total gym models

[Blake_T]

my last serious diet shift happened about 5 years ago and i cut my calorie intake to 1200-1600 daily (for a year) along with a severe protein downgrade. that coupled with a lot of exercising was the only way i was able to shed some muscle mass.

the problem is what i tend to gravitate towards. i don't consider 2000-2600 calories a day to be excessive if i'm working out 5-6 days a week.

also, my primary concern isn't to burn fat, it's more to avoid putting on tons of bulk. it happens naturally and it's something i struggle to avoid. when i'm getting a constant stream of exercise my body tends to gravitate towards a 235-245 lb equilibrium. any fat loss is replaced with muscle mass up to that point. this is where my body behaves freakishly. i can go from 200 to 240 in 2 months, but going from say, 240 to 260 would be next to impossible without a significant increase in my caloric intake.

my leg joints are pretty much shot and i'm trying to ease the stress there. i've only had 2 bouts in the past 12 years where i was able to get below 190, one time was the atkins diet (which f'd up my blood pressure) and the other was with the help of ephedrine/aspirin and lots of exercise (which also f'd up my blood pressure). based upon the rapid shift i had when i started my recent routine i thought i was on the right track towards that goal again. in the first 5 weeks i lost 3" around my waist and 2" around my chest... but the 7 weeks after that led to adding 7" around my chest and losing another 1/2" from my waist.

[JR]

All the doctors in Finland I've heard recognize that the Atkins diet works for short periods of time but they also say it's extremely unhealthy and should be avoided as the mass returns in almost every case anyway. People say that not eating doesn't make you leaner. False. But the same purpose defeating problems happen than with Atkins diet. Do yourself a favor and avoid these.

[JR]

if you want to lose weight you absolutely have to focus on the diet. Find out on how many calories a day you gain, and reduce your intake. Dont cut your protein intake, but make sure you have a wellrounded diet that is low in calories. (Lots of greens and fish is really good as well.) No matter how you lift weights will change your bodyweight if you dont look at the diet. Especially if you gain easily.

Depending on how much _animal_ proteins one gets cutting some of it may be a good thing along with the more important calorie intake. Americans eat a lot of meat and IIRC Blake has suffered from a disease that builds up uric acid in the toe so bad that the slightest movement of a bed sheet over the toe causes howling pain. Don't recall the name of the disease in English ATM. The diet is half the battle. You still need to consume energy so go out to do field practice if hours of swimming or 6 hours of walking 5 days a week doesn't sound palatable. Former competition swimmer you know... And I mean hours of swimming in one go and no slacking in between. Just gogogo no respite. Naturally the pace needs to be slow to keep the heart rate low in order to keep you in the majority of fat burning zone. Raising the heart rate too high will quickly burn the reserve fat which is only few per cents of the entire fat content so you could spend it in a day if you train hard enough and not lose a lot of weight after that. And that's fro the muscles but it'll also cost you in muscle power.

Considering Blake is in MN he could do what they've always done in the old country of his family name ilk and cross country ski for hours on end. I just don't know how his Asian genes and general US pussyfootedness (sorry guys come here in winter and I'll show you if you don't believe me) does for his heat generation. Lots of hot water into a large thermos drinking a couple of sips every 20 minutes helps a lot. Even if it means the attack of the yellow ice to the wee wee of the frozen guy. Yellow ice rising from the ground up to tender parts of the joy department.

[mark12b]

cool. how'sit working for ya so far?

just fine, thanks... had it less than a week and i've been taking it pretty slow -- getting a feel or the exercises, starting to figure out what combinations of reps and resistance will work for a baseline, that sort of thing. i'm in my mid-40s and in neither particularly bad nor particularly good shape, and don't have any weight to lose, so i'm mainly aiming for overall toning right now, for injury prevention. for disc golf the goal is stamina; my game tends to suffer toward the end of a round and especially if it's the second of the day. the other big goal is to build core strength and overall flexibility up to hopefully get rid of some mild but nagging lower back pain i've had for many years.

so, the current plan is to alternate between the beginner program with lower reps/higher resistance/slow pace, and the circuit program with lots of reps and a fast pace.

[Blake_T]

Depending on how much _animal_ proteins one gets cutting some of it may be a good thing along with the more important calorie intake. Americans eat a lot of meat and IIRC Blake has suffered from a disease that builds up uric acid in the toe so bad that the slightest movement of a bed sheet over the toe causes howling pain. Don't recall the name of the disease in English ATM. The diet is half the battle. You still need to consume energy so go out to do field practice if hours of swimming or 6 hours of walking 5 days a week doesn't sound palatable. Former competition swimmer you know... And I mean hours of swimming in one go and no slacking in between. Just gogogo no respite. Naturally the pace needs to be slow to keep the heart rate low in order to keep you in the majority of fat burning zone. Raising the heart rate too high will quickly burn the reserve fat which is only few per cents of the entire fat content so you could spend it in a day if you train hard enough and not lose a lot of weight after that. And that's fro the muscles but it'll also cost you in muscle power.

the term for that in english is gout. i intake a lot of meat, but very little red meat. mostly chicken with red meat between 0-2 times per week. nothing i eat is really notoriously high in purines and i tend to mix up the types of animal proteins i intake. if it's fish it's mostly cod, halibut, and tuna. i take in turkey or pork ~1-2 times per month and shellfish maybe 1-3 times per year. i don't drink booze and i intake 1-2 gallons of water per day.

basically, it was blamed more on the injuries to the foot it happened in, which has only 20-30% of its ligaments intact and that big toe (where the gout flared up) has been sprained over 100 times. scar tissue, poor circulation due to scar tissue, bad luck, etc. was cited as the probable cause.

i agree that americans eat too much meat and i am also one of them but for me it's not an outrageous amount.

something i've come to believe is that people's inherent body chemistry and their base metabolism gives them a natural equilibrium amount of muscle mass. when coming from a point lower than that level, they will bulk up faster until they reach that level. attempting to push beyond that level is a much slower and more intensive process.

this may or may not be true, but it has been that way for me since i was 14-15 years old and i've known tons of people that completely struggle to push beyond a certain threshold without taking drastic measures (such as taking in 5000+ calories a day and hitting the weights hard). i've been able to put on 40 lbs of muscle mass in under 3 months half a dozen times in my life but it always brought me to the 235-245 lb range and then stopped abruptly even though my workouts would continue to get more intense. i never tried to go beyond that point (nor did i ever want to) but i'm trying to find a way to prevent that from happening and i'm not sure it's possible but i know my knees will probably feel better if i can reduce the weight even if it means sacrificing muscle.

the other big goal is to build core strength and overall flexibility up to hopefully get rid of some mild but nagging lower back pain i've had for many years.

so, the current plan is to alternate between the beginner program with lower reps/higher resistance/slow pace, and the circuit program with lots of reps and a fast pace.

cool. i would definitely look into doing the hip extensions (where you kneel on the bench at the bottom with your hands on the bars and pop your legs out sort of like during a squat thrust) as that's been the fastest exercise i've found for strengthening the pelvic floor and lower abs. it's that muscle area being weak that is usually one of the primary causes of back pain.

[Claytoon]

A nice summary of different features among Total Gym models.
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/bodybuilding-equipment/total-gym-model-compare.htm

[mark12b]

this site has good pictures showing the different levels of build... when i was shopping around i took a while before i could see the differences.

http://totalhomegym.net/

[Blake_T]

yah, that's a good summary.

doesn't quite cover the 852 other models (mostly low end), but pretty much every model that isn't listed there falls somewhere between the 1100 and 1500.

[Claytoon]

Hopefully no one here actually works for Total Gym....
What about the Weider Total Body Works 5000? It got great reviews (50 of them) on amazon, and is for sale at walmart.com for $140, free shipping to store. It includes the pullup attachment, and a squat attachment. Instead of being able to add weights, it includes 4 elastic cables to increase the resistance up to 50 lbs.

I've been unable to find any Total Gym models over the 1500 model for less than $200.

[Blake_T]

the bayou total fitness is superior to most of the total gym models (with the exception of the 5-digit model ones). the weider ones, not so much.

the 1700 is a great value if it has all of the attachments (it has everything but the squat plate and ab crunch boards).

it's more of a patience game. just about everyone i've helped track them down has been able to score a 2000 or higher for under $200, it just might take a few weeks. try sending out some offers on the ones that are already out there and see what happens.

[some call me...tim?]

Hopefully no one here actually works for Total Gym....
What about the Weider Total Body Works 5000? It got great reviews (50 of them) on amazon, and is for sale at walmart.com for $140, free shipping to store. It includes the pullup attachment, and a squat attachment. Instead of being able to add weights, it includes 4 elastic cables to increase the resistance up to 50 lbs.

I've been unable to find any Total Gym models over the 1500 model for less than $200.

Have you only been looking for new ones, or have you been looking for used too? I'd definitely steer away from buying one new since you can get one for like a 1/4 of the price (often much less) used. I've got a feeling that there should be some decent deals coming along soon, now that a lot of people have fallen through on their New Year's resolutions.

Hell, I guess I could fall into that group...not quite ready to sell it off though. Does anybody know where to find a good deal on persistence and motivation?

[Claytoon]

the bayou total fitness is superior to most of the total gym models (with the exception of the 5-digit model ones). the weider ones, not so much.

According to the bayou website, they manufacture the Weider one. (or are they just a distributer...)

And yes I am only looking at used ones, but I want to make sure I get one that has the wing attachment, would like the squat attachment, and my main concern is I want one that has the weight attachment, to add more weight. So...now I realize that I am primarily looking for the 1700 or above. I've emailed a couple people from Craigslist, as Blake recommended, and am hoping to hear back today.

[some call me...tim?]

I wouldn't sweat the weight attachment too much. In the browsing I did, I don't know if any of the total gyms had that included. You'll find you can get a plenty good workout without the weights, and if you do want to add weights, you can always buy the attachment later. It probably wouldn't be hard to rig one up either, if you had the tools.

[mark12b]

yeah, even if the top position isn't hard enough for something like squats, you can always do 1-legged ones instead.

i haven't gotten *too* bored yet but i do find i have to try something a little different each time.

[Blake_T]

According to the bayou website, they manufacture the Weider one. (or are they just a distributer...)

And yes I am only looking at used ones, but I want to make sure I get one that has the wing attachment, would like the squat attachment, and my main concern is I want one that has the weight attachment, to add more weight. So...now I realize that I am primarily looking for the 1700 or above. I've emailed a couple people from Craigslist, as Blake recommended, and am hoping to hear back today.

ah. i just know from fitness trainer types that the bayou one is supposed to be better and the weider ones are supposed to be kind of crappy. i've found weider ones on CL before for like $25, and at that price it's probably worth it.

use the 1800 club as a base price reference. those are $350 new and basically have everything except a squat plate. press up bars, dip bars, wing, leg pulley, pilates bar, ab crunch boards, weight bar. basically, like $250 worth of add ons if you have a 2000/3000/xl/xls.

honestly, with the squat plate being as short as it is, you are almost better off doing body weight squats than doing squats on the TG. that is really the only exercise most people will crave more weight.

in most cases it's a bit shocking as to how much harder it is to do exercises when your feet aren't on the ground.