home gyms?

[posol]

Welp, i gave up on the going to the gym thing.... i let my membership run out a couple months ago...

When i move intot he condo, i was thinking about getting a home gym.

right now i'm leaning towards the bowflex.

anyone have any thoughts suggestions or opionions?

 

[tylonalsnifnfool]

My buddy had a bowflex. Payed like $30 a month for it, loved it, got ripped.

 

[trappd-in-859]

What about that total gym or whatever it's called that Chuck Norris advertises late at night. Seems pretty cool.

I always wanted to try bowflex though. I say, if youre gonna use it, go for it. If not save your money and get something you'll actually use.

 

[phyregod]

99% of home stuff just sits around collecting dust. That being said, I would highly reccomend getting real weights. Good quality stuff, not a bow flex. Get a bench with an olympic sized bar and weights, and also get a curl bar and a couple of dumb bells. Between those items you can get a complete upper body workout. Add a couple of high bar holders and you can do squats/dead lifts/clean and jerk/etc with the bar for lower body. Running should take care of the rest of things.

Old school baby, forget this newfangled shit.

 

[reckedracing]

in general bow flex is geared more towards the toning than it is for massive muscle building
but i think it would just end up collecting dust and not getting used...

try getting yourself set up with a routine and see if you can stick to it before wasting money...

cardio is just as important as strength training so get yourself setup doing cardio and you'll have more of a desire to build mass

or just get yourself a hot bisch and get all the exercise you need...

 

[Seany-izzle]

a agree, partly. Free weights is the way to go. My roommates setup here at our apt is something close to this.. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/...searchId=698440 has everything in that except the top bar that goes across, whatever. YOu get lap pulls, squats, preacher curls, back extensions, bench press, incline/decline bench, holders for all your weights, cable pull downs etc...

i dont really care for resistance training, while it may be easier its just not as much fun, atleast not for me. Although i do prefer my back exercises on a machine.

spend a few 100 on weights, get a 7foot flat bar, a curl bar (if you want), and two dumbells. Dont forget to get all the weights and bars in olympic size.

 

[hosmer]

I've got a huge ass Gold's Gym thing in my spare bedroom...




I'm sure it'd work great, but we use it as a coat-rack

 

[posol]

i really don't want free-weights. If for some reason i get fucked, and don't have a spotter, i'd surely be dead in my condo for 3 days before anyone noticed i wasn't around....

i was watching the bowflex infomercial, and they had some jacked dude trying to do like the entire bow's... and he was struggling hard, and he had the motion of a free weight... ie, not steady like you're on a machine.

i'm not looking to bulk up... i'm plenty big... i just want some exercise. i actually enjoy lifting... i'm just lazy to go to the gym and change and shit. but if i had it in my living room or spare bedroom, i would probably use it almost every day....

i lifted pretty regularly in college... i dropped 60 lbs and 4 pant sizes in a year between my fresh year and soph years. lol
held that 185lbs for a couple years...

then i left school, and gained it all back.

but, now that i'm heading back out on my own, and i can't afford to eat anymore, i'll drop some pounds... eat some ramen and rice, and get a decent system for about a G. shit, 40 a month i was paying for my membership at the gym... x4 years... = 48x40 = 1920 bucks...
so, if i keep this thing longer than 4 years, its worth it imo.

the total gym doesn't do it for me... using my own body weight is not a good thing IMO. as i lose weight, or god forbid put more on, the workout changes... i dunno... i'd probably get dizzy going up and down like that too. lol

i used a soloflex back in the day and hated it.
i never used a bow flex. but it looks good... kinda pricey, but in the long run, its 4 years of a gym membership... i dunno...

http://www.bowflex.com/mMachineDetail.asp?...3%3B+2&linkID=6

and then they rape you for 200 bucks shipping

lol

 

[BigJ]

Free weights are the only way to go. When I don't have a spotter, I just don't put clips on the end. IF you are in a situation where you need a spotter, then you tip to one side, then really fast to the other. It will make a lot of racket, but really, Free Weights are the only solution to working out.

 

[hcivic.com]

free wieghts are safe when bench pressing, use two single weights instead of a single bar.
At home I have a bike, treadmill, heavy bag, speed bag, a weight machine, and free weights.
Its way overkill but gets well used, a gym member ship cost 75 a mounth or 900 a year. I bought all my crap used and spent a total of 700.

 

[StealthMode]

My cousin has a Bowflex and he freakin loves it. IMO, free weights are the best way to build up muscle memory, and they give you a complete range of motion. But with the machines that are coming out today, you pretty much get all the same thing. It's all a matter of taste, preference, and personal goals. If you're not looking to build a lot of muscle, then I think that a Bowflex or something similar would be great for you. (That machine deal from Dick's is a great deal.)

 

[Judo_boy_48]

I wouldn't go with the bowflex.

I either got defective parts or something but it feels like the bows lose their resistance.

My 5 lb ones feel like 1 ounce now.

*edit*
I just looked at the site. They replace it for free. I got mine when it first came out so maybe the bows sucked ass back then. Other then my bows not feeling like the first day I got them it is a very nice thing to have.

 

[civicious]

I've been thinking about a fininacing a bowflex lately...



Apparently their 3 zillion commercials a day are working...

 

[Battle Pope]

I dunno, that one where they have the lady on there that's supposed to be 50-something y/o grandma makes me wonder.

"results not typical".

 

[jeffie7]

The bow flex is by far the best thing you can get for under 2K(other then free weights or HIGHDOLLAR setups) you can't beat it.

Is it as good as free weights? not anywhere near it. Does that matter for you? no.

You don't have room for free weights and your other option is the gym. both wont happen so the blow flex is a great option.

IF you use it.

Before buying it I would get yourself into doing the basic things and make sure you're able to stick with it.

running, pushups, crunches, get a chin up/dip bar. do those for 2-3 months then after that if you're still sticking with it I would put the money out for a blowflex. Keep in mind they're not cheap when you get everything you need. My brother paid something like $1200.00 for his.

Quoted post[/post]]

And in all honesty, if you're too lazy to go to the gym and change, anything you get will most likely end up collecting dust after a few months.

Hit the nail on the head. like I said start out with the basics that cost ZERO (other then chinup/dipbar.) and go from there.

 

[totalburnout]

An olympic free weight set, bench, and curl bar. You can do almost any exercise with this setup.

I read above that you don't want to wind up dead and have someone find you three days later when you don't have a spot.

Tell me on what exercises is it absolutely critical for you to use a spotter? The answer is none. The exercise that most use spotters on is bench press but thats because their egos are simply too large. There's safety pins that you can put the bar on should you get stuck, you can leave the clips off the end of the bar so you can dump the weight if it were to get stuck on your chest you just lean the weight to one side, or you do the intelligent thing and work your way up slowly and know your limits. If you go too hard it diminishes your results and can actually cause regression so there's no sense in going heavy to the point where you're going to need someone else's help.

Every other exercise can be done without a spot as well. Add in a curl bar also known as an "e-z bar" and you can do bicep exercises, tricep exercises, chest exercises, forearm exercises, ab exercises, etc., etc.

All this can be had, especially when found on ebay for a good deal or just on sale at a sports store for MUCH MUCH less than the bow flex and free weights are proven to be the most effective out of any exercises. Free weights force your body to recruit multiple muscle groups to stabilize the weight as well as your primary and secondary muscle movers which is ideal.

Sports Authority has an olympic weight set on sale for $100 or $110. Pick up a weight bench for another $100 used and your set, especially if you get a bench that has multiple positions so you can do incline and decline presses as well as a dip station on the back of the bench.

I say this to you while I own both machines and free weights. Free weights are the best overall workout that can be had.

Also if you have room for a bowflex, you have room for an olympic weight set, weight tree to hang the weights on if you want to get fancy, and an olympic bench. Plain and simple.

 

[FFCiv]

Quoted post[/post]]
An olympic free weight set, bench, and curl bar. You can do almost any exercise with this setup.

I read above that you don't want to wind up dead and have someone find you three days later when you don't have a spot.

Tell me on what exercises is it absolutely critical for you to use a spotter? The answer is none. The exercise that most use spotters on is bench press but thats because their egos are simply too large. There's safety pins that you can put the bar on should you get stuck, you can leave the clips off the end of the bar so you can dump the weight if it were to get stuck on your chest you just lean the weight to one side, or you do the intelligent thing and work your way up slowly and know your limits. If you go too hard it diminishes your results and can actually cause regression so there's no sense in going heavy to the point where you're going to need someone else's help.

Every other exercise can be done without a spot as well. Add in a curl bar also known as an "e-z bar" and you can do bicep exercises, tricep exercises, chest exercises, forearm exercises, ab exercises, etc., etc.

All this can be had, especially when found on ebay for a good deal or just on sale at a sports store for MUCH MUCH less than the bow flex and free weights are proven to be the most effective out of any exercises. Free weights force your body to recruit multiple muscle groups to stabilize the weight as well as your primary and secondary muscle movers which is ideal.

Sports Authority has an olympic weight set on sale for $100 or $110. Pick up a weight bench for another $100 used and your set, especially if you get a bench that has multiple positions so you can do incline and decline presses as well as a dip station on the back of the bench.

I say this to you while I own both machines and free weights. Free weights are the best overall workout that can be had.

Also if you have room for a bowflex, you have room for an olympic weight set, weight tree to hang the weights on if you want to get fancy, and an olympic bench. Plain and simple.

if you dont lift until you cannot do another rep of that weight your lifting you're not getting the maximum benefits. So that means every time he finishes a good bench set he dumps the weight. that sucks to have to deal with.

 

[posol]

exactly.

and when i was lifting a few years back, i was benching 275-ish for my last set of 8. sometimes, i'd get stuck on 6 1/2 reps or something... and i've used a spotter to save my ass more than a couple times. me and my roomate lifted together, so it was good. i'm a pretty big guy, and have a lot of mass already... straight up. 275lbs is not a lot IMO and after a few months of back into it, i'll be well back into the mid 200's on the bench.

with the bow flex, i'll be safe... there's nothing to drop. and living in a condo, i don't want the huge commotion if something were to happen. and my luck, a 45 lb plate would go through the floor and land on my sti in the garage. lol

i got bored of the gym cuz
A- i didn't have a parner/friend to go with
B- it was a 20 min drive
C- no hot girls were ever there

when i buy something, i usually use it.

i've been doing crunches and push ups from time to time before bed...

plus, if i hav this thing, it will help me quit smoking. when i was going to the gym pretty steadily, i was hardly smoking at all...
with winter coming, well, its here... i need something to do while i'm inside besides watch tv and smoke cigs. lol

 

[totalburnout]

Quoted post[/post]]
if you dont lift until you cannot do another rep of that weight your lifting you're not getting the maximum benefits. So that means every time he finishes a good bench set he dumps the weight. that sucks to have to deal with.

Hmmm...I don't know how to say this in an "un-asshole-like" way...

Thats the complete opposite of the truth and the reason why many hurt themselves lifting and/or never progress to their potential.

If you lift a weight so many times that you can't pick it up one more time you've just done tremundous muscle tissue damage that can take up to a month or two months to heal fully. Does that sound beneficial to you? If it takes one to two months to heal from extreme stress like that and you want to be lifting every 48+ hours, you're obviously never going to fully recover and thus 1) be prone to accident and 2) never reach your potential.

Thats just physical damage I'm talking about. If you want me to get into specifics and talk about the stress that is placed upon your central nervous system from performing a working set to you can no longer handle the weight properly with good form, I can. This stress on your central nervous system has been, in recent years, dubbed "overtraining" and its a very serious and often used term in lifting.

With that said, when performing a working set, one should use 60-80% of their max weight (unless of course you're training to be an endurance athlete, powerlifter, or some other athlete and need special training) doing anywhere from 4-10 reps with proper form and proper breathing techniques.

As I said, there's no need to ever use a spotter. I never NEED a spotter, sometimes when I'm trying to break through a plateau I'll do negative reps and require a spotter but thats for a very specific exercise that need not be performed by the common lifter.

Free weights > All else.

Cheaper and more benificial.

If you're serious about this you'll do research. If you're not you'll by a bowflex, use it a couple times, let dust collect on it and sell it in a yardsale, just like most Americans do.

 

[swanny]

I had the bowflex and I hated it. It's awkard as hell and almost impossible to make a lift in a fluid motion.