So....Home Gym.

[PopeAK49]

I need your guys opinion. I was looking around value village for a T.V, and bumped into a very nice peice of workout equipment (http://www.chinatownconnection.com/images/tntbioforce.jpg). The Bioforce home gym is usually around $800-$1000, but the one at the store was $250 and had everything, and all set up ready to go. So should i get it since I'm sick of missing a workout day at the gym?

[Chainsy]

Fuck that shit, just do 120 pushups and 250 crunches a day and run 2 miles after that and you'll be fine.

[king_nothing_]

Just get a barbell, a bench press and a bunch of plates, and you'll be able to do a number of workouts. I've never used a bowflex type machine more than a few times, but I doubt they're as effective as free weights.


Fuck that shit, just do 120 pushups and 250 crunches a day and run 2 miles after that and you'll be fine.
This might tone you up some, but you're not really going to put on significant muscle mass from just bodyweight exercises. Also, dips > pushups.

[PopeAK49]

I was really considering that King, I mean all I have at home right now is a pull up bar, punching bag, and a dumbell set but I stopped using the dumbell set because it only went up to 30ibs on one dumbell, and i could curl that like 30 times.

All of that would probably cost less than $100 so I might consider that. The only excersises that I really care about the most are squats and chest presses. Since doing those also workout other parts of your body.

I also thought of a excersing plan I could do if I get a bench press set.

Day 1-Chest, Triceps, and Abs.
Day 2-Cardio for 30 minutes (boxing, running, biking).
Day 3-Legs, Shoulders, and Abs .
Day 4-Cardio for 30 minutes (boxing, running, biking).
Day 5-Back, Biceps, and Abs.

[paladin]

I got a Marcy From Joes when it went out of business. Its really nice. goes up to 260lbs and has 45 work stations. $200

[PenGuin1362]

or just get a gym membership >_>

[Atty]

I was really considering that King, I mean all I have at home right now is a pull up bar, punching bag, and a dumbell set but I stopped using the dumbell set because it only went up to 30ibs on one dumbell, and i could curl that like 30 times.

All of that would probably cost less than $100 so I might consider that. The only excersises that I really care about the most are squats and chest presses. Since doing those also workout other parts of your body.

I also thought of a excersing plan I could do if I get a bench press set.

Day 1-Chest, Triceps, and Abs.
Day 2-Cardio for 30 minutes (boxing, running, biking).
Day 3-Legs, Shoulders, and Abs .
Day 4-Cardio for 30 minutes (boxing, running, biking).
Day 5-Back, Biceps, and Abs.Get a gym membership. Home gyms are failure. Mainly becuase most all in ones rely on cable systems and tension, not the best way to gain size and definitely not worth while when trying to improve body strength. If you can afford all the accessories (plates, bars, dumbbells, benches, etc) there is no reason not to just pour the money into a gym membership and get 10x more for your money, as well as the massive amounts of social benefits (and by social benefits I mean all the eye candy.)

Four day work out plan:
Chest/Triceps/Abs*
Back/Biceps/Calves
Shoulders/Traps/Abdominal*
Quadriceps/Hamstrings/Calves

Alternativly you can switch the Quad/Ham day with the Shoulder/Trap day if you feel your rear delts are a bit sore from the back work out the day before (depending upon movements done and intensity.) Give yourself at least 5 days rest between working out a muscle group. My schedule is Monday/Tuesday/Wendesday/Thursday for that work out plan above and then I do a light cardio session on Fridays, keep my weekends free becuase I'm usually out of town and not able to attend the gym.

Idealy two 30-45 minute cardio sessions per day, although I don't expect this to be kept to, unless you are very serious, so at least do 30 minutes. Cardio should be done five days a week, if not all 7.

If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them. Diet (MOST IMPORTANT PART), work outs, specifics on training, etc, just go ahead and ask, I'll probably be able to answer.

* Just becuase you work out your abs doesn't mean they'll be any more defined, low BF% leads to defined abs, working out your abdominal (technically, core) leads to improved strength and control over your body. As well as better looking abs once they're shown through.

Fuck that shit, just do 120 pushups and 250 crunches a day and run 2 miles after that and you'll be fine.
No. Maybe if you want to lose some fat although most people overweight could never hope to do 120 pushups or 250 crunches in one day, especially consecutive days. If you want to gain muscle mass that's definitely not the approach you want to take.

[PenGuin1362]

This man speaks truth. And besides, 90% of the time, people who buy home a gym use them vigorously for like 2 weeks and never touch them again.

Also, it's better to start a session with cardio rather than end it. It will get your blood flowing better through out the session. If doing what atty suggests is to hard to start with, the minimum you should do is go NO LESS than 3 times a week, going every other day, and still alternating muscle groups each day and beginning with cardio each time.

[Atty]

Actually, PenGuin, cardio is best done after the weight training becuase it keeps up your energy levels for your weight training. Although 5 minutes on any cardio machine to, as you said, get the blood flowing is very productive. You simply want to elevate your heart rate. Your main calorie burning cardio training should be saved for later on becuase it should be quite exhausting.


This man speaks truth. And besides, 90% of the time, people who buy home a gym use them vigorously for like 2 weeks and never touch them again.
Same can be said for those who sign up for gym memberships. ;)

My approach is to really just jump into it (No cardio), using today as an example:

Shoulder Press:
35's for 10 reps (Light set to simply get the blood flowing, loosten up the muscle)
60's for 5 reps (Low weight set, easy to do, to just increase muscle flexability)
75's for 5 reps (Medium weight warm up)
90's for 3 repsx2 (High weight sets to failure)
80's for 5 reps (Slightly lower weight set to failure)
75's until failure. (10-12 reps)

That was the first thing I did when I got to the gym, no stretch, cardio, etc.

E: If a four day routine is too much there are ABA/BAB three day routines you can look into. I believe it's Mark Ripptoe's Starting Strength routine that follows these guidelines:

Nothing but compound movements, three days of training per week, A workout, off day, B workout, off day, A workout, two off days, then repeat as BAB, and etc. Each day is a full body workout compromised of different Olympic compound lifts. All barbell. Usually you've got a varied minor isolation workouts after your compound lifts just to help increase size and strength across smaller muscle groups which are harder to focus on in compound lifts.

[STLRamsFan]

Don't even bother with a home gym. If you can buy all the things you need (dumbells, bench press, ect.) then go ahead, but for the regular guy get a gym membership for the best results.

I used to do three times a week routines (not counting cardio). Push/pull/legs really worked out a lot for me back then. In between the days I would do cardio. Reason I stopped lifting heavy was because I realized I was happy running and wanted to see how far I can take it. That was over two years ago and I've never happy happier. :)

Don't get me wrong, I still lift. I have to work on other things (drills, weights, abs) to be a more effective runner. Right now, despite my small size, I can bench 150. I'm happy with it considering I weigh only 125... My diet can be pretty strict but once I run for the day it's a different story. I eat quite a bit because of how much I burn. Not a diet I would recommend for you so I'm not bothering to post it Haha.

[[gx]Shadow]

Being a personal trainer, I have to say that almost all of the exercise equipment you see advertised on tv are gimmicks. They either don't work, are way too expensive and complicated, or break easily. For this piece of equipment(the bowflexish type of tension-based weights), the cables get worn out and lose their tension fairly quickly. Also, the amount of different exercises you can do is quite limited. Honestly, the best thing you can do is keep on going to the gym. A huge part of lifting is motivation. You really just have to stick with it and motivate yourself to keep on going.

However, if you want to go with the home gym route, you should just stick with freeweights. Look around some local gyms to see if any of them are getting rid of any old equiptment. I was able to get my 20-110lb dumbell set from my gym for free cause they got new ones and were getting rid of the old set. Just don't make the mistake of buying a barbell set and no dumbells. Dumbells are far more important because you can do so much more of a range of exercises.


Atty, you are correct about doing cardio with an elevated heart rate to burn calories and lose weight, but that is just one reason to do cardio. Doing cardio for reasons other than weight loss don't need the elevated heart rate from the start, so you don't have to do it after lifting. Also, just jumping into lifting is VERY dangerous. It is so easy to hurt yourself if you don't warm up. Do some bodyweight exercises or do 15 or so reps of the exercise at an extremely low weight to get the blood pumping and get them warm.


If anyone has any lifting questions, feel free to ask.

[L0d3x]

I'm just going to throw this in there:
If you do lifting, I really recommend getting a support-belt for your rib column. Makes lifting much safer.

[[gx]Shadow]

Umm, you don't get a belt for your ribs. Lifting belts alleviate stress on you lower back by giving support to the weaker lower back muscles during power lifting. This diminishes your chance of getting injured, such as a hernia. Another thing belts do is help you maintain proper form and avoid hyperextension while using heavy weight. They are only needed when you are doing very heavy lifting, the average joe does not need one and will actually do more harm that good because it will prevent the stabalizing muscles from developing. Personally, I only use mine when I am doing squats over 360lbs.



Also, wearing a belt over the course of an entire workout is DANGEROUS! It causes your blood pressure to rise due to the compression of the belt, which is not something you want while lifting. You even need to loosen the belt in between power lifting sets to avoid problems as well.

[L0d3x]

Hmm, well I've been having problems with my rib colums for about 2 years now (don't ask how this started...). I found using the belt allowed me to do more intense exercise.

[Cortexian]

Fuck that shit, just do 120 pushups and 250 crunches a day and run 2 miles after that and you'll be fine.
As stated, workouts like this aren't going to build any body muscle because all they're going to end up doing is KEEP you in the shape you're already in. Honestly, I just do 80 push ups/50 crunches/various stretches to keep in shape, but I'm not trying to build any muscle mass.

[[gx]Shadow]

Hmm, well I've been having problems with my rib colums for about 2 years now (don't ask how this started...). I found using the belt allowed me to do more intense exercise.
Lifting while injured is very dangerous and you should be cleared by a doctor before you continue. Even if it doesn't hurt when lifting with a belt, just the fact that it has been two years and you are still having problems should be raising flags telling you that something still isn't right.

[PopeAK49]

Meh, I was thinking about buying it until my parents saw it and decided too buy it for there own use. Once I get my lazy ass to the DMV and get my license I'll probably go back to the gym since transportation won't be a problem. Thread Locked because everything's been decided. Thanks for opinions guys.