Exercise Equipment

[[old] gw1]

Yoda<br /><br />The Power Runner has been around since around 2000, combined with squats, and my Versa Climber it gives me the best supportive training for rowing.<br /><br />Porkchop<br /><br />I understand that the Power Runner is not for everyone,they are commercial pieces. From memory they are around $1000. By the way they are far from a gimmick!<br /><br />GW

[[old] John Rupp]

Let's remember the most important piece of equipment:<br /><br /><img src='http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41/jo ... odelJc.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><br /><br />The Model J.

[[old] Hal Morgan]

I have had the total gym for seven years. I have had c2 for four months. After weeks on end using it in the gym. The two together are just about all I can handle. Forget the iron wieghts and gadgets they are great door stops. Get the treadmill, eliptical, stationary bike or stairclimber if you need a place to hang your clothes. Good greif those Ab blasters and Tony yelling in your face tv adds. Go outside after you row, walk around the block until the sweat dries. All in all the Total gym is nice but, if I have to choose what is going on the Ark. It is going to be the c2. at least I will be able to row the ark.<br /><br />

[[old] Yoda1]

I think we all agree that the C2 is one of the best single pieces around, but that wasn't the question. The question was is there a single magic piece of resistance equipment. Meaning a piece of equipment that will allow a person to develop more strength, more power. I feel that the C2 requires way to many reps to develop the kind of strength and power than can be obtained by resistance training with considerably lower reps. The C2 is a great mix of CV work and strength work. <br /><br />Working consistantly on the ERG will raise your performance, but with the addition of some type of crosstraining it will raise the perfromance higher. So, I guess I need you revise the question. Here it is: Is there a single magic piece of resistance equipment, excluding the C2, to help develop more strength and power?<br /><br />I'm still staying with the Total Trainer w/pilates. My reason for this is the versatility and safety of the unit itself.<br /><br />No yelling, just walk softly and carry a gun, oopps, a big stick.<br /><br />Yoda

[[old] bmoore]

My kids are a great workout... lifting, running, bending, carrying...<br /><br />My Bowflex Ultimate 2 just arrived last night. I'll let you know how it does. I'll be adding 4 lifting days each week. As I recall from my swimming days, it doesn't take too much lifting to improve performance. I'm rowing 6 times for about 100k per week, but am looking to increase this over the next few months. (I realize I'll have to let my body adjust to the increased demands of lifting, before adding more sessions or distance).

[[old] JaneW.]

One piece of equipment to develop strength and power can be the Universal machine which still exists in some community colleges for only a nominal admissiions fee of $26 per semester. There are many hours from early am to at night. The huge advantage also is that you would have a qualified PE teacher to teach you how to lift. There is no need to hire a personal trainer if your budget is limited. I've known football asst. coaches who teach there. <br /><br />According to Bill Pearl, the Universal machine consists of stations with an adjustable weight stack of 10 to 500 pounds that exercises the major groups of your body. This is a good circuit training equipment for general fitness. The machines are safe in that no spotters are required. You can change the weights rapidly with the pin. <br /><br />The only disadvantage would be having to drag your butt to the school. However, the sporting goods stores are beginning to sell smaller versions of the Universal mahines. I prefer the use of real weight plates as opposed to elastic resistance. <br />And yes, Porkchop is right. There was a recall of the bowflex equipment due to a piece falling apart. <br /><br />Remember, you asked for one piece only and this is my answer. <br /><br />(Yoda, I have my light saber with me. Don't come too close because you've gone into the dark side. What has Porkchop done to you? )<br /><br /><br /><br />

[[old] JaneW.]

Yoda,<br /><br />Forgot to tell you about a beautiful piece of Universal mahine built for a club owner who kept it as an art piece show case. I could not take my eyes off it. Unbelievable !

[[old] RacerX]

The single magic piece is.....<br /><br />A yoga mat.<br /><br />My yoga practice has advanced to a level where I now skip the gym for weeks. Combined with rowing I seem to keep getting stronger. For reference I do what would be considered a fairly advanced vinyasa practice, and have just started adding Ashtanga elements. The benefits for strength, flexability and core are simple amazing.<br /><br />If I could only do one exercise, yoga would be it. <br /><br />Aaron

[[old] RogerR]

<!--QuoteBegin-Byron Drachman+Jul 30 2005, 05:14 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Byron Drachman @ Jul 30 2005, 05:14 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Hi Bill AKA Yoda,<br /><br />First of all, how are your shoulders these days? Are you ready to erg on a regular schedule yet?<br /><br />How about the C2 as a single piece of equipment? <br /><br />Have you tried Xeno Muller's DVD #2, the upper body workout? It works on core strength and flexibility.  I think it is a fabulous workout. Well, all four of the DVD's are great, but the upper body workout strikes me as one that would especially appeal to people who like to work with weights.<br /><br />Byron <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />That's exactly what I do. I have focussed on rowing over time and abondened weigth training. I find that using the C2 with slides and Xeno's DVD's provides for all I need in terms of CV fitness and strength development. I have reduced my waistline, improved my lat muscles and also increased leg muscles. What I like is that my body looks lean and toned in a very natural way. The upper body strength DVD provides a perfect strength workout that I do ca. 2x a week in addition to other rowing workouts (long pieces, interval, etc.) and 15 - 20min stretching with every rowing session.<br /><br />Due to heavy workload and family commitments I can only exercise early in the morning between 5:30am and 7am. The C2 provides all one needs to develop great CV and strength fitness.<br />

[[old] Richk]

<!--QuoteBegin-RacerX+Aug 2 2005, 04:25 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(RacerX @ Aug 2 2005, 04:25 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The single magic piece is.....<br /><br />A yoga mat.<br /><br />My yoga practice has advanced to a level where I now skip the gym for weeks.  Combined with rowing I seem to keep getting stronger.  For reference I do what would be considered a fairly advanced vinyasa practice, and have just started adding Ashtanga elements.  The benefits for strength, flexability and core are simple amazing.<br /><br />If I could only do one exercise, yoga would be it.  <br /><br />Aaron <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Hi Aaron,<br /><br />I'm also a fan of both rowing and yoga. I'm working on integrating power yoga into my regular exercise routine, since I no longer have any interest in weight training. How do you schedule your routines? Do you alternate rowing and yoga on different days, or do them both in the same day?

[[old] RacerX]

[quote=Richk,Aug 4 2005, 07:57 AM]<br />[quote=RacerX,Aug 2 2005, 04:25 PM]The single magic piece is.....<br /><br /><br />Hi Aaron,<br /><br />I'm also a fan of both rowing and yoga. I'm working on integrating power yoga into my regular exercise routine, since I no longer have any interest in weight training. How do you schedule your routines? Do you alternate rowing and yoga on different days, or do them both in the same day? <br />[/quote]<br /><br />My summer routine is a little different because I am out on the water, and my weekends are pretty jammed with Sunday morning reserved for motorcycles. But...generally I row 4X per week and do yoga 4X per week. 2 Days are rowing only, on the water. 2 days are yoga only, usually a class of 75-90 minutes. And 2 days are 30-40 minute erg workouts followed by 30 minutes of Vinyasa flow. That seems to be a pretty good and easily sustainable routine for me. For fun I throw in long hikes with my daughter on my back, swims and runs (mostly when traveling). <br /><br />Balance.....<br /><br />Aaron

[[old] JCPC]

Static contraction training on a pression fitness machine. My idea of the perfect one piece strength equipment.<br /><br />JC

[[old] bmoore]

<!--QuoteBegin-bmoore+Aug 2 2005, 11:36 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(bmoore @ Aug 2 2005, 11:36 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->My kids are a great workout...  lifting, running, bending, carrying...<br /><br />My Bowflex Ultimate 2 just arrived last night.  I'll let you know how it does.  I'll be adding 4 lifting days each week.  As I recall from my swimming days, it doesn't take too much lifting to improve performance.  I'm rowing 6 times for about 100k per week, but am looking to increase this over the next few months.  (I realize I'll have to let my body adjust to the increased demands of lifting, before adding more sessions or distance). <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />As a follow up to this posting...<br /><br />This machine works very well. I'm in a groove on changing between exercises, and can get a full 8 exercises with 3 sets in 45 minutes, including my ab work afterwards.<br /><br />Their customer service wasn't the best when some of the parts were missing in the original shipment. (Their box #4 didn't ship very well). Three parts were missing, and they put in the order for them, but they were back-ordered. The following week, they decided to ship an entire box #4 to me. I kept calling to find out when I'd receive the box. Another 10 days and I received a notice of the box shipment. The next day I received the original 3 parts, and in another day I received the box #4. What a pain. I had to take the 68# box back to a UPS store or get charged $10 for pickup.<br /><br />Anyway, the workouts are going very well. The stability factor is a bit odd, but I'm getting used to it. I maxed out (410#) the leg press and calf raise on the first session. I don't anticipate maxing out on any other exercise, so I'd highly recommend this machine for anyone other than a hardcore bodybuilder.

[[old] Yoda1]

Hi Bill,<br /><br />Glad you like the Bowflex. It has a completely different feel to it as opposed to iron, doesn't it? <br /><br />Many, many moons ago I was asked to test the first ones that came out. Schwinn was handling it then. The first time it was loaded up for bench press the pulleys exploded out of the cross member that held them. And that was only 210 pounds of resistance. When it happened, the bowflex sounded like a huge tuning fork. <br /><br />I'll be interested in hearing your feelings about it after a couple of months of working out on it.<br /><br />Wish you the best with it.<br /><br />Yoda

[[old] bmoore]

<!--QuoteBegin-Yoda1+Sep 26 2005, 07:58 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Yoda1 @ Sep 26 2005, 07:58 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Hi Bill,<br /><br />Glad you like the Bowflex.  It has a completely different feel to it as opposed to iron, doesn't it?  <br /><br />Many, many moons ago I was asked to test the first ones that came out.  Schwinn was handling it then.  The first time it was loaded up for bench press the pulleys exploded out of the cross member that held them.  And that was only 210 pounds of resistance.  When it happened, the bowflex sounded like a huge tuning fork. <br /><br />I'll be interested in hearing your feelings about it after a couple of months of working out on it.<br /><br />Wish you the best with it.<br /><br />Yoda <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />The feel is different, but it's a pretty smooth resistance throughout the range of motion. There are a few limitations with the range of motion, however. The preacher curl attachment is limited, since the arc that the attachment goes through puts the cable through a much longer curve than what my hands are moving. However, it's still a better application of force than the free weight preacher curl.<br /><br />The stability factor takes some getting used to. The bench press is on an incline, and you have to pick a point in front of you to lift to in order to get the 90 degree flat bench press feel. Free weights are a bit easier, because the resistance is gravity, and the direction of the lift is determined by the bench setup.<br /><br />Nautilus now owns the Bowflex product line. I learned to lift on Nautilus equipment 25 years ago, and have been happy with their equipment. When I changed over to freeweights and other machines, I saw a much broader range of equipment that provided many more options for lifting. (Disclosure point: I was a personal trainer for a few years, and have the experience and knowledge to design my own workouts, so I may have a better than average interaction with this machine).<br /><br />My goal right now is to add 15 pounds of lean mass and dropping off the same amount of fat. It's looking good so far, and I can feel the strength affecting everything I do. I also like how my wife holds on to me now.<br /><br />I'll update the training results in a few more months, and give any further insight I get from working with this machine.