Seeking recommendations for home gym equiptment

CALLISTHENICS....if that's how you spell it?
Save your money to buy something else much nicer!

Seems like you're wanting something like a BodySolid (which is a good brand) single stack machine.

https://www.bodysolid.com/home/gym_systems/single_stack_gyms

You may want to consider a TRX or similar suspension trainer. Can do resistance exercises from rehab to those that challenge world class athletes

I don’t have any advice for you regarding your original question but I just wanted to say that you look much younger thank your age! Wow!

I would probably get a cable machine. Or for less space and money, I have an adjustable pull-up bar and pulley system.

Have you thought about hiring a personal trainer to teach you proper form and how to maintain alignment?

There's a new system out there called Tempo Fit. It's free weights but with a trainer system that uses a 3D camera to watch form. It's around $2500 I believe. Looks really interesting. Comes with the barbell and weights in a nice cabinet with a large screen watching form.

Save yourself a bunch of money and just get yourself a tire and start flipping .... best exercise ever!





**Totally kidding ... just said this in jest from a previous thread I was in that's now been removed**

Check out Powertec leverage gym. You may be able to find one used near you.
https://www.powertec.com/workbench-multisystemtm-black

rheddmobile wrote: »

52 year old woman here... I would say don’t be afraid of free weights. As you get older all those little muscles you use to stabilize yourself, the ones that the machines are set up to keep you from having to use, are what’s going to keep you safe and injury-free in your day-to-day life! If you’re worried about form, progress slowly enough that you are able to maintain proper form.

OP, please do consider this ^^^^.

You don't need to visualize yourself struggling to achieve your 1 rep max with some gargantuan weight on the bar. Especially for your goals (which are not maximum bulk or even maximum strength, but some strength improvement, bone density, appearance improvements . . . if I understand you correctly), that's not the One True Approach. Progrerssive challenge is important, but risk can be minimized.

You have options to reach challenging workload by changing things other than simply increasing weight (or more accurately, *before* increasing weight) to make gradual but gratifying progress. Yes, form is important, but there are many resources about freeweight form, including generic (YouTube, written materials, etc.), semi-personalized (places, including here, that you can video yourself and ask for form critique, or small-group classes if you have pandemic-safe options in your area, for example), or very individualized (personal trainer in person or virtual).

Machines are not a magical guarantee of proper form and injury avoidance. There are body positioning issues even with a machine, that can create unnecessary stress. I'm not trying to scare you, but no mode is totally risk-free, and form is always a factor.

There are also different benefits from different modes, and Rhedd's advice is excellent. If you're concerned about bone strength as you age - which is very sensible - it's also worth considering that balance is a key variable. That's not just a "stand on one foot" or even core strength thing, but there are stabilizers all over your body, and working with freeweights in a variety of positions helps develop those, not just strength-wise, but "waking them up" in a neuromuscular sense and making them allies in avoiding falls and injuries.

When you write "I need machines that keep you in alignment. I don't like free weights for that exact reason. The pulley systems are so loosely goosey I KNOW I will injure myself.", I empathize. It's a bit scary to take on, a psychological challenge in addition to a physical one.

If you prefer a machine, I'm not really trying to talk you out of it, but simply asking you to consider whether the additional benefits from freeweights (in context of your personal goals) might make it worthwhile to take on the challenge of becoming a woman who can lift freeweights and avoid injury. (Overcoming that sense of limitation might be rewarding and empowering in itself.)

P.S. Comments from the perspective of a woman who turns 65 next month, didn't start becoming routinely active until mid-40s, and who already has osteopenia/osteoporosis (related significantly to a past medication regimen).

Initially, I took a group class. This was not one where everyone's doing the same lifts at once or circuit style, but a small-group setting where there was group lecture/demo on basic form, help building a basic routine, then individualized instructor attention as we went through those starter routines, for personalized form monitoring/correction. Over a period of weeks, the instructor helped us add lifts to our repertoire, and build a more personalized routine that branched out from the initial basic one.