[qtkitty]

Hi guys ... curious if anyone has seen any good prices on a nice Bowflex with a lat tower and leg curl .. I have determined that I am more a weight lifting than running or cardio type person.

Since I am not willing to travel an hour to a gym I thought it best to do it at home.

Over the winter I worked on P90X( purchased for $40 after co workers raved ... although nursing sore muscles *l*) ... I had major issues with no where to do chin ups ( the issue of if I could pull one off is still up in the air haha ) I tried the bands .. tried putting them over the support beam in the basement.. I could not get enough stretch to feel like I was accomplishing anything and was worried that the bands would catch on an edge and snap back on me:ack: ... I can't put a door jam chin up bar in because yeah well ... *coughs and looks around* I exceed the weight limit

The first week I was working on arms ect I had bought 8lb weights... yeah for most of the excercises i was holding both 8lb weights in one hand. And still was feeling no pain the next day ( maybe because of the lack of chin ups )

Anywho I think adding the bowflex or some other weightless( becase I will have to lug the thing up the stairs and into my bedroom ) home gym would help me get that "burn"... so i can burn some of my buns off

 

[savvy_sniper]

Check out craigslist, garage sales, freecycle, the greensheet, etc. People are always selling/giving away exercise equipment. There is no need to pay full price.

 

[ErikM02]

I would recommend some form of cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes at minimum. Your heart is the most important muscle in your body

 

[qtkitty]

savvy~ thank you... I have been looking on google.. i noticed that there are a lot of people in new jersey selling them *l* for pick up only.

Erik~ P90X has cardio as well as part of the program

 

[NikoSan999]

I have one I'd love to sell but you don't live in Florida.

Try a pawn shop also. I went to one about 2 years ago after our financial situation hit rock bottom and they had one set up and another one not. Can't really remember the price but want to say $100. I know it was really low tho cause I remember thinking the person sold it to the pawn shop for way less than that $100. Mine was brand new still in the box with the plastic straps around the box. I bought it before I asked the cardiologist. She said no. Yes, I STILL have it. Maybe I ought to visit the pawn shop again just to see.

 

[mndtrp]

I did a google search for accomplishing pull-ups without a bar, and stole this from one of the links:

If you are planning to get weights of any sort - be it barbell or dumbbell - you can forgo chin-ups and use any of the following exercises ( from an earlier post of mine ) at home to target your back muscles.

For Dumbells: ( if you can find a used Swiss - Ball it would add some difficulty )

These are for the UPPER BACK and you can do these using Dumbbells, so you can easily do them at home ...but a bench helps ( most descriptions of these exercises should be easily had on Google ) .......

- Prone reverse fly ( laying face down on your bench )

- Prone reverse fly ( laying face down on a Swiss - Ball )

- Seated Reverse Fly ( sitting on the end of your bench )

- Bent Over Row

- One - Arm Row ( hand and knee on bench )

- Pullover ( on bench )

- Pullover ( on Swiss Ball )

Barbell :

- Bent-over Row ( as above )

- Pullover ( as above )

- T-Bar Row - only put one plate on a barbell, and put the other end of the bar without the plate on the floor tucked against the corner of a wall with some weight on top of it ( where 2 walls meet )...... straddle the with your feet on either side of the bar and face away from the wall holding the end without the plate....., rest the bar end with the plate on a rolled up towel that you will grips at both ends ( the towel is carrying the weight of the bar, you are holding the 2 ends of the towel as you straddle the bar ) - this simulates what you'd see as a T- bar station at most gyms )


And as i mentioned above, if you can afford it and are committed to working out at home...picking up a used Swiss-ball ( it can add intensity to your workout ) and bench ( along with weights ) is money well spent.

That may get you by until you can find a bowflex.

 

[scrap_candles]

we have a bowflex. one with the tower and leg attachment and you may want to rethink it unless you have alot of help to move it. That thing weighs a TON! We moved it from one room when we bought a pool table and temporarily moved it to the living room so that we could then take it to the basement and because of how heavy it is and what a pain to take downstairs, its STILL in my living room.

It is nice though and will work if you use it but mine has been more of a pricey indoor drying rack. That bar across the top and the arms on the side just give a great place to put clothes on hangars while they dry.

 

[qtkitty]

scrap~It most likely will come in peices so I could if need be carry peices up. If not I could inlist the help of my family.

Oh No ... *lol* don't give me ideas on alternate less sweaty ways of using a bowflex *L* ... I figure it will be less heavy than a traditional weight bench. I know this sounds self condeming but the floor may dislike the strain of me and the weights on so few floor joices on the second floor.

I refuse to put it in the basement, because I would never use it. The cats pans are down there * crinkles my nose * ... not to mention their food dishes and a half blind old cat that if there is a speck of white on an other wise heaping plate of food or if it is not just poured or not the right kind ... or maybe just because will meow incessantly for food ( worse then kid *L* going i want i want i want )

 

[low-1]

Bowflexes (just how in the heck do you pluralize bowflex?) are nice machines, that's for sure. Are they worth the cost? I'm not sure. Maybe if you invest heavily in something you are more inclined to use it?

We have an old universal in the basement gym that sure is great at drying comforters and sleeping bags. We used to use it quite a bit, but I never really liked the mechanical motion of it. In that respect, the Bowflex is much better. We have one at the gym at work, and it does work the stabilizer muscles a lot better than a traditional universal. Still, I rarely ever use it as well.

Here's my suggestion to you, it's what we've done at home. Bowflex (the company) also sells a set of dumbbells that are adjustable, and I've noticed a few other "knock-off" brands out there as well. Here's a link: Bowflex® SelectTech® Dumbbells | Product Information

We combined these (the 552s) with a cheap multiposition weight bench that was on sale at Canadian Tire (one of the best stores in Canada!!) for around $60. There is very very little you can't do with a weight bench and dumbbells, just get a bench that can sit upright, slightly reclined, flat, slightly declined and fully declined. With dumbbells (as with the Bowflex machine), you can't have one arm "cheat" for the other, and you still need to keep them stabilized and balanced, so they work full complimentary muscle groups better than a universal.

The dumbbells I linked to take up very little room, weigh a total of 52.5 lbs (I think) each, and are selectable from 5 lbs to 52.5 lbs, so you have a lot of range.

Even before we got them, when I was using the gym at work, I was almost exclusively using dumbbells anyway, they provide such a complete and balanced work out, weight-lifting-wise anyway.

Just a thought anyway. Something like that might fit the bill for you for significantly less than the full Bowflex machine.

 

[qtkitty]

low~ I have actually been looking at those on ebay as well as other online stores .. still hunting for deals .... I figure I couldn't out grow 50lb weights doing p90x and if I do then I am in big trouble *LOL*

I used two 8lb weights my first go around on Arms and Chest, was able to keep up with the video and actually went back through half the video. And although I did sweat like crazy...I wasn't sore the next day at all. Where as my co workers couldn't lift their arms over their head ect.. and I am SOOOOooo not in shape although I always did have more strength then most to lift heavy items ( probubly why I like the thought of lifting weights over jumping around like a bloody idiot doing pure cardio and possibly giving myself a black eye *LOL*).

Mndtrp posted about using barbells for chinups ( Still not able to wrap my head around them at the moment ... but I will work on it)

 

[houstenh]

I saw this deal on the internet and thought of you.

(Oops. Cant post the url until I make 15 post. How odd.) The deal can be found at wal-mart dot com. Search bowflex. Its the pr1000 with power tower and puzzle mat.


I have a bowflex and used it often (before kids). I wanted something that I would not outgrow (420 lb max w/ 72+ different exercise) and did not weigh a lot. Weight systems can be hard on flooring if you do not have proper support under the house. I also chose to buy new which gave our unit a 9 year warranty with bowflex. (Just something to consider.)