Obviously, exercise and physical activity can improve your life. But how do you effectively and easily fit exercise into your life? The answer is - the home gym.

Home gyms are not for everyone, but having something at home gives you flexibility and convenience as well as an opportunity to multi-task. If you keep making excuses about going to the fitness center or the health club, then this may be the way to go.

A home gym doesn't really need a lot of space, but you do have a lot of choices out there, so you have to figure out what works best for you. Before you go shopping for your home fitness equipment, here are some tips to make sure your wallet won't be the only part of you that gets thinner.

There are three components to exercises - cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility, so it's really important to have those three available to you. While a treadmill offers an effective cardiovascular workout, you can get similar benefits from jogging which you can do from free, so it is more cost effective to focus on fitness equipment designed to build strength or flexibility. One option is to put together a good free weights gym complete with adjustable bench, dumbbells and barbells. To add a bigger variety of exercises, you can choose a leverage gym, which uses pulleys and weights to provide resistance training. Or, if money is not an issue, a quality multiple station system with adjustable weight stack will give you a faster and easier workout.

Depending on what gym equipment you buy, it may cost about much as a 5 year membership at a health club. The good news is health retailers often have sales, and used fitness equipment are also available at half the cost. When choosing your fitness equipment, make sure any mechanical equipment is adjustable to better fit your body type, and also to adjust the intensity of the workout as you grow stronger. Always test drive the exact piece of equipment you are considering for purchase.

Most importantly, whatever you decide to choose, your home gym will be useless if you do not use it. So make sure to use it for a long and healthy life.

George Pettit is a journalist and sport specialist from New Caledonia. He is often writing about healthy lifestyle, recreation and sport.