Best exercise equipment for the home?

Retroguy2000

mareeya88 wrote: »

You guys are right; the gym is way more versatile and I can get help from PTs and try different workouts. The reason why I wanted a home gym is because I share my car and I can only use it at nights for work, so I can't take myself to the gym on the daytime, but I can just go there after work and it should be fine. I don't have to drain my savings for no reason! There's a Planet Fitness very close to my home too.

I can't wait to lose my giant stomach and legs!

It's wise to check out the gym for a few months at least. Check out what sort of things you enjoy doing, because that's what you'll stick with. Don't be fearful of free weights and injury. You can start with machines. They're simple and safe. Graduate eventually to free weights if and when you feel ready, and there is ample good advice from solid sources on YouTube/internet, as well as probably trainers at the gym. Then maybe Black Friday or Xmas time you can take advantage of sales for home equipment. IMO that's much cheaper in the long run than paying a monthly gym membership forever, which is easy to lapse due to weather/convenience/etc.

It sounds like if you had something at home you may be able to do more, because of the car sharing, but in the meantime walking can burn a lot of calories, if you can fit that in during the day.

mareeya88

Agreed! I hear equipment is like half off on Black Friday, and getting in shape by trying out the equipment at the gym will make me want to continue working out at home instead of being so out of shape I give up right away... which always happens when I try to work out.

So far it seems like the best machine to try is the Elliptical along with weight lifting. Thank you very much for the tip! It would be so cool to watch TV while working out. I could work out forever!

Thanks for the help! You guys are as awesome as MFP itself!

springlering62

Quality pair of walking shoes.

It’s too easy to dive in, super enthusiastic, and be over and done with it all in a week or a month.

Simply walking gives you a starting point to see if you’re willing to really commit, and the mental boost being outside is unexpected (was for me, anyway).

It also served as a place to “build up” to
other exercise. With all I do now, I still make time to walk. It’s my favorite of all. Podcasts, chatting with the dog. It’s no longer “exercise”. It’s just a pleasure and
something to anticipate. (As is sub-95 degree weather, lol.)

If you have to have a peice of equipment, I like the Planet Fitness type suggestion. You can sample different machines and with experience learn what you like and dislike about them.

For example, years ago, I “dove” in and bought an expensive Schwinn exercise bike. I used it maybe four or five times, after discovering that the “wheel” was a giant, noisy, blowing “fan drive”. The clean freak in me got radically cheesed off at the thought of that sucker blowing dust everywhere, and it did, literally, become a coat rack for years til we finally discovered Craigslist.

And buy from a place you can see, touch, and test. During the pandemic I went to a large fitness warehouse, planning to buy a stationary bike I could use with Zwift or something similar. The salesman, who had been there for donkey’s years was super helpful. It was him who suggested a recumbent instead. It was 180 degrees different from what I’d planned to get, but after listening to him explain pros and cons, I got it and have no regrets, even though it was never on my radar.

Being able to touch and try, I also learned there was some unstable equipment on the market that would have been flat out dangerous to a clumsy, inelegant oaf like me.

springlering62

PS another “try before you buy” regret experience…..Bowflex adjustable dumbbells.

I researched a lot before buying and thought they were a great idea.

Nope. Hate ‘em, but it was tail end of the pandemic and I was desperate to have something to fallback on in case we went into another lockdown.

Had I been able to “try before buy” I would have realized the big flat plates are incredibly awkward and uncomfortable for my wrists.

I would have also remembered (I forgot, since I hadn’t held dumbbells in months at this point) that I have a very strong personal dislike of dumbbells with round plates and much prefer dumbbells with the octagonal weights.

The only exercise I get from those stupid Bowflex dumbbells is vacuuming them. They’re too big for my equipment shelf, so there they sit on the floor, an accumulation cradle for cat fur.

I’d happily swap these new, unused and slightly furry Bowflex for a raggedy *kitten* set of used individual dumbbells I’d actually use.

claireychn074

springlering62 wrote: »

PS another “try before you buy” regret experience…..Bowflex adjustable dumbbells.

I researched a lot before buying and thought they were a great idea.

Nope. Hate ‘em, but it was tail end of the pandemic and I was desperate to have something to fallback on in case we went into another lockdown.

Had I been able to “try before buy” I would have realized the big flat plates are incredibly awkward and uncomfortable for my wrists.

I would have also remembered (I forgot, since I hadn’t held dumbbells in months at this point) that I have a very strong personal dislike of dumbbells with round plates and much prefer dumbbells with the octagonal weights.

The only exercise I get from those stupid Bowflex dumbbells is vacuuming them. They’re too big for my equipment shelf, so there they sit on the floor, an accumulation cradle for cat fur.

I’d happily swap these new, unused and slightly furry Bowflex for a raggedy *kitten* set of used individual dumbbells I’d actually use.

Personally I hate ALL dumbbells. I’ve got a set and use them when I have to (ie when my coach programmes it) but I’d much rather use a barbell. I just can’t get into them. I’m perplexed by the bros who love arm day 🤣 (says the person who does weird Oly lifting *kitten*)

Retroguy2000

Re dumbbells, some of the adjustable options do look a bit unwieldy to me. There are plenty of options though, and GarageGymReviews YT has probably reviewed them all. The pros are minimal space needed, flexibility (quick to change weight), and you don't need anything more than a bench and even that isn't essential. You can do everything you need with those, unless you outgrow the max weight they allow, and only some are expandable.

If you only anticipate needing db's and the adjustable db goes heavy enough for your current and future needs, that's probably your best option.

Personally, I went the route of loadable dumbbells, Titan actually. They have quite long sleeves, but it's not too bad for me. Pros are I can load up the same 10's, 5's and 2.5's that I can put on my barbell and ez-bar, and it's cheap, because as mentioned I can reuse the same weight plates for my bar use. Downside is it's slow to change weight.

The loadable db works well if you want to share weight plates among multiple bars, so you aren't double or triple paying for weight plates, which is typically about $2/lb give or take.

Then there is the fixed dumbbell option, like the popular hex variety. They're great to use, but the cost and space requirement starts to soar depending how many pairs you end up buying.