weight limit on fitness equipment

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tndejong
tndejong Posts: 463
in Fitness and Exercise
im trying to understand why a lot of fitness equipment has a 250 pound weight limit? i would think a lot of over weight people would like to buy stuff to use at home to maybe avoid being seen in a gym. or do the companies think that because your that over weight that you should pay more? just a thought. im under 250. but pretty darn close!

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  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
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    It's not that fitness equipment manufacturers sat down and decided to charge bigger people more. It's simply that it costs more to make a machine tough enough to handle heavier weight.

    I've lost 100 lbs and still can't (or more, won't) spend the money it would cost to get a treadmill that can handle my 230 lbs without shaking. Luckily, the sidewalks and streets can handle a lot more than I weigh.
  • tndejong
    tndejong Posts: 463
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    i have an elliptical and thought about adding a bike and a few other things. i just noticed on the boxes about the weight limit. and then my fiance gets a pull up bar. that even has a 250 limit. no wonder people who are super over weight have problems losing. sometimes this battle is a personal matter and your not ready to sweat and waddle into a gym. i love being able to strip down and workout on the elliptical and no one can see me. i think that alone is a reason why i have stuck with this.
  • l3ugjuice
    l3ugjuice Posts: 233
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    About those weight limits...yeah, they are actual limits. Not guidelines, as I mistakenly thought about 2 years ago when I bought my first elliptical. At 310 lbs and a 250 lb weight limit, it only lasted about 2 months before it....well...broke spectacularly.

    It did a good job of giving me a base, however. And rather than buy another machine I just started walking. Which led to jogging. `2 years and 70 pounds later, I run a race about every other weekend. Best 300 bucks I ever wasted!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,063 Member
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    Losing weight is all about food.

    You can walk in the neighborhood, at a school, at a shopping mall or airport.

    You can do at-home DVDs using just your body weight, or buy some $20 resistance bands. It doesn't have to involve expensive equipment.

    You can't out-exercise a bad diet.


  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    As above - you can generally pay more for higher spec equipment.
    But I suspect the majority of people who are looking to buy will be under the limit - and I doubt there's really any solution for cheap equipment.

    The pull up bar my house mate got recently had a similar limit and I can see why - one there was in another house was a lot more sturdily built (but didn't have all the different bits this one does.) You get what you pay for and in this case you are paying for lots of different holds, rather than being solid.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    There are a number of equipment manufacturers who make equipment that is rated similarly to their commercial equipment--weights up to 400lbs. These tend to be home versions of commercial models, so they are not cheap, but they do exist.

    The kind of lightweight equipment you find at a sporting goods store is often not "real" exercise equipment. It is designed primarily to be an impulse purchase. Those manufacturers are betting that you'll use it a few times and then give up --which is what most people do.

    So the equipment is out there--it is just not something you are going to find at a sporting goods or department store at a Walmart price.
  • notthatthis
    notthatthis Posts: 218
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    "no wonder people who are super over weight have problems losing"

    sorry but it is not the fault of gym equipment, you do not need gym equipment to lose weight and lastly, people who are super overweight had a problem with their relationship to food not gym equipment.
  • punkin_p
    punkin_p Posts: 29
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    I'm studying mechanical engineering, so I have a bit of insight into this topic. As part of the design process, the engineers would have to develop a set of specifications for their product to meet. This would include the maximum force the product will be subjected to. This would most likely be determined by the customer (manufacturer) who would likely have done some market research to determine what the demand is like in the market. The impact loading from a 250 lb person is going to be a lot less than the impact loading of a 300 lb, 400 lb, etc. person. It is certainly possible to engineer weight loss equipment for higher force requirements, but it will be a lot more expensive to build and the demand is therefore less, so fewer companies will supply them.
    I would guess that commercial gym equipment would be engineered to a higher maximum weight, so buying commercial equipment for a home gym might be an option.

    Besides, you know what doesn't have a user weight limit? Barbells.

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