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Personal Fitness Equipment Options

By: Philip Fox

 

I come from cold country. Like really cold country, 34 degrees below 0 type cold. I have always been a multi-sports enthusiast, both as a fan and as a participant. I grew up playing organized team sports like football, basketball, baseball and hockey, while enjoying swimming, fishing, golf, racquetball, snow and water skiing, as recreation with friends and family. I was not exceptionally good at any one sport but I just loved to compete.

Staying "in shape" was not a problem until after graduating from college and having to earn a living. Participation in recreational sports was relegated to weekends and vacations, which was fine for activities like swimming, fishing and golf that don't require a high degree of strength, flexibility and stamina, or so I thought! (I learned different trying to land a marlin down in Cabo.) Snow and water skiing are another thing, entirely. My first run down the slopes in Brianhead, Utah during a skiing weekend, after six months of relative inactivity, was a real eye opener. By the time I reached the lift station, my legs were like jelly! I learned then and there that I was going to have to be physically prepared if I wanted to enjoy skiing as I had in the past.

The waters of Lake Ontario put a bite into winter storms moving down from Canada that can numb you to the bone in a matter of seconds. Going out to a fitness center or spa does not delight me under the best of conditions, so the decision to take a look at "in home" exercise systems was an easy one. I said "systems" because I knew that skiing put a demand on my entire body and I was afraid that a treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, Nordic Track or stair stepper style machine would not condition my whole body.

I was able to gain access to a variety of apparatus that were advertised as providing "full body cardio and resistance" workouts. Among the ones I tried were a "stair-climber", that had hand grips as well as foot pedals that provided resistance as you pulled and stepped your way "up" the center rail. I failed to see how it did anything to improve or maintain flexibility, and it was huge! Then there was a rowing machine, also with a sliding seat and both hand and foot resistance, with the addition of exercise for the core body muscles due to the rowing motion. This provided a much more complete body workout when used properly, but was extremely repetitious, very rhythmic and tended to lose its effectiveness in a relatively short span of time.

There were several adjustable, full body workout machines that performed as advertised, except for the time required to get results. These machines were all massive and took up a lot of space. There were two basic types that I tried. The single stack of weighted plates that could be hooked up to several cable and pulley systems to exercise different muscle groups sequentially, taking more time to make the necessary adjustments to the machine than it took to workout! The bigger and more expensive, multiple stacked weight system, each with its own dedicated cable and pulley mechanism which allows you to go back and forth, alternating between different muscle groups in any order, and with no "down" time. This was a lot more convenient and took far less time to get a complete workout. Both were effective.

Another variation on the cable and pulley workout equipment is called the Complete Home Gym, endorsed by Chuck Norris of TV and martial arts fame. It is designed to use your own body weight to provide the resistant force that works against muscle group you want to exercise. It is nothing more than a sliding weight bench on rails that can be inclined to higher angles to increase the load. You can lay, sit or kneel on the bench and use different hand grips and angles to vary your workout. The unit stores easily in a closet or under a bed and really does not require more than a minute to set up and be ready to use.

I particularly liked the Bowflex, which operates more on leaf spring principles than on fixed or dead weights. It eases your muscles into feeling the resistance load, and eases off as you return to the start position. I talked to some amateur body builders who have "pumped a lot of iron" to gain size and definition in their muscles and who have suffered some injuries in the form of torn muscles and ligaments. They were big fans of Bowflex because they thought it greatly reduced the odds of getting injured. It too requires some down time to make adjustments to change loads or to accommodate exercises for new muscle groups.

About the time that I was ready to make a commitment to purchase one of these systems, my employer promoted me to a position of Senior Representative, which translates to, "keep your bags packed at all times!" Portability had not been one of my criteria, so I had to start my evaluation over again from scratch.

Three out of the five "portable" systems I thought would be suitable, required the use of either a closed door or an open doorway to anchor the exercise equipment. All three did considerable damage to the door or doorway to which they had to be attached. (Most of the hotels that I stay in when traveling for business only have two doors, entry and bathroom, that are suitable for this use by their design. As a practical matter, however, neither is really suitable.) I usually worked out in the bedroom when I was home, but the door or doorway damage was unacceptable.

The fourth system had a cleverly designed frame that hung from the door sash header and had numerous hooks, brackets and grips built into it in such a way that the center of gravity was centered in the doorway and kept it from falling. It came with a variety of seat belt style straps and grips that could be attached in many ways to the hooks, brackets and grips that were integral with the frame. Using your body weight as the resistance force, there were about 40 exercises that you could do by attaching the appropriate strap and/or grip to the designated hook or bracket, and lifting yourself from a prone position laying on the floor in the doorway. It took considerable time just to read and understand the instructions, but once you did,you got a really rugged workout. One exercise was so difficult to set up and use that you practically had to be a gymnast in order to us it, i.e., if you could use it, you did not need to! No damage was done to the doorway.

The fifth system used elastics technology to provide the resistive force to exercise your muscles. Hence its name, Bodylastics. This system is no bigger than a pair of shoes, even fits in a briefcase, is inexpensive and provides many levels of workouts. Whether you just want to release a little stress and get a tone up or really work hard and build muscle, is strictly up to you, but the Bodylastics system is up to the task! The system comes with enough illustrated exercises to rebuild your body from the toes up to the top of your head. There are exercises to work every muscle group in your body and keep you fit and ready for any activity.

My personal selections turned out to be the Complete Home Gym for my bedroom and Bodylastics to take on the road.

Article Source: http://www.myhotarticles.com

Phil is a retired aerospace engineer/executive who has an opinion on almost any subject, usually conservative and old school oriented. He has proven that you can GET RESULTS FAST!! with the #1 Compact Gym System

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