I had the fortunate advantage of having some pretty nice gear before this thing started. Over a year ago, I treated myself to some nice equipment for my birthday, but I haven't used it as much as I'd like to have. I plan on getting my money's worth out of it all over the next three months, and I hope it will really give me an edge during these workouts.
Gold's Gym Power Tower. For a workout system that relies so heavily on pull ups, I am dang glad I have this rig. Most mortals cannot do any pull ups, and so the training sessions show you how to use a chair to assist yourself in those exercises. This tower has a "cheater bar" that lets you make yourself lighter by adding or removing resistance bands. Kneel on the padded platform, and suddenly you can do pull ups! I have figured 7 different configurations for the assisted weight, and I will start out at maximum assistance, and over the 90 days, work towards zero assistance. So in my test sessions, I have been doing 8 to 12 reps on the various pull ups, I am sure that number will drop each time I remove a resistance band. But I think it will be a great way to build strength quickly. Added bonuses, are the various grips for doing the different pull up positions, as well as
pushup grips built into the feet to allow for super deep
pushups. This tower is also designed for doing Dips, which I will be incorporating into my workouts as well. I love dips and can't wait to be able to do like 30 of them on my own. There are several other exercises this tower offers, I am sure I will find many more ways to incorporate this equipment into my training.
Gold's Gym Adjustable Dumbells. These are awesome. Weights can be a very expensive investment, if you want a large enough set to accommodate a lot of exercises. With these adjustable weights, one set of bells gives you options from 5 or 10 pounds, up to 50. Easy switching, and a handy-dandy stand make them very convenient. They are a tad bulky, and I wouldn't use them as
pushup grips like you can do with fixed
dumbells, but I really like them.
Gold's Gym Stayball. Bought last year sorta as a joke, this is actually a very useful and affordable piece of equipment. Instead of doing decline
pushups on a chair, I have done them for the past year or so on this ball. Feet on the ball, doing
pushups without falling off of it really works your core. I am certain I will find lots of uses for this bad boy, and it makes a great chair too. Sit on this thing all day, and get an ongoing workout!
Finally, I have a
generic weight bench. Found this just last week at a yard sale for $5, at least it looks sorta like this. I will use this instead of a chair on most exercises, and again, hope to incorporate it into a lot of the exercises we do. I have wanted one for the longest time, so it was great to score one off a fat guy that never used it. (There is a LOT of great fitness equipment at yard sales by the way.... as people get tired of hanging dirty laundry on them!)
So that's my gym. Lots of good stuff. I hope to use the heck out of it. I suspect we'll need to change the carpet in the basement after 13 weeks of sweat soaking into it. And I just realized something, for a guy who hates Gold's Gym so much, I sure do have a lot of their gear.
Hmmm....