Hottest gym equipment around...

Wondering what's currently the hottest piece of gym equipment to be seen with if you're a celebrity? Well, wonder no more...Apparently Kettlebell training has emerged as the latest fashionable piece of gym equipment for getting in shape. Exercises include a variety of lunges, push-ups, presses, swings and squats, all designed to raise the heart rate and target major muscle groups.

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Baby gym?

In an enterprising attempt to tackle childhood obesity in the US, a gym is now taking on members as young as six months. Full story [here]

Gym Etiquette...

According to 24 Hour Fitness, the following represents gym etiquette:

• It is proper gym etiquette to being a towel with you to wipe down equipment and yourself.
• You should only be on a piece of equipment during your set and allow other people to use the machine or weights while you rest.
• After using a machine remove any weights you were using. Remove any equipment and put it back in its correct place.
• While you are waiting for a certain piece of equipment it is appropriate to let the person finish their workout and ask them politely to save the machine for you.
• While most athletic clubs have pools, steam rooms and showers it is proper etiquette to maintain cleanliness while other members may be trying to maneuver around you. Try to keep puddles of water to a minimum as this tends to leave the floor very slippery.
• As we live in a technologically advanced society it is harder to maintain solitude and privacy. Some phone calls are important, but in general, the proper etiquette is to take your phone away from the workout area or take the call outside.

Nautilus Gym Struggling...

For much of its life, Nautilus Inc. has depended upon its Bowflex brand of home gyms to power its sales. Even as Vancouver-based Nautilus sought to diversify its business, adding commercial gym equipment and premium cycling apparel and other products to its lineup, the Bowflex home gyms have provided the muscle.

But the business is showing signs of fatigue. First-quarter sales in the direct-to-consumer division - its largest - declined 12 percent, the company said Wednesday. That's on top of a 3.7 percent decline in 2006. And as Nautilus has missed its revenue projections for three of the past four quarters, investors are wondering what will provide the juice for the exercise equipment maker's next growth spurt.

Full story [here]