Homegym ideas?

[Guest tuesclavo]

Anyone have a home gym they can recommend? Didn't want to go with a large heavy plate machine, but bowflex gets alot of bad reviews and soloflex isn't made anymore.

[+ Lucky]

I wonder how much money has been made on home gyms that never get used?

[Guest tuesclavo]

true that. i'm motivated enough now to get to the gym 3-4 days a week, so hopefully will be motivated to use a gym at home. (of course there is the eye candy factor. maybe i'll put up some posters.)

[whipped guy]

bowflex gets alot of bad reviews...

 

I happened to be in Sports Authority today and they had a Bowflex “on sale” for $999.99. I was not impressed. It really took up a lot more space than I had remembered and I did not like the feel of its action which seemed to put a lot of stress on my (admittedly older) joints. Still, the larger “traditional-type” units that seemed to be well made took up a significantly more space…. So much so that almost a whole room, garage, or basement would have to be devoted solely for their usage.

 

I personally like the feel of free weights… and I have been getting along at home with a simple exercise bench, a couple of bar bells, and a number of dumbbells for years. There are limitations of course… limited leg work, no way to do triceps pull-downs… which is a favorite exercise of mine, etc. However, it has worked out well as has been exercising at home… that in spite of the lack of the “eye candy” factor. Consequently, when I am away from home I only stay at properties that have a well-equipped health club… It gives me a bit more variety when it comes to working out… not to mention satisfying the need for some visual stimulation as well…

[+ deej]

Oh, join a gym already. Save the square footage for something less traumatic. A gym membership is a hell of a lot easier to pack when you travel. ;-)

 

If you're "of a certain age", Gold's Gym gives fairly nice discounts to AARP members. (Really!)

 

That "certain age" is 50, FWIW.

 

Finding this out was ALMOST worth having that birt^H^H^H^H ... err ... b..b..b.. err ... anniversary. There's just something perversely RIGHT about being "walking dead" (over 50) in the gay community and getting massive discounts to Gold's Gym. It's just poetic. ;-)

[Guest tuesclavo]

>bowflex gets alot of bad

>reviews...

>

>

>I personally like the feel of free weights… and I have been

>getting along at home with a simple exercise bench, a couple

>of bar bells, and a number of dumbbells for years.

 

Hmm, simple and cheap. Might give that a try.

 

deej, i'm in a gym now, but i'm getting surgery on my achilles so hopefully i can start running again but that's going to keep me in limited mobility mode for a couple of months, hence the need for home gym.

[Boston Guy]

If you're looking for some useful leg exercise and all you've got is a bench and some dumbbells, try squats. Do three sets of 20 squats with enough weight in your hands to make them challenging. If you can't hold enough weight, increase the reps. They're fast and pretty effective.

[Boston Guy]

My trainer is really big on body-weight exercises. It's amazing how much benefit you can get from 100 pushups, 100 situps and 60 squats a day, especially if you add some weight to the squats.

 

Some guys who go to the gym regularly are surprised to find that they cannot do a lot of pushups. If that's the case, do several sets until you can do 100 without stopping. They are remarkably effective, especially if you keep your back straight.

 

The nice thing about the body weight stuff is that you don't need much time and you don't need any equipment (except some dumbbells for the squats).

[whipped guy]

Hmm, simple and cheap. Might give that a try.

 

Yep! Sometimes the simple things work just as well! As I said I like the feel of free weights compared to any machine out there.

 

As noted by Boston Guy, body weight exercises are great also. As another example chin-ups…. and here’s a tip… superset them after doing dumbbell or barbell curls for a nice bicep burn. As far as pushups are concerned get “The Perfect Pushup” for literally an extra twist on the exercise. (Incidentally I noticed that Bed Bath and Beyond sells a “generic” version and Staples sells a “basic” version of the original that is less expensive but not as well constructed.) Superset those after doing barbell flyes or chest presses for a nice burn in your pecs as well. It is amazing what can be done with a few basic pieces of equipment.

 

Also like Boston, I do squats with dumbbells and go for higher reps… I also have an exercise bike for further leg work and aerobics… Add some sit-ups, leg raises, etc. for some ab work and you are in business.

 

So yes, cheap and effective… How effective? Well one noted porn star told me that I had the perfect pecs… I figured he was “BS”ing me just to give me some sort of compliment… and perhaps he was. However, he went on to say that his were “over-done”… but that’s that how they needed to look for his career to be successful. Well, I like “overdone” and wish that mine were “overdone”.

 

So if you don’t need to overdo things and just want to look and feel better I guess keeping things uncomplicated and straightforward can indeed work.

[JT Brooklyn]

Mr Whip....keeping things "Uncomplicated and Straightforward" to me means Definitely letting my Jersey Guy P/T do all the "Working Out" while I watch! ;-)

 

Although I do own Dumbells and an AB Lounger which I do get into! Any other Equipment takes too much thinking for me, Reps-Sets very confusing! HaHa

[Guest tuesclavo]

Hey, Boston , Whipped Guys thanks for the feedback. Going to give those a try.