I've never looked for a home gym before; but since I've committed myself to improving my appearance, what's out there? And wich one(s) are worth the money?
Anyone?
I put together a BowFlex for my next door neighbor and was really surprised at how nice it was. I'm not sure if it's a good value for the dollar but it sure is a nice piece of equipment.
On Okie's recommendation I bought a set of Power Block dumbells and am very pleased with them as well.
I would not mind a bowflex. I worked in a activity center for a student job in college and they had a Bowflex in there and it was pretty nice. It weird at first, but you get pretty comfortable after a while. I would like to buy one, but I'm a member of a gym right now.
I've had a bowflex for about 2 years. I use it about 5 days a week . It is very smooth. You can not do pull-ups or dips which are my favorite. It does not do squats very well either. I also do not like the ab on the bowflex. But it works great on the back, legs, arms and chest.
If you order one get the leg and pull down attachments.
I have had about 3 different nordic track machines and I like the boxflex better. You have to change things on the boxflex for different exercices but you can do exercises in the order which requires the least number of machine changes.
It takes about 6 weeks to notice an improvement but if you stop for more than 3-4 weeks you will loose all your hard earned muscles. This is the worse thing about working out - once you get strong you will loose it all if you stop!
The best machines are the ones that only do one exercise so that you can leave the weights setup untill you need more, but these machines are way expensive.
I would go to your local fitness sales and try the ones they have first before ordering a bowflex. They cost about 1000 and are alot bigger than the bowflew and have 2-3 stations. The bowflex will cost almost 1800 with all the attachments.
My father has a Bowflex. He seems to like it quite a bit. I thought it was kinda neat that not only could you do a regular weight workout, but you could also use it as a rowing machine. The price seems a bit steep though.
Anyone else?
Don't waste your money on a home gym!! It'll only end up in the corner of the room drying clothes! :p
do a search for "Pilates" every time my back starts to act up i do some of this stuff. I think if i was better motivated it would get me in pretty good shape. anyone out there really into this stuff.
For machines Bowflex is the best. I'm do not own one, it's not a pitch. Bowflex requires you to stabilize the handle of the exercise your performing. Therefore it will recruit the use of more muscles. This is the closest you'll get to using free weights (the best and cheapest equipment). I bought my 300lb olympic set from Dicks Sporting Goods for $139 and got a very sturdy bench (can decline, flat and incline) with leg curl, preacher curl rack, olympic cambered curl bar and wide uprights (that get tall enough to rack weight when squatting) for the bar to rest on. I can't remember the price but, it was less than $200. This and a decent selection of dumbells and you'd have money left over for the bike;)
It seems like a power rack, a flat bench, and a dumbell set (the 139 dollar kind from dick's) would be the hot setup because you do presses, squats, and deadlifts. Keep it simple.
The guy on the bowflex commercial didn't build his body with a bowflex.
I just picked up a set up from Sam`s Club for $356
300 lb olympic weight set , flat incline decline bench with leg curl attachment and power rack with lat pulldown and low pulley row set up on it
It is a Weider brand
Power racks alone go for $250 so I couldn`t pass on this set up. I considered the bowflex and I have a couple friends that think a lot of theirs but I have always thought free weights build more of the supporting muscles.
Checkout www.powerblock.com. They make cool dumbell sets that is
interchangeable anywhere from 5lbs to 45lbs upto 15lbs to 70lbs. theve
been voted best new product of the year by varius fitness mags. get
a flat bench that inclines and your set. I personally like freeweights
but im sure a bowflex would good to. any form of exercise is better then none
good luck, ROB
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