Now that I'm gainfully employed again, I'd like to get a home-gym, and while
free-weights & bench seem to be the cheapest way to go, I was wondering....


Does anyone have any experience with the CrossBar by Weider?
http://www.crossbarfitness.com/crossbar/index.html

or their Platinum version,
http://www.platinumcrossbar.com/platinum/6...0/splitter.html


Anyone using anything else?

tia

Concept II rowing machine! YEAH!!!!



Love IT!

Has somebody realized it is easier and cheaper to lose 10 lbs off you back side than off the teener?

Don't even need that. just good old push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, lunges, jump jacks. I have a ton of them. Set a goal of say 20 reps of each exercise. Quickly move from one to the next and repeat the circuit three times. Each week ad 5 reps to everything. Since people don't start burning fat calories till 45 minutes of strenous activity you should strive to work out for this long. You can also supplement a brisk walk or ride a grilie stationary bike.

I have a Nordic Track that I got for 10 bucks works great but my mind goes numb after 5 minutes. too loud to watch Speed channel.

I'm with Joe. Calisthenics works for me.

I do have a Schwinn spinner. It's great if you love bikes and want to burn calories and condition your legs.Sometimes it gets covered up with 914 work clothing.

But maybe you're looking to increase your strength, etc. I've never used any of that type of equipement.

I bench pressed my tranny recently. Twice... unfortunately.

a freestanding pullup and dip bar is a nice addition. regular exercises work great. for an idea of what is possible with this sort of routine, check out www.stewsmith.com

Dont buy anything Scott, they become room ornaments in less than 6 months. You want something.. buy a gym membership and get out of the house.


B

I agree with Brad. I find it really hard to exercise at home. Too much other stuff to do, and I get distracted pretty easily. I prefer to go to a gym. As far as weight training equipment, I prefer free weights. Get a few bar bells, a bench press bar, a decent selection of weight, and a good bench. You have way more different exercises you can do, and in my opinion, you get a better work out. With free weights, you work the stabilzer muscles, as well as the target muscles. Those fancy systems may look cool, but they're pretty expensive, and not as useful as a good set of weights.

Scott,

being single as you are, go to the gym !!!!!

I've been going to the Fremont 24 Fitness for the last few weeks, your mind will get a workout as well

My student job is repairing equippment here at the U of M rec center. I'm the head of the department (read: only one in the department ) Anyway i know way more about commercial fitness equippment than i honestly want to.

When i hit a time in my program when i start to plateau it's nice to have a big gym with a large variety of equippment so i can switch up the programm with similar but slightly different different lifts to break out of the slump. I don't feel like you have this opportunity with the swiss-army style at home gyms.

Oh another plug for going to a gym...NICE SCENARY!!!!

David

Ya, I forgot about the scenary! A big plus about going to the gym.

I have a cheap set of barbells with adjustable weights(15$ at a garage sale) I use while watching tv and do pushups and stretchs, lotsa stretches... I've gotten out of the routine since getting married, but at least I don't have an appliance taking up 1/2 a room... or pay a monthly fee for something I didn't use when I had it(gym membership)... I had a hard time making myself go to a gym membership when none of my friends were going either...


the exercise never got me any chicks, but I've never been accused of being over weight either

That's a good point. You can get pretty far with dumb bells, push ups, crunches, and sit-ups.

My recommendation is that whatever home exercise equipment you buy, you buy it used for pennies on the dollar. It's like buying a 914-6 conversion. Go check Good Will or Salvation Army thrift stores.

For home equipment I think the Nordic Track is awesome. It basically works legs, abs, and arms all at once and it's kind of fun.

200 pound sand-filled punching bag suspended from the ceiling.

Andy

Try keeping up with those knuckle heads on TV. Just close the shades so nobody sees you looking stupid. These will kick your out of shape ass. even if you are in shape it is still challenging.

Anybody remember the 30 minute workout? My heart rate wnet up just watching those chics

A gym membership is like the kiss of death, IMHO. You pay every month for something you never use, and then you kick youself in the ass for paying for nothing, as well as forbeing out of shape. I'd much rather hate myself for being out of shape for free.

I'm not a morning person, so obviously no early morning workouts for me. When I get off work, I just want to change, cook, eat, and relax with my SO and dog. It's hard to cook, eat, change, drive to the gym, work out, shower, get home, change, and then sleep. I guess I just don't have the self discipline. I do 200 situps a night though.

Jen

working out with SO can be very motivating. Wife and I used to go to GYM nearly every day. Don't go home, go straight to gym. limit time to 1 hour and get out. If you have somebody relying on you to show up then you just have to go.

I've got some 10 lb dumbells, a 75 lb bar, and a cross beam for pull ups....

Its the best way man...

I play tennis on two travel teams, I play at least two-three times a week it allows me to do a proper work out, 12- 22 0z curls of Newcastle Brown Ale...or the "Dog". I walk the "Dog" as often as I can! Still 6 foot and 165 pounds @ 43 years of age. Gotta love good genetics!

Problem is we have a dog we keep crated (everyone keep their opinions to themselves on this one) during the day, so I try to get back to Snoopy by 5:30 at the latest on any given day. I take him for walks, but he's a scent hound, so he's sniffing everything. It's not like I get a vigorous workout from that.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I love my laziness.

Just getting my $.02 worth in on gyms.

Jen

"We are all creatures of habit". "Objects in motion stay in motion". Lazy is as Lazy does.

I have an Ironmaster machine, but free weights are a must for maximum strength. Get metal plates, not plastic. Buy used is good advice. The main thing is to get something that you will continue to do, and that will keep the boredom to a minimum. Some people are gym people, some are home gym people. DOING LESS ON A REGULAR BASIS (20 mins.) IS BETTER THAN LONG WORKOUTS EVERY SO OFTEN. A rack to safely hold a squat bar is about all you need. If you want a bench for bench pressing then get a combo bench with wide distance between uprights. Pushups are a good exercise, as are chinups, as are one leg no weight squats and calf raises if you can do them. There are some SEAL workout videos that will get you in shape without weights.

The Cap'n just carries antique stoves and cast iron bathtubs around.................................................. The Cap'n

lets see if I can do this, without Quoting...

Membership: Nah, not for me, I agree with Jenny, don't think I'd go, and withOUT self-confidence/esteem, the gym is NOT the place to go, trust me.

Tennis: I LOVE playing tennis, but the friends I have locally do not like the game, but I think it's a great workout. I've also been playing Volleyball, hell for that matter I also....
Run, walk the dog, ride my bike & jumprope.
But, I want to LoSE some weight, and at 41yrs, umm, young(?) I realize I should prolly start lifting some weights to lose some lbs & to tone up.

Rowing Machine etc: btdt, yrs ago I had a Nordic Track, I did use it, but it became quite boring, it actuallly became more of a chair for when a friend & I used to........


anyway, thanks for replying, a BIG thing I can do is shut the DAMN tv off, and get off my arse.

I want to be able to fit into a GT3 seat someday, doubtful, but everyone needs goals, right

have a good day.

funny you mention that....believe it or not, I felt the same way...in fact I bought a workout bench so that I could get in better shape at home before I went to the gym that I had just gotten a membership for !!!!

How screwed up in the head is that??? LOL

I'm still not in the physical shape I'd like to be, but now when I go to the gym, I don't give a sh!t what people think, there will always be someone in better or worse shape than myself at the gym.........

If you want, you can borrow my weight bench and some of my free weights to see if it's something you want to invest in. The bench does come apart so getting it into you 914 shouldn't be too big of a deal....besides, I could use the space in my garage, hahahaha

Hi Scott,

I have a Weider universal gym that I am not useing. It has all the stuff.
I was going to sell it for 250.00.

If you want it, you can have it for 50 bucks.

It also works well for hanging clothes to dry.

fly@pacbell.net

I have a pair of running shoes and some running clothes...

I run 60-80 miles a week, but I am a Boston Marathon Qualifier and have run Chicago in 3:20:01

Four years ago I smoked and drank and weighed 243.

Now I weigh between 175 and 180. My goal is 165.

I do 100 sit ups every morning and 20-30 curls with a 55lb curl bar.

Thats it. Lots of running.

i might be able to run a 3:20 marathon if the finish line was at the WingDome, with a platter of 50 hotwings and a pitcher of Mac-n-Jack waiting for me... but then, maybe i'd just drive, or catch a ride with Dino!

really, that shows impressive drive. a couple years ago i was on track something like that. i have since lost the focus, and am easily distracted by the house, the car, the kids. if only i was being distracted by the hotwings...

kudos to you! seriously, check out www.stewsmith.com it is petty sensible exercise stuff. no weird things, just work.

RUN Forrest, RUN !!!!!

damn, pretty impressive, I'll be happy to stay @ 200lbs....I just want to move the weight around so it'll work for me, not against me

Interesting thread. The funny thing is I went to the gym to gain weight. At 6' 1" and weighing 155-160 lbs for the last 17 years I wanted to beef up to the 180-190 range. I just have a hard time putting weight on. For a full year I ate what I wanted, sat on the sofa and basically did nothing. The result - I lost 5 lbs and had no energy to do anything. So I started going to the gym with a friend of mine but I really don't "enjoy" it and as such find it hard to convince myself to go. I love playing sports and find it easy to get motivated to head out of the house to play a little hockey, volleyball, squash, etc. but for some reason I just find it mind numbingly boring to be lifting weights. The motivation to do "one more rep than before" just isn't there. I think I'm going to check out the Stew Smith site to see what is there. A friend of mine and I are having a race to see who makes it to 180 lbs first. He has to lose 20 lbs and I have to gain 20. He seems to think it will be easier for me. I think otherwise. Anyone have suggestions for competitive activities that also build muscle size and strength?

find a local rugby club!

We have an expensive-as-all-hell LifeCycle that I have only ridden twice so far

My wife uses it but I have not mustered up the energy & time yet...

Fortunately by some miracle I have been able to hold my weight steady and feel pretty healthy for almost 15 years without a ton of exercise. I will get back in the saddle one of these days anyhow, as I know it would be good for me.

that does it: i am starting running again. he's right, you know; there really is nothing like it.

thanks for the motivation!

Fly,
you've got mail.



Scott

>Anyone have suggestions for competitive activities that also build muscle size and strength?

Nope. Lifting weights is the best. I play basketball and was always getting muscled out inside. I started off about a year and a half ago at 6'1" 160. I had a bit of a layoff last year when I tore my soulder and had surgery. Even with that I'm up to 175. I go twice a week for about 60-90 minutes each time.

I'm not into running and find it incredibly boring. I found that lifting weights is different since it requires more concentration. It's also easier to get motivated when you start seeing some results.

Tell me more about that, won't you?

Get a road bike. Ride it to LA. (or just start doing some 30 mile rides.).

Funny that I'm in the process of buying another coat rack for my office so this thread is timely. I had a Soloflex years ago and used it on occasion. It worked great as advertised and built up my shoulders and chest quite well. However, I got tired of it and stopped all together so I sold it. I had a NordicTrack that I hardly used becuase I fell off the thing once and hit my chin on the pad. I gave that away to Goodwill after having spent $300 on the thing. I sold my Olympic weights and rack system recently because it took up too much room in my office, plus you really need a spotter to lift safely. My wife and I joined the gym and went religiously but have sinced let our membership lapse. So now I'm looking at the Crossbow and will probably buy one used. Way cheaper than the Bowflex and probably just as effective. My advice is, buy equipment if you really think you're going to use it but don't spend too much because, most likely, you're going to sell it at a loss. Calisthenics, etc is great but can get tiresome for me. Running, IMO, is the best cardio exercise but my knees can't take the trauma anymore so I walk...a lot.

I walk sometimes but not nearly enough. I also have a 25 speed mountain bike that gets me around a 3.4 mile track twice aweek. Everyone else calls it our neighborhood.
I am 5'6" and 180 lbs. and am finding it very difficult to lose weight. The reason must be because I am old (68, but hit 69 in 2 weeks). I still do karate in the garage and den but any kicks I do are just barely off the ground. Only the smurfs are at risk.
All the ideas and goal to be fit are great that I have seen, but no one mentioned eating beyond the hot wings. Is there any reasonable satisfactory diet that any of you older but fit teeners do. Please share in this interesting thread. I wanna live to be at least 91 and 4 months.

Cooley

42yrs, 6' - 237lbs. and need to get back down to about 210-215. The only exercise (besides work) I get is out in the garage everytime I work on the 914.

Lay down.. crawl under the car...damn, I forgot the 15mm socket...crawl out...sit-up...one handed spin/rotation to the standing position...get tool...lay down again...crawl under the car again....damn, I need an extension....crawl out (repeat for 3 sets of 10).

Actually, I got (health nut) my wife one of those "Total Gym" type cable/slider things, she friggin' loves it. I have to admit it looks like fun, but I'll stick to my 12 oz. curls, lots of reps.

I am not an older teener, but I did have a lot of success by following an Atkins-ish South beach-ish diet. Basically - stop eating potatoes, rice, and bread, and lay off beer and sweet stuff, and see if that helps. If you can add some exercise, that will help too. The Carb thing is real, but so is the fat thing - the net result is basically that you need to restrict your CALORIC intake. (which is basically carbs + fat, but they give you calories on the box anyway).

I started the year at about 195lbs. I got down to about 175lbs by dieting in the manner above, along with doing a couple of bike rides adn a couple of infrequent trips to the gym. During the AIDS ride I stayed at about 175 - I think I lost fat and gained muscle - which just about evened out. After the ride was done I got down to about 172, but now I am a little over 180 (have been eating all kinds of carb-laden shit just recently, esp. ice cream.

I have never managed to sustainably lose any weight whatsoever before this year, not for lack of trying.