Our hectic lifestyles have made staying fit such a challenge. It's so difficult to manage the stresses at work and to meet the demands of family that there's little time left for doing anything else! But if you put a premium on your health, you know that you've got to set aside time for exercise.

With advances in technology these days, it's now more than possible to bring the gym right to the comfort of your own home. Now, it's even easier to stay fit despite your busy schedule. With home fitness equipment, exercise can even be made into a fun affair for the whole family.

But with the whole range and incredible variety of equipment available, choosing the exercise equipment that's right for you can become an overwhelming task. Basing your decision on something new you see on TV or online isn't a good criterion at all. Buying that first-class treadmill and elliptical may be extremely tempting, but if these don't suit you, you'll end up with expensive deadweights that only take up much space.

So if you want to choose the best home fitness equipment for you, here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Buy those that you know you'll enjoy using. This is the most important consideration. Remember that it's easier to plop in bed than go to your gym at home. So you've got to be motivated and one way to make sure that you choose your home gym rather than your bedroom right after arriving from work, is to buy equipment that you enjoy using. If you don't love running but don't like biking, you'd do better to buy a treadmill than a stationary bike. If you're into Pilates, you can invest in large Pilates balls made just for this purpose. The point simply is this: Buy what you'll only love to use.

2. Consider your space. More often than not, you can be so into the whole fitness thing that you forget to take into consideration how much space you can actually spare for your home gym. If you're living in a small apartment that has little space for everything else save for a few dumbbells and one exercise ball, there's no sense buying a treadmill that will block your view of the television from the bed. Unless you can afford to move into a much bigger house, you'd better measure your available space first before ordering any gigantic trainer.

3. Be wary of buying expensive gadgets that offer quick fixes for little work. You know what I'm talking about: "Burn those fats with no workout!" That's rarely possible. If you want to burn those excess calories, you've got to work it and quick-fix gadgets are rarely the answer. Also, you might want to check on how much you spend for any home fitness equipment you buy. Sure, it might be fun to buy that top-of-the-line multi-home gym, but exercising it won't be half as much fun if you think of the monthly dent the credit card payments are going to have on your budget.

Keep these three things in mind when you're shopping for your next home fitness equipment.