Concept2 Forum

if only one fitness equipment allowed at home what would u choose?

concept 2 ? or an adjustale bench with a pair of adjustable dumbells ? or a treadmill, exercise bike ,or puch bag?

is concept 2 good for only cardio? or does it help u build some muscle too?

i m 36 years old

The c2 works the legs and pulling muscle, but not the pushing muscle. It will not build muscle though. For that a barbell would be a lot more handy.

c2 easy choice, you can do push ups to work the chest and tri's

Quit the Gym years ago when I figured that I could buy a new C2 rower for the price of a few years Gym fees and have never looked back.

I have to say though your focus tends to shift from the mid 30's into more of a Cardio and hence weight controlled program because it only gets worse when you hit the 40's with the classic "Gut" that just about everyone not doing cardio gets over here.

The C2 is the only bit of gear that I use, actually I have two of them in case one breaks and so I can still row while repairing the other. Coupled with RowPro its an ideal way to cut the fat and develop some tone. The way you want to look depends on the type of training you do on it but basically its a great all over workout that has become part of the Crossfit craze.

As above you still need to do pressups because I still cannot do 30 of them non stop despite all the rowing.

It really depends on what type of physique you are looking for and what goals you are trying to achieve.

For a strong heart and lungs with muscle tone the C2 would be best but if you are looking for more muscle then a weights bench or multi gym would be better.

You can get in great shape with body weight exercises and very limited equipment. "Never Gymless" by Ross Enamait is a great book about working out with limited equipment. Most important part is the work you put in.

fulham wrote:if only one fitness equipment allowed at home what would u choose?

Especially for beginners, and to some extent for all, exercise needs to be gotten into as easily as possible with the fewer the exercise apparatuses, the better. Nothing really beats a decent set of shoes and heading out the door for a walk or run. As far as resistance: squats - no weights; push-ups - on knees if needed; situps; pullups - modified if necessary. The idea is to reduce any barriers to exerise, espeically overly complex machines.

However, having extensively used treadmills, elliptical steppers, and exercise bikes, I would pick a good indoor rower, like a Concept2 machine as the one fitness piece of equipment. None of those other machines offers as comprehesive off a workout.

dwalk wrote:You can get in great shape with body weight exercises and very limited equipment. "Never Gymless" by Ross Enamait is a great book about working out with limited equipment. Most important part is the work you put in.

The book looks interesting. I've been lifting weights for about a week and I'm not a big fan. I think I might prefer programs where I can use my body weight specifically at home.

Is the book any good?

Go to rosstraining.com and check him out. He is a no nonsense and no bs trainer. His stuff is very low cost and he has many "do-it-yourself" ideas, instead of buying expensive equipment. I have his book/dvd "Full Throttle Conditioning", it cost me less than $20 I believe.

dwalk wrote:Go to rosstraining.com and check him out. He is a no nonsense and no bs trainer. His stuff is very low cost and he has many "do-it-yourself" ideas, instead of buying expensive equipment. I have his book/dvd "Full Throttle Conditioning", it cost me less than $20 I believe.

I just bought "Never Gymless".

You should be happy with it.

The last thing I'd give up in terms of indoor workout equipment would be the C2. It is an all round training and exercise tool.

I've got free weights, elliptical, Bowflex, upright indoor bike, recumbent bike on indoor trainer. All of these are important to me. But, keeping the C2 would benefit more systems than any one of the others.

Have C2 model D, incline bench and dumbells, road bike and mag resistance rollers. The Model D would be what I'd want on a desert island. Or maybe a rowing dory. Jack

I've used a C2/C since 2001, 2 - 3h a week when I'm at home. From the start it cured car/desk backache in a few days. Lets me kayak, swim or bike as long as I want to within a week after restarting (up to 10k kayak, 2km swim, 50 km bike). No injuries, all pipes clear, helps weight control. Dead cheap at the price, lasts for ever.

At home I have a treadmill, elliptical and rower along with a bunch of lighter free weights and an assortment of accessories (foam roller, medicine balls etc...)

I'm in agreement with the statements of those above. For the cardiovascular benefit it is great. It's improved my running times and makes running feel easy. The erg is also low impact so I feel I'd be able to continue this exercise far longer in life than other types of exercise, as long as my ticker is OK.
Although the foam roller is something that I would love to bring along if I could have a second choice. Gets all the knots out and keeps me relatively limber. Love hearing that upper back pop.

Regards,
Marco