Exercise equipment--best buys

T

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Recycles dryer sheets
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Apr 4, 2004
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This week our new house in Arizona closes escrow and we'll be moving in fairly soon. I've done some preliminary research on health club memberships in Sedona (where we're moving) and realized that there are few in town and the Sedona Racquet Club may be too rich for our blood (almost $100/month per person, plus other fees).

So now we're looking into biting the bullet and putting a gym in the large walk-out finished basement of the new house.

Anyone bought any fitness equipment for a good price? I'd prefer new or newer--elliptical (cross trainer) machine, treadmill, rowing machine, free weights. I like Life Fitness and Precor products but they're pricy.

Know anything about the line called "CardioZone"?

Thanks for any suggestions regarding online dealers, etc.
 
Try the Vision line of dual-action ellipticals...I've had one for a year and a half and like it lot:

http://www.visionfitness.com/home/ellipticals/default.htm

I've got the X6100 (has electronic control of the resistance rather than mechanical). It cost me $1025 delivered, new.

For resistance training, I use the following:

A Body-Solid multi-station cable gym, similar to this one:

http://www.bodysolid.com/BSStrength/GymSystems/EXM1550LPS/EXM1550LPS.html

Mine doesn't have the leg press station. I paid $700 used (but like new)

I bought my freeweights new - a 300lb barbell set at Dick's for $100, and paid $.39/lb for dumbell pairs going from 15lbs to 85lbs. If you use slap-on magnetic "Plate Mates" you can reduce the number of DB pairs.

If I were to start over, I'd still buy a new Vision Elliptical, and a used a used cable gym, but I'd shop until I found used freeweights also. You'll also want a TV, DVD player, and stereo setup in your exercise room.

Cb
 
You're retired and live in Arizona, right?   Remind me again why you want to exercise indoors.
 
I bought my freeweights new - a 300lb barbell set at Dick's for $100, and paid $.39/lb for dumbell pairs going from 15lbs to 85lbs. Gn
Click to expand...
Damn, you must be a real bull if you are throwing around 85# dumbells. I'll be careful what I say to you!

Mikey
 
You're retired and live in Arizona, right? Remind me again why you want to exercise indoors.
Click to expand...

Arizona, let's see, dry weather, not cold, I'd walk, jog, and my favorite bicycle. I would also buy freeweights as mentioned earlier to build or maintain muscle shape and mass.

MJ
 
In response to why I'm not out jogging or hiking instead of using exercise equipment--the weather in Sedona can be wet and cold (and even snowy) in winter and that keeps me indoors for the most part. (Hey, we're wimps. I admit it.)

Exercising on cross training equipment gets my heart rate up for a sustained period of time (along with providing resistance). Since we're not joggers and tend to saunter rather than "speedwalk", equipment makes sense for us. For some reason, we go like maniacs on it just to get it over with.
;)

Having said that, we do have two trail bikes that we'll use when the weather is good and not too hot or not too cold. Spring? Fall?

I'm going to check out the equipment links provided by another poster. Thanks for the tips.
 
Damn, you must be a real bull if you are throwing around 85# dumbells. I'll be careful what I say to you!

Mikey
Click to expand...

Nah...I just use them (with 5 lbs of Plate Mates) for shrugs & squats. I'm reluctant to add anymore weight because of lower back problms in the past.

Cb
 
Wait for a sale by your neighbors. A lot of exercise equipment end up as clothes hangars, so look for used stuff. Also, exercising indoors is NO FUN. Except for lifting weights, I try to get out even when it's 5 degrees and snowing.

You have to realize that gyms are worth their money because they can create a peer pressure effect. The pressure make you work harder and show up more often. You won't get that with your basement gym. Your best bet is to look for a pay-as-you-go program, in which you pay $8 - $10 per visit.
 
All of the exercise equipment I ever owned ended up
stuck away somewhere, unused. Ditto with the stuff
my friends bought. I personally know only one person
who uses his equipment and keeps a regular exercise
program, and I don't know anyone personally who belongs to a health club. May be a function of my age group and rural location.

JG
 
Wait for a sale by your neighbors. A lot of exercise equipment end up as clothes hangars, so look for used stuff. ...
Click to expand...
There's always used excercise equipment listed for sale in the "Sports" category on Craig's List: http://www.craigslist.org

Check the listings for your geographic area.
 
You can also try Freecycle.org which is a Yahoo group where people give their stuff away. They also post things they want, so you might find some things that way.
 
IMHO, it's all about motivation.

In my 20's and 30's, I joined several gyms when they had 2 or 3 year special deal (can't resist a special). I would start out by going 2 to 3 times a week, but after several months and I would begin to taper my off the visits. Within a year, I would visit maybe once a week.
4 years ago, my cholesterol was sky high (277), I was 40 (fat) lbs overweight, so I joined my local Y gym and began going 2 to 3 times a week. I was motivated by health concerns.
I did reduce both dramatically. Since (good) habits are hard to break, I continue to go to the gym, 2 to 3 times a week.

MJ :)
 
I work out in a gym about four times a week but some of the best stuff you can do for yourself requires minimal equipment and can be done indoors or outdoors.

A hundred pushups and situps a day, twenty chinups on a bar in the basement, and a three-mile run will keep just about anybody in decent shape.

The Marine Corps web site has some interesting daily-dozen type fitness plans buried in it, and none of them require fitness equipment except for clothing and shoes.

BUT...if you put a gun to my head and asked me what I had to have, I'd say a flat bench (a thousand and one uses, including squats with the bar), a set of dumbells (going from 12.5 to 60 pounds), and a lat-pulldown rig (usable for shoulders, back, tris.) And a wind trainer for my mountain bike.

Ed
 
I love my Totalgym i got from Sears: the cheap one for $250. You know... that thing Chuck Noris and Christy Brinkley push on that infomercial.
 
You have to realize that gyms are worth their money because they can create a peer pressure effect. The pressure make you work harder and show up more often.
Click to expand...
Peer pressure has never worked on me. In fact I tend to passively resist it. I guess that's why I went to a gym only once.

I had a Sears knockoff of the Health Rider--that funky thing you look real weird riding. The original had a wheeled action, but the knockoff was just levers and a gas resistance strut. I lost a bunch of weight when I used it, but I stopped after 3 or 6 months. I've seen the Sears knockoff in yard sales and secondhand stores cheap.
 
BUT...if you put a gun to my head and asked me what I had to have, I'd say a flat bench (a thousand and one uses, including squats with the bar)
Click to expand...

If somebody is going to buy a bench for home and particularly for older guys I would highly recommend getting one with safety bars on it to catch the weight if you can't lift it. If you're going to do squats too then skip the safety bars and go for the safety cage. The cage is a lot more versatile and can be used with a bench too. If you're lifting at a level where it's going to do anything for your body (i.e. be worth spending the time doing it) then you're going to need the safety of a safety/squat/power cage.


Here's just one example of such a thing:

bodycraft_power_cage.jpg
 
If somebody is going to buy a bench for home and particularly for older guys I would highly recommend getting one with safety bars on it to catch the weight if you can't lift it.  If you're going to do squats too then skip the safety bars and go for the safety cage...  
Click to expand...


Those cages are awesome. Great for bench, squats, and shrugs...
 
Costco and Sams Club have some very nice deals on fitness equip. Sears has a decent sale every now and then.

I can offer some info on treadmills, which are my wifes choice of equipment.

Consumer reports just did a nice study on them, and I've also seen good information at www.treadmilldoctor.com. The web site also has decent prices on parts and maintenance gear. To maintain, clean the belt monthly with belt cleaner and lubricate the deck roughly once a year with a compatible lube.

$500 gets you a basic, decent treadmill. Try to get a 2hp motor. Not the bogus "2hp max for 1.2 seconds" claim on the box, but an actual 2hp sustained.

If you're over 200lbs, will be using it more than an hour a day, have multiple people using it (hence more than an hour a day), want to run on it instead of walk, or are a very experienced treadmill user, add about $500 for each of those.

A perfectly good treadmill can be had for ~$1300-1800 according to consumer reports.

My wife walks, is only about 115lbs and she's the only one that uses it, so we get away with a ~$500 proform model thats lasted 5 years+ so far.

Treadmills by the way have the highest user retention rate of any piece of exercise equip.
 
My ex. weighed about 115 lbs. and did little exercise
unless you count shopping. My black lab weighs almost that much, and no. I'm no implying my ex. was/is a dog.
Quite the contrary :)

JG
 
OK, TH, you can stop showing off now. :)
Click to expand...

NO! :)

img_290563_0_4f93cea29483ce14ef12d61a0993dceb.jpg


My ex. weighed about 115 lbs. and did little exercise
unless you count shopping. My black lab weighs almost that much, and no. I'm no implying my ex. was/is a dog.
Quite the contrary :)

JG
Click to expand...

But can your dog shop?
 
THRe: Exercise equipment--best buys

Damn TH! If she is looking for diversification please put ol' mikey at the top of her queue!

M
 
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