PERSONAL HEALTH : One ‘Must’ for Home Gym: Discipline

Not everyone has equipment dripping with cobwebs. Here, two diligent home exercisers explain what keeps them going:

For the past three years, Peggy Einnehmer has been exercising at home every day or at least every other day. Her setup--inexpensive but effective--includes a $99 stair-climbing machine, two 10-pound dumbbells for upper-body strength training and two five-pound ankle weights for lower-body work.

The secret of her adherence? “I tape a daytime drama,” says the Sherman Oaks television executive. “And I don’t let myself watch the soap without being on the stair-climber.”

She is not only spared commuting time to a gym, but also the expense of gym membership and workout attire. “Sometimes I do it in my underwear,” she says.

At least three times a week, Penny Pfaelzer of Woodland Hills, heads straight for her treadmill when she arises.

“I like to exercise really early, about 6 a.m.,” she says. “I stay on for 40 minutes.”

To keep it interesting, Pfaelzer listens to music tapes. She has followed her routine faithfully for about four years, supplementing it with outdoor workouts.