Fitness News and What To Buy Where
By irontony
When fitness training mistakes happen, it often takes another person to correct you before you notice them.
A personal trainer had to come over and correct my form the other day…
I was happy that she was able to give me this feedback as I could have eventually injured myself…
But I thought to myself, “Damn, I’ve been working out all these years, and I’ve been making this mistake over and over again!”
This is what prompted me…there’s a lot of fitness training mistakes being made at Gyms and Home Gyms all across the Nation!
Here are some common Mistakes…
Fitness-Training Mistake#1:
Training Only Your Strengths
I’m guilty of this one many times over! Monday Chest..Tuesday Shoulders..Wednesday Back…
Come end of week, I would be so wasted and never train Legs!
Fitness-Training Mistake#2:
Training the Same Body Part Too Frequently
This goes hand in hand with the first mistake…
Mix things up a bit. Strength training one day? Try doing Yoga the next!
Fitness-Training Mistake#3:
Training Smaller Muscles Before Larger Ones
If doing warm ups its ok, but if you have a heavy leg training session and calve excercises is your first stop…
You might find it difficult to hold your stability come Squat time!
Fitness Training Mistake#4:
Circuit Training while Neglecting Heart Rate
Circuit Training is all about Total Body Conditioning and targeting fat loss…
This goes hand in hand with heart rate and keeping it elevated throughout your workout…
Not letting your Heart Rate drop exercise to exercise is key to making circuit training effective!
By irontony
Don’t neglect training your legs simply to train your chest or arms. Make sure you are using your home gym to the fullest!
Whip those little twigs of your into serious shape….this way you won’t have to feel embarrassed strutting your stuff down the beach this summer!
Try this Leg Training Session to get your Legs in tune with the rest of your body…
- Start with Barbell Squats…2 Sets, 5 Reps each with no more than 60 seconds rest in between.
…Soon after your second Barbell Squat Set, follow it up with…
- Jump Squats! Do as many as your body will let you in 60 Seconds….and don’t hold back, do them explosively. Continue with Barbell Squats….1 Set, 5 Reps with no rest.
- Follow it up with some more Jump Squats…as many as possible in 45 Seconds.
- ….90 Seconds is all you get to Rest Up! Then repeat once more.
This workout should get those scrawny little legs of yours tuned up for the summer….
and keep a bucket nearby, you may need it to get through this one!
Iron Tony
By irontony
Loaded with features, the Body Solid home gyms have been consistently ranked among the top-of-the-line in strength training equipment for 20 years. Along with a sibling company, Powerline home gyms, the BodySolid brand name has stood apart from the pack thanks to their distinctive state-of-the art design, smooth operation, and consistent performance.
It’s no wonder that Body Solid is the largest supplier of light commercial home gyms and strength training equipment in the USA.
Body Solid home gyms are traditional models with fixed-stack plate and pin adjustment systems. They offer smooth operation and come bundled with a variety of exercises for a full body workout. The multi-exercise stations on Body Solid home gyms include workouts for chest press, triceps press, shoulder press, high and low pulley stations, a chest row and pec deck, and more.
Powerline gyms by Body Solid have similar features and are also know for offering great value in their unique designs. The systems are also ergonomically correct and offer a multi-grip press arm system for the best results when working the chest and shoulders during incline and press movements.
By irontony
The Body Solid Smith Machine has the advantages of free weights with the safety and control of a machine. The full package includes a number of popular add-ons including a lat tower, pec deck, and preacher curl station.
This Body Solid Smith machine includes stations to allow you to do all the core lifts including squats, all presses, shrugs, bent over rows, lat pull downs, crunches, preacher curls, pec flyes, leg extensions/curls, and more. The rack frame includes a chin-up bar and high quality pins to hold support bar and safety bars.
This Body Solid Smith Machine gym is fine if you don’t have to have the top of the line Smith Machine. The only problem with this design is that it is hard to re-insert the hooks into the holes since the left/right sides are independent and that’s an issue when you are trying to hang up a bar loaded with weights. But, for the price that is something most people can live with.
Body Solid uses their patented Super-Glide carriage system that rides within the four 2″-by-2″ 12-gauge steel pillars. There are nylon bushings used here. While the steel support pillars are heavy duty, there are some design issues with this unit for advanced users.
It is a complete system including the base Smith Machine, a lot of cheap equipment. The Body Solid Smith Machine is perfect for those with a limited budget.
By irontony
One thing I have noticed about the home gym health and fitness industry which makes things difficult is that they are always changing the rules! There’s always some new concept that is the way to do things.
Currently, it’s Burst Training. And actually, this time I like the idea a lot.
Who should use Burst Training?
Since high intensity is the key to bursting, only those in decent health who can push themselves really hard should practice burst training. Always consult with your doctor first. (I have to say that, don’t I?)
What is Burst Training?
Burst training, also referred to as surge training, is a form of interval training where you exercise at maximum intensity in short bursts of 30-60 seconds followed by a recovery period of about 2-5 minutes. The intervals are repeated for 15-30 minutes. Maximum intensity means you should push as hard as you can and should be out of breath at the end of the interval. Recovery means your heart rate and breathing should be back to normal and your muscles should stop burning.
Where do you Burst Train?
With your home gym of course. Even entry level gyms give enough options to give burst training a try.
Why Burst Train?
Short burst training burns a maximum amount of calories during exercise and also continues to burn fat calories long after your workout is complete. Oh… And of course, it takes less time than traditional cardio exercise.
When should you Burst Train?
You can burst train whenever it fits into your schedule, which should be a lot easier now that you have shorter workouts. The average recommendation for frequency of burst training is every other day. This gives your body a change to recover completely from your workouts and keeps you from over-training.
I tell you, Iron Tony has given this short burst training thing a try. It really kicks your butt! I always feel like I’ve had a better workout than when I do longer exercise sessions with my home gym. Not only that, but I get it done quicker and don’t have time to get bored. Try it!
By irontony
You can’t get a great body by training half-way, and the Yukon Wolverine 4-Station home gym certainly takes your home fitness regime to a higher level. It is a full health club at home and built to last for years – a fact that many satisfied users have mentioned in their comments to me.
Made of heavy duty 12-gauge steel tubing with mig-welding techniques, the Yukon Wolverine 4 Station home gym also features an electrostatic powder coated finish that is chip and scratch resistant. The cables are 3/16″ nylon-coated military-spec aircraft cables tested to 2000-lbs that run through 4” deep grooved nylatron pulleys with concave urethane rollers in chrome guide rods. Each of the 10 rollers has industrial sealed ball bearings for smooth pulling performance.
The Yukon Wolverine 4-Station home gym is a multi-station system on which you can perform the following exercises: presses (bench, military, shoulder), traditional pectoral flys, squats, seated leg press, lat pull downs, shrugs, standing curls, tricep extensions, triceps pushdowns, kickbacks, low row, delt raises, thigh kicks (ankle strap not included), ab crunches, leg extension, standing leg curl, dips, vertical knee raises, and more.
The ergonomic vinyl seats are fully adjustable and made of marine-grade, moisture-resistance, and filled with high-density foam padding. The welded frame, upholstery, grips, cables, pulleys, and bushings are guaranteed for life against defects in materials and workmanship.
Along with the low, mid and high pulleys, the Yukon Wolverine home gym has an impressive list of stations and features including a removable seat to access the squat station and calf raises, a seated leg press station, a pec/delt deck, no-cable change low pulley, and the very necessary tricep dip and VKR station. The 200-lb weight stack may be a little too limited for some strong guys especially for the leg press, but most users find that the stack is perfectly adequate. I like it just fine and I’m not a weak guy.
For a low-priced, entry level machine see my review of the Powerline P1 home gym.
I strongly recommend the Yukon Wolverine 4-Station home gym for users who want a high-end machine that features everything you can get out of a high-priced health club, and don’t want to spend that kind of money without knowing they will get the best quality in home equipment.
Iron Tony
By irontony
The Body Solid Powerline P1 Home Gym is designed to be versatile, durable, dependable and affordable. Even more, with its graceful arcs and design-forward aesthetic, this cost-conscious gym merges form and function to complement modern home decor.
The compact, feature-packed design of the Powerline P1 offers proven motion and pivot points for a fluid routine. To increase comfort and functionality, ergonomically correct press arms allow for natural arm movement as you cruise through your favorite workouts. This machine also offers the added benefit of an optional leg press station that can be mounted on either side of the gym.
The top features are the:
- Chest, Incline & Shoulder Press
- Chest Supported Mid Row
- Adjusted Back & Seat Pad
At one time the materials from the manufacture had a number of features lacking in the instruction department, but this was been fixed as of early 2010. This is truly a great entry-level machine if you are just building up your home gym.
For another similar but more advanced entry level option check out the Bodycraft Xpress Pro.
By irontony
It was my first day at the gym…
Calmly, I walked over to the weight machine—and positioned myself facing in the wrong direction. Luckily, a kind soul rushed over and advised that one hard pull and my shoulders would be ripped from their sockets.
Trying to regain my dignity, I strolled over to the barbells and promptly overloaded one side and forgot to used collars. Nothing screams “geek!” like heavy metal plates crashing to the floor in a loud, echoing crescendo!
My point? We’re all beginners at some point. And I, Mike Mejia—currently a contributing editor to Men’s Health magazine—was one of the clumsiest beginners ever. But since then, I’ve become a nationally recognized expert in strength and fitness—and learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
All of this has helped build my database of Home Gym articles and reviews where I lay out to you everything I have learned as I have bulked up and super-shopped the market.
That is why I started Home Gym Reviews. By building up these reviews, trying out new machines, and getting input from other bodybuilders we all win.
Iron Tony
By irontony
When first creating a home gym, you want to determine how much space you have available and what type of workout equipment you will be buying. Weight-training equipment can come in the form of free weights or one of today’s popular total trainer machines.
If you are simply wanting to get your feet wet and see if this is the right path for you, then buying a few sets of quality free weights may be the best way to get started. If you’re eager and know that a home gym is right for you, and you have the space, then a total trainer machine is your answer to home fitness.
Just keep in mind that your level of experience matters. When deciding on what equipment to purchase, the majority of exercises that can get you into shape and build muscle fast can all be done with basic free weights, which are a cheaper route than a machine. The biggest issue with that route, however, is that it takes a person with solid experience in weight training to do the exercises right using free weights. So, if you are a beginner to weight lifting, purchasing a machine will greatly benefit your workout experience.
Before getting started, you will want to check out some of the weight training equipment review sites such as RealHomeGymReviews.com. They cover total trainer reviews as well as free weight sets, and also give you valuable insight into pricing and workout styles.
As with other products, when purchasing a weight set there are brand names that emphasize high quality and you will want to go with one of these. Among them are Yukon, Titan, Body Solid, Bodycraft and Bayou.
The benefits of purchasing a brand name weight set over a generic one is the guarantee of accurate weight measurements, higher quality, and the fact that these manufacturers support their products with both DVD workout videos and plenty of videos available for free on YouTube to help you start your training.
When you are setting up your home gym, don’t forget that a good workout means more than just lifting weights. You will want to create a home gym environment that will keep you pumped up and hydrated while you work out. So include a small refrigerator to store bottled water, energy drinks and bars, and chilled towels. Keep a good selection of dry towels nearby. And get the right stereo or CD player so that you can have your favorite music when weight training.
Keeping fit in the middle of a tight schedule is not an impossible task for men, if they are willing to invest in a home gym. It’s also harder to say no to a workout when it’s a few steps from your living room instead of across town. So set up your own home gym and start getting fit the easy way today.
By irontony
If you want to turn up the intensity of your workouts and achieve maximum gains in strength and size in a minimum amount of time, the new Body Solid Free Weight Leverage Gym allows you to work out without compromise.
This piece of equipment is built very well and of great quality. The padding on this piece has the same Body-Solid standard on all their pieces-being very comfortable and durable. This piece has a very natural and comfortable feel when in use. Feel free to max out and train to muscular exhaustion for accelerated gains.
The Leverage Gym’s versatility and advanced safety features ensure a complete heavy-duty workout without the need for a spotter. Load up the plates and go to work! Perform bench / incline / decline and shoulder presses, pec flys, lat pull downs, preacher curls, squats, calf raises and much, much more! Over 40 exercises are available on this versatile leverage free weight gym.
Biomechanically, this piece is amazing. With so many pin positions, you can tweek this piece to hit the muscle exactly the way it needs to be worked.
Even being a pulley system, this machine is very smooth and quiet. Maintenance will be required on the pulleys (lubing them will be necessary over time to keep them working properly without binding). This machine is put together so well that is has also been commercially graded for use in gyms and health clubs.
Each leverage exercise station moves fluidly on pivot points utilizing commercial-grade pillow block bearings and oversized bronze bushings. Durable, electrostatically applied powder coat finish resists scratches, scrapes and chips. The textured finish hides fingerprints and cleans easily. The Body-Solid Free Weight Leverage Gym is built to last a lifetime and is backed by the Body-Solid Exclusive In-Home lifetime warranty on everything.
