Which piece of equipment do you prefer

momof8munchkins

If you were going to purchase a piece of exercise equipment and you could only have one..which would you choose that wouldn't take up a lot of space, give the most benefits and a total body work out?.. I had a gazelle for a long time.. i loved it but it didn't offer the results I was after. I am wanting to get a new piece of equipment but don't know what to choose.

BrianSharpe

Only one piece of equipment? Rowing machine, full body workout & great cardio.

wellbert

Me.

LoraF83

An Olympic weight bench

pinkgumdrop123

Only one piece of equipment? Rowing machine, full body workout & great cardio.

I agree

zebisis

I LOVE my Elliptical. I also have a bowflex and some dumbells.

miracole

running shoes. Full body workout, great cardio, portable.

jpierc

Olympic barbell and plates.

soehlerking

probably an elliptical, but I also would love to have a treadmill. I got rid of our treadmill when we moved into a smaller space, and I wish we had been able to keep it!

MsNewBooty83

probly something like a bowflex....i can always just run or bike for cardio

jenluvsushi

If I could only pick one, it would be a power rack.

usmcmp

Olympic barbell with plates.

sevencallmemom

I'm so in love with my treadmill, I can't even suggest anything else....but I know that's not what you are looking for, so I'd go with weights.

usmcmp

If I could only pick one, it would be a power rack.

Yes!

IronTitaness

Olympic barbell with plates.

PittShkr

JNick77

With free weights there's no real "one"-piece, it would have to be at least a simple set of something.

EliteEFS Power Rack, incline / decline bench, olympic barbell with elieko bumper plates.

cmcollins001

A gym.

amann1976

a kettlebell...

targets multiple muscles, can do cardio routines, and use it for strength building and it takes up little to no space...


btw those of you saying a bar with plates... doesnt that equate to more than one thing?

MFPfriend

Either get some weights (not the Barbie ones, get REAL weights. Like 5, 10, 25, 45 pound plates) and a barbell, or a rowing machine.

jothekid

The floor...recommended for such things as running & push-ups! It's a must, trust me on this one

DopeItUp

With free weights there's no real "one"-piece, it would have to be at least a simple set of something.

EliteEFS Power Rack, incline / decline bench, olympic barbell with elieko bumper plates.

I am in agreement.

hellohappylisa

Well I think the elliptical is fun, and holy hell it's toned my legs, so I'd choose that.

SteffieMark

Only one piece of equipment? Rowing machine, full body workout & great cardio.

I have to agree with this. I actually have a complete home gym that includes 6 different machines, a 9 station home gym, balls, heavy bag, weights, kettlebells, etc. My Rower is, by far, my favorite and most intense, workout. I feel it all over, like no other I have. My recumbent is my next favorite.

momof8munchkins

I'm so in love with my treadmill, I can't even suggest anything else....but I know that's not what you are looking for, so I'd go with weights.

actually my first thoughts were either a treadmil or eliptical..but I am not sue either can offer full body work out.

ErB56

If you are pressed for space and have a decent budget, the bowflex is great. It is mostly individual cables, so you get some of the stabilizing muscles into play when doing most of the large muscle group exercises. The versatility is almost limitless. It comes with a book of probably 60 different movements and you can tweak those if you want to target a specific muscle or group. For instance, if you want to do incline or decline bench presses, just move the seat higher or lower and change the position of your hands at the full extension. The only 'downside' is that I think it is much better for upper body exercises than lower. It has all the attachments to do dead lifts/squats/etc. but some of the isolation exercises such as hamstring curls are not very ergonomic in my opinion.

momof8munchkins

A gym.

that is not a option for me at this time.. if it was I would not be looking to purchase equipment of my own.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Olympic barbell and plates.

Then a power rack.

JNick77

With free weights there's no real "one"-piece, it would have to be at least a simple set of something.

EliteEFS Power Rack, incline / decline bench, olympic barbell with elieko bumper plates.

I am in agreement.

Right? I mean what can't you do with that setup?

MayFartDuringSquats

A gym.

that is not a option for me at this time.. if it was I would not be looking to purchase equipment of my own.

What sort of space and budget are we talking here ?
And what are your goals ?

The power racks, barbell and plates are great but take up a lot of space (and will pizz your neighbors off too, so you''l need a platform as well). It will cost $$$$ Elieko is friggen expensive too and probably a complete waste of money for someone on a budget who is not competitive and does not need to have zero bounce with 0.000001gm tolerance (if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you don't need it).. Go with hi-temp and if no snatches, cleans or jerks are going to be done, then go with steel. (juts put your deadlifts back down - don't drop).
Same as the bowflex etc - no idea how good it is but I suspect it is expensive.

For less than $100 you could go kettlebells (get two so you can do both one arm and two arm stuff). It depends on how much weight you want to use.

Simply getting an "olympic bench" will be worthless too because I don't ever recall there being a bench used in the Olympics, so I don't know what that is, but without any other useful pieces of equipment to go with it, a bench is simply a chair or a step.

You can find all sorts of cheap stuff on craigslist.
But even cheaper is going for a run and stopping at a playground. There you can do dips, swings, pullups, situps, pushups (decline incline) all that stuff for free ... and if you run too, you'll bump your heartrate up. A jump ropre is also cheap and very useful.

It really depends on your goal. Strength or conditioning or both?

momof8munchkins

A gym.

that is not a option for me at this time.. if it was I would not be looking to purchase equipment of my own.

What sort of space and budget are we talking here ?
And what are your goals ?

The power racks, barbell and plates are great but take up a lot of space (and will pizz your neighbors off too, so you''l need a platform as well). It will cost $$$$ Elieko is friggen expensive too and probably a complete waste of money for someone on a budget who is not competitive and does not need to have zero bounce with 0.000001gm tolerance (if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you don't need it).. Go with hi-temp and if no snatches, cleans or jerks are going to be done, then go with steel. (juts put your deadlifts back down - don't drop).
Same as the bowflex etc - no idea how good it is but I suspect it is expensive.

For less than $100 you could go kettlebells (get two so you can do both one arm and two arm stuff). It depends on how much weight you want to use.

Simply getting an "olympic bench" will be worthless too because I don't ever recall there being a bench used in the Olympics, so I don't know what that is, but without any other useful pieces of equipment to go with it, a bench is simply a chair or a step.

You can find all sorts of cheap stuff on craigslist.
But even cheaper is going for a run and stopping at a playground. There you can do dips, swings, pullups, situps, pushups (decline incline) all that stuff for free ... and if you run too, you'll bump your heartrate up. A jump ropre is also cheap and very useful.

It really depends on your goal. Strength or conditioning or both?

lol I agree a lot of what you mentioned are of no use to me.. I have little space. enough for about the size of a treadmil .and about $300 to spend. I want something I can do year round..in my house if the weather is bad. I am looking to tone and shed weight.. that is really all.. nothing competitive.