The Best Fitness Tools for Your Home Gym

Pro Workout Tools for Less Than $1,200

1. Tread Cred
If you're looking to burn calories, it's hard to beat a treadmill. The Gold's Gym CrossWalk 570 -- named a Best Buy by Consumer Reports -- features a wide extra-long belt, swinging arms, a straightforward console plus a built-in fan and iPod port. Pick from 16 preprogrammed workouts. ($577, walmart.com)

TIP: "For a fat-burning boost when you're on the treadmill, sprint for one minute, hop off the machine and do one minute of total-body strength training," Warner says.

2. Triple Threat
The just-released CoreBody Reformer goes beyond Pilates moves. Stand, sit, or lie back on the foam cylinder as you do your sculpting exercises to flatten your abs as they work overtime to stabilize you. ($249, including four exercise DVDs from celebrity trainer Jennifer Galardi, a nutrition guide, and an instructional workout chart, corebodyreformer.com)

3. Flex Benefits
Work the kinks out of your back, shoulders, neck, hips, glutes, calves, and feet in no time with the two springy massage balls in the Yoga Tune Up Full Body Therapy Ball Program. ($45 includes two workout CDs and a guide, yogatuneup.com)

4. Maximum Firming
Make push-ups, lunges, squats, and strength-training moves more challenging on the Bosu Pro Balance Trainer. Translation: You'll tone more muscle fibers and build a hard core. It has all the benefits of a stability ball, but it's easier to stow. ($150, including a pump, a book. and an instructional DVD, performbetter.com)

TIP: Try this go-to lower-body toner on the Bosu from instructor Amy Bento Ross: Stand with both feet on the center of the Bosu, elbows bent by sides, fists in front of chest. Lunge back with right leg, bending both knees 90 degrees, and then press through left heel to return to standing, bringing right knee up toward chest and then kicking right leg forward. Return to start. Do 10 reps, alternating legs.

5. Strength in Numbers
Trainers love trading dumbbells for kettlebells to add swings and other functional moves to strength training. This Universal Kettlebell Kit includes 5-, 7.5-, and 10-pound vinyl sand-filled bells on a space-saving stand, so you can start out small and move up as you get the hang of them. ($89, bowflexcatalog.com)

TIP: "When using a kettlebell for the first time, start with a weight that's about half of what you normally use in dumbbell form and perform your biceps curls and other moves as usual," trainer Jonathan Ross says.