Forget feng shui.

An elliptical machine or rock climbing wall in the living room? Sure, why not.

A fitness first mentality is gaining momentum, with more people incorporating exercise equipment into their most commonly used living quarters than ever before.

It may not be pretty, but it's practical.

Out of the garage and into the living room is how Charlie Flora describes the evolution of home fitness. Flora is publisher of Home Gym Magazine, a new quarterly publication based in Simi Valley. It goes on sale at newsstands Aug. 28 for $4.99. The annual subscription is $9.99.

The magazine will be distributed to major bookstore chains, specialty fitness stores and trade shows. It will include product reviews on home fitness equipment, previews of workout DVDs, articles on how to set up a gym for individuals and various spaces, and advice on interior design for creating a home gym.

The first edition also will feature tips, such as how to get the most from a home workout and 10 ways to stay motivated. One of the tips is to have the equipment in a visible, easily accessible space, not tucked away under a bed or in a closet, which requires someone to pull it out.

Consumers spent $4.7 billion on exercise equipment in 2006, compared with $4.4 billion in 2005, said Mike May, spokesman of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. He added that the industry has grown more than 400 percent since the early 1990s, when less than $1 billion in fitness equipment was sold.

No time for exercise

Working out is a passion for Flora and his wife, Lillian. Going to the gym was always a top priority, but when their second child was born prematurely, the workout was the first thing to get thrown out. They decided to set up their own home gym, which would eliminate travel and provide more time to spend with their children.

While creating their own home gym, they realized there wasn't a magazine that could help them with the process.

So the Floras decided to start their own. They took out some equity from their home, got some backing from investors and are partly relying on earnings from their existing company, Flora Publishing Group, which puts out city visitor guides that are found in hotels.

"Our goal is for the home gym to be as common as the home theater," said Lillian, the magazine's art director.

After it's all said and done, the Floras estimate the first magazine will have cost $100,000 to produce — with no guarantee of success.

They know of two previous home gym magazines that were launched in 1985 and 1995. Both of them folded.

Scott Logan, director of marketing at Washington-based Sports Art, worked as an editorial consultant for one of those magazines, Home Gym & Fitness, from 1992 to 1995.

He said he believes that there's a stronger need for this type of lifestyle publication than there was a decade ago.

In the '80s and '90s, consumers were going to places like Sears or Sport Chalet to buy exercise machines, Logan said.

Today, consumers first educate themselves by checking Consumer Reports or the Internet. He said many go to a specialty store for a more sophisticated, longer-lasting unit.

Sports Art is advertising with Home Gym Magazine because "there is such a need for good, unbiased information," Logan said. "I believe in the concept."

The previous two magazine's failures are "definitely in the back of my mind," Lillian said.

But the market has changed a lot, she said, with more emphasis on fitness and how to achieve health as conveniently as possible.

There's never been more attention to fitness, said May of the manufactures association. And machines are becoming easier to use and more attractive. For the first time, senior citizens are probably thinner than their grandchildren, he added.

"Baby Boomers are getting older," said Chris Fisher, owner of Out-Fit, a distributor of high-end exercise equipment in Simi Valley. "People want to be active and stay fit."

Lifestyle changes

The media coverage of cancer, obesity and Type II diabetes also has pushed people to think more about their health, he said, adding that working out at home is certainly cleaner.

"At the gym, you have to wonder: What's on this piece of equipment? What are you sitting on next?" Fisher asked.

Meanwhile, equipment has grown more aesthetically pleasing. Traditionally bulky, boxy shapes have become leaner and sleeker.

More fitness equipment is integrating gaming systems and the Internet, becoming something that people want to show off, Fisher said.

His biggest seller is an Expresso "S2" bike that retails for $5,000 and features an interactive workout and video game. The system connects to the Internet, allowing the rider to compete in a bike race against others around the world.

"Gym equipment has evolved. Things used to look like the old Volvo. This would look cool next to a BMW," said Fisher, gesturing to the Expresso Fitness bike.

After seeing the Expresso bike, personal trainer Troy Taylor knew he had to have it. He purchased one from Fisher three months ago, and now the two race against each other.

"It's the first time I've seen anything like it, Taylor said. "This isn't as much a game as it is a virtual reality experience."

Taylor's spent about $50,000 on his home gym — a converted three-car garage in his Oak Park home. A large, high-definition flat screen is mounted on a wall.

"We spend more time in our gym than any room in our house, except for the kitchen," Taylor said.

Fisher, who will be a featured columnist with Home Gym Magazine, said he's excited there will be a publication "to get through the muck" of infommercials and false advertising.

The Floras hope to break even by the end of the first year. So far, they have about 50 percent to 70 percent of their advertising wrapped up for the first issue. Their goals are "realistic," Lillian said, with 40,000 issues for the magazine's first print run. In 2008, they plan to print 50,000 copies, and 75,000 in 2009.

The Floras have high ambitions in a field that is littered with failure. An estimated 60 percent of all new magazines die within the first year and 84 percent fold by the fourth year, Samir Husni, chairman of the Journalism Department at the University of Mississippi, said in an e-mail. Known as "Mr. Magazine," Husni has extensively researched magazines and written several books on the industry.

But the Floras remain undaunted.

"We're so busy," Lillian said, "we don't have time to worry."

On the Net:

http://www.homegymmag.com.