Home Gym

[dgdave]

Anyone have any recommendations on a good all in one home gym? Id like it to have a cable system and free weights, but just cables is ok.

[Jsw]

Go here and read everything.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/

This guy is absolutely ripped, and hasn't done a single bench press in 20+ years. He smashes a lot of the myths about bodybuilding and just fitness & healthy eating in general. Its full disclosure and 100% free. I've been following his work-out plans for about 3.5 months and I can tell you first hand it works.

He's a little goofy but if you can get past his voice and cheesy sense of humor, he has a ton of excellent advice and information.

(In regards to your post)He's also a big advocate of going the cheapest route possible in terms of home-gym. His opinion is all you need is a set of used dumbbells and a pull-up bar. And his videos prove it.

If you live in a cold climate, a quality cardio machine probably wouldn't be a bad idea though.(Treadmill, Elliptical machine, Row machine).

I'm a big body-weight resistance guy and I do all my cardio outside(swimming/running/bike) so I'm probably not the authority on home gym equipment though - so to each their own.

[Blake_T]

i'm a very strong proponent of the total gym (or bayou total fitness).

[jubuttib]

i'm a very strong proponent of the total gym (or bayou total fitness).

You mean Bayou Fitness Total Trainer?

[garublador]

(In regards to your post)He's also a big advocate of going the cheapest route possible in terms of home-gym. His opinion is all you need is a set of used dumbbells and a pull-up bar. And his videos prove it.

If you live in a cold climate, a quality cardio machine probably wouldn't be a bad idea though.(Treadmill, Elliptical machine, Row machine).

That's pretty much what I do. I have some PowerBlock dumbbells, a pull up, a yoga ball and an elliptical that I use for just about everything. I thought the extra cost of the PowerBlocks was justified by how little room they use.

[Dig It]

Go here and read everything.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/

This guy is absolutely ripped, and hasn't done a single bench press in 20+ years. He smashes a lot of the myths about bodybuilding and just fitness & healthy eating in general. Its full disclosure and 100% free. I've been following his work-out plans for about 3.5 months and I can tell you first hand it works.

He's a little goofy but if you can get past his voice and cheesy sense of humor, he has a ton of excellent advice and information.

(In regards to your post)He's also a big advocate of going the cheapest route possible in terms of home-gym. His opinion is all you need is a set of used dumbbells and a pull-up bar. And his videos prove it.

Haha, Scooby is the Cubby of the weightlifting world imo but I do agree with his base idea which is buying a home gym is a waste of money. Working out is not about the equipment at all and if you lack motivation and discipline your home gym will become just another place to put wet laundry.

Fave Scooby quote, "That's nice but let's add some protein powder to it."

What is your goal Dave? Hypertrophy? Lean mass?

[peppermack]

Dave, I have a bowflex and it does everything that I need i to do and there are a ton of exercises that be done on it. It does great adding muscle, and it is easy to use and folds up real small. I use the bowflex and my treadmill and that takes care of everything.

[dgdave]

Just trying to lose weight and get back into reasonable shape. Having a home gym helps give me more motivation.

I had a gym membership about 1.5 years ago and did really well. Lost a lot of weight and best shape I had been in since high school. I want to do that again.

I found a decent looking one at academy, a total gym on craigslist pretty cheap, also some free weights.

[Dump truck]

Really just depends on your goals.

Personally I really prefer the gym membership primarily because of all the equipment. I also stay motivated in there because I don't want to feel like a bitch, a fat ass, or both(currently I'm just a fat ass so I'm making improvements). I've been using the freemotion dual cable cross to emulate the basic disc golf swing/motions. I've been using lighter weights than I used to because I can focus on more specific muscle groups or specific portions of the swing.

As for home gym set ups.

Everbody seems to really like the totaly gym(haven't used one myself though).

I would personally just get a small bench that is easily adjustable for decline, flat, incline, and vertical. That and some dumbbells should be suffice for a pretty good range of exercises.

Since you're a big boy like me a pull up bar prolly won't do much for you. Pullups and bodyweight workouts are a bitch for people with a larger frame. If you can do them more power to you... I can't

So I think the bench and dumbbells would work. That and maybe add some resistance bands and/or kettle bells.

They had some of these on sale for $30recently.

[dgdave]

I'm probably going to grab this and a total gym. It has 200lbs of weight. My wife doesn't want free weights or dumb bells because she doesn't want the kids to get a hold of them.

[dgdave]

Also, I like the gym membership too because of the pool. I loved getting up at 5 to work out then taking the kids to the pool that evening.

[Dump truck]

The main issue that I have with those multi function home gyms is limited range of resistance. Most of the ones that I've used you really only get resistance in 3/4 to 1/2 of the movement. I would just be sure to try them out at the store before buying one.

[Blake_T]

i go through phases of very intense working out and then phases of not working out at all (usually following an injury of some sort that forces me to stop working out but then after it heals i don't return to my routine).

total gyms are nice because they have almost a full range of motion and also work core muscles by forcing you to stabilize and balance as well as stretching your muscles in the opposite direction (they are basically a glorified pilates machine). a swiss ball + power blocks is better, but there's some things a total gym will do that those won't. if you get a TG w/ the attachments there's a lot of exercises you can do to reduce the impact/strain e.g. incline pull-ups/dips.

honestly i would skip on the fixed gym setup unless there's some specialized exercise you absolutely must have with it. they take up too much space and almost always have something that kids will mess with and get themselves hurt.

You mean Bayou Fitness Total Trainer?

yes.

the main drawback of the total gym/total trainer is that if you are trying to bulk up big time, it probably won't happen unless you've been bulked up in the past.

[garublador]

I'm probably going to grab this and a total gym. It has 200lbs of weight. My wife doesn't want free weights or dumb bells because she doesn't want the kids to get a hold of them.

I'd look for pinch points and destructibles on the weight machine and compare that to the free weights or adjustable dumbbells. Either way you'll probably have to teach your kids to keep away from the equipment. As a kid I remember monkeying around with several home gym/cardio machines (the row machines were the best) but didn't really play with any free weights I found. They don't look as much like play equipment as the home workout systems do. Moving parts = fun. Heavy stuff = not so fun.

You can get a lot done with those rubber band deals, too. They're cheap, easy to store up high away from kids and you can get pretty creative with how you use them. I've heard of using them for assisted pull ups or as a way to make a bench press or push up more difficult. I found I plateaued with them alone rather quickly, though.

[turso]

http://www.t-nation.com/

Is the best site on the web, or anywhere for that matter, for information on strength training. This doesn't mean you have to have the same equipment they use, just adapt the things to whatever you're using. I like free weights over cable machines every time though, but it's more of a preference. As long as you keep in mind that 100kg on cable machine is a different thing than 100kg with free weights.