer is "yes you can get that beautiful figure back ladies;" and yes man you can have six pack abs and bulging muscles in a matter of days. It is all very appealing because we as human beings are endowed universally with a sense of vanity aren't we?

TV commercials are enough, we also had gyms galore with very seductive names, in every mall, arcade, plaza and shopping center. And what takes center stage? Aching bodies in sweats wall-to-wall on treadmills, the ellipticals and every kind of machine imaginable. Where there is a wall there is a machine; where there is a machine there is a body and where there's a body there is every shape imaginable.

With all the shtick and flippancy of some of my remarks, we must now assume a more serious posture and focus on whether or not these gyms and their exercise equipment are the way to go for those of us determined to get and keep in shape. Are we really just being duped; do we really need them, and can they really do the job?

So the question still remains: do we really need all these machines? The professional trainers have nailed the answer: It is not a need, it's a convenience or comfort aspect of exercise. Stretching, bending, crunching is easier to do with the help of the machine at home. It's more comfortable and it still does the job, even as you exercise in front of the TV, watching the newest infomercial hyping the next great machine coming up.

For many people, going to the gym is a social affair. My lady friends sign up together and make it a real gathering place; some men do this also. Quite frankly, distractions annoy me when I'm concentrating on my exercise; I take them seriously. I prefer to keep my social life separate from working out; social isolation is no issue for me.

From one who has at least five different home machines, each targeting a specific body area, his answer is: to each his own. He prefers exercising at home, because going to the gym takes extra time and he doesn't need the social time. Even though his exercise equipment, the treadmill, elliptical, Ab machine and such is expensive, it's effective and very much worth it and he enjoys the comforts of home. A gym enthusiast might say: I don't have the room at home; machines are too expensive and I'm not a mechanic to assemble them; furthermore I need and enjoy the company. So indeed, to each his own.

Whichever you prefer, the home or the gym, professional trainers encourage you to consult a professional to plan your program, or to research and map out your own plan for the safest and most effective results. Usually the instructions with your exercise equipment have a suggested plan of action. So all you "hefty, hearty and happies" start pumpin', stretchin', pedalin', and crunchin' and join ranks with the trim, fit and slim.