Equipment on a $100 budget?

Schonprinzessin

Heya,

I'm a broke college student here whose goal is basically to gain muscle and lose fat. I can't afford to buy (nor do I have room in my home for) a brand-new treadmill or elliptical, but I do want to start a little collection of odds and ends to exercise with.

Besides dumbbells, what and where do you buy your bargain equipment? I see lots of antique machines at goodwill, thinking about taking one home.

birdiecs

Olympic barbell, it's all I had to start Stronglifts and it has made the biggest impact on my body. More than all the workout videos p90x, Insanity etc, more than hours spent jogging. I only regret it took me a year to get into lifting. I then bought some weights of CL for cheap. All together for my rack, weights and barbell it was 250 but that was spread out, not spent all at once.

ltkl7

The TRX suspension system is very versatile and you can usually find one on Craiglist for less than 100.00.

MichiganFern

A complete set of resistance bands is pretty inexpensive and doesn't take up much space and is a great way to start. I travel a lot for work and always pack mine with me in case the gym at the hotel is lacking.

MichiganFern

A complete set of resistance bands is pretty inexpensive and doesn't take up much space and is a great way to start. I travel a lot for work and always pack mine with me in case the gym at the hotel is lacking.

BikerGirlElaine

I love my suspension trainer for when I need to workout at home, so I can second that one.

But if you are able to think long term and somehow find the space, I'd go with barbell & plates. Or perhaps the adjustable dumbells -- the ones that you can add weight to.

luckydays27

The TRX suspension system is very versatile and you can usually find one on Craiglist for less than 100.00.

You can find a knock off suspension trainer by Woss Enterprises on Amazon. $40. Great workout for sure!!! I have used the TRX setup and my knock off and there is not much of a difference. And certainly not enough to pay $200 or more for.

A complete set of resistance bands is pretty inexpensive and doesn't take up much space and is a great way to start. I travel a lot for work and always pack mine with me in case the gym at the hotel is lacking.

Bought my set on Amazon for around $35

Using either the suspension set up or the resistance bands, and a jump rope, I can get a great workout for barely no money if I dont have the time to go to the gym. Each are easy to travel with.

The suspension set up is my favorite workout at the moment. I can do workouts at home or at the park. The greater the angle that you position the body, the more difficult the exercise is. And you work your core most of the workout since you are supposed to be holding a plank position with nearly every exercise. I am not going to get HUGE muscles using either of these systems but I am not going to get huge muscles anyway, (being a woman and all that)

BrianSharpe

At the risk of asking the obvious.........

Does your school not have a fitness centre available for students to use?