blonde poker forum

Hi,

I decided I MIGHT start exercising more at home.

If you were to buy one item of equipment what would you go for?

Exercise Bike
Rowing Machine
Cross Trainer
Free Weights

or anything else out there.

Thanks
Steve

Punchbag FTW!

Rowing machine

ROFL at bandit giving anyone exercise advice.

this.

[ ] I am one to talk

Save your money - if you want to improve your fitness take up power walking.

If you have the money then a really good rowing machine would work best.

what are your goals? why exercise at home instead of a gym?

personally I would search the 2+2 health and fitness forum and read all posts by blarg. he trains at home and his posts are outstanding

Hi,

I leave the house for work at 6am and get home about 7pm, don't really have time for the gym, plus I own a pub so am there most weekends to give the misses a break.

Just want an all round item I can use for 30 mins when I get home.

I need to lose weight and get a little fitter.

I was thinking the rowing machine was the best allrounder?

thanks
Steve

the best rowing machines are concept 2's. if cost is an issue better to get a second hand C2 than a new anything else.

if you want to build up some muscle using free weights buy the book "starting strength" first, or read the SS wiki on teh internet

crossfit gyms do short sharp workouts half hour max, they are probably the best way to get fit for most people. only trouble is there aren't many in the country. My nearest is 12 miles away and tbh I'm lucky there's one so close. you can do CF workouts at home but you'll need to buy some stuff and prob get some kind of instruction on how to do them. CF london do what they call an Icourse which teaches you most of it in a day.

see bottom left on the list on this page to check if there's one near you

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/

Rowing machine
If the money stretches, purchase a set of dumbells too.

I'd recommend the following for a good home exercise routine that doesnt take too long...(about 45 mins)

15 Minutes fitness - row/bike/c-trainer followed by...

5 sets of 20 press ups (no more than 1 min break between each set)
4 sets of 12 skull crushers (tricep exercise)
3 sets of dips (again, triceps)
4 sets of bicep curls (use same bar and weight as for your tricep exercise)
3 sets of shoulder press (again same bar as as other exs)
squats and lunges every other session
finish off with some abs exercises

This is just a rough guide but pretty decent for a home routine and would only require one bar with some weight plates.

.

lol Mantis!

She's now a fat moose again though!

I've had a few but did make me  rotflmfao

Had a few fat mooses? Graham you dog!  :)

reasoning behind some of this Byron?

Skull crushers are better than dips imo

You're leaving out biceps and abs? wtf..

[ ] Pullups and chin ups are easy to do at home

LOL at deadlifts in a home workout. Having a long olympic bar with big 20kg plates where he's gonna be banging out 100kg type weights isnt ideal in the home.

Weights I suggested can all be done using a smaller Z-bar, much more practical for the home.

Aren't all weights strength training?

How do they help with - losing weight and getting a little fitter ?

.

Right, excuse the jokes, i'll offer you some proper advice cos i'm a feckin expert in the field of health and fitness

1. Forget the idea of exercising at home because it simply isn't sustainable. There are too many distractions and you will never find the motivation once you've landed back there after work. The sofa/beer/pizza/telly will all be within arms reach and generally we switch off into relax mode when we get home. The fact that you own a pub and are conscious of giving your mrs a break means that you will never really find the time to focus on your routine as you will get pulled away constantly. Discarded home exercise equipment can be found in the loft of almost every household and is money wasted.

2. Set definite targets rather than just wanting to lose a bit of weight and balance your exercise with healthy eating habits

3. Think seriously about joining a health club. If you wont set aside 3 hours a week to invest in your fitness then how serious are you? Going to the gym on set days at set times becomes habitual and creating routine is the key to sustainable success. One session of cardio, one weight-training session (which is equally effective at burning fat), and one studio based class like Body Pump will contribute to an effective weekly regime. Once at the gym you will be free to focus on yourself and nobody will demand your time. Most decent clubs are open until 10:00pm at least so you have plenty of time after work.

4. If you really don't want to join a gym then jog. It's free, achieves everything you're hoping for and once again there aren't any distractions. Also, once you've run somewhere...you've gotta fecking run back again.

there are a billion threads on the internet about compound versus isolation exercises. It's like someone coming on here and saying hey I watched some poker on the telly last night how do I learn how to play and you give him a bunch of good advice as well as telling him to learn Razz.

pullups do biceps. You can get pullup bars that fit any doorway safely for probably £20 on amazon (and you can attach rings to do dips)

squats and deadlifts work your abs, I have done deads in the garden before, not heavy ones admittedly but we are talking about beginners right?  dips are seen as more of a chest exercise which also happen to do your arms I think, training biceps and triceps individually is pretty LOL these days. big fat compound lifts that work lots of muscles>>>>>>>>lifts that work one muscle.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Is_This_Program_Right_For_You.3F

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85/health-fitness/faq-please-read-before-you-post-176665/

If you've got somewhere to hang one, then this is an excellent suggestion.  Cardiovascular work-out that's very satisfying.  Best to learn how to punch properly first though to avoid injuries.

Wait till I tell your misses about some of the ways you work out at home on your own.

Although I haven't seen either of you for a couple of months.

Steve

My thoughts exactly mate, plus any buily up anger, frustrations etc can be taken out on the bag.

My exercise advice >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Billy's poker tips.

Some of your advice is pretty bad dude, particularly if you read the op.

I won't even try to address your poker/razz analogy as it doesn't even make sense.

1) Yes pullups do biceps but as you mentioned in your point about deadlifts and squats we are talking about beginners. Doing pullups is pretty hard for someone just thinking about starting a home exercise routine. Having the bar across one of your door frames is also an eye sore. For a beginner I would definitely say curling is better and after a few months if he wants to think about a pull up bar then great but for initially curling is definitely a better starting point.

2) 'Training biceps and triceps individually is pretty LOL these days?' - You almost sent me on complete lifetilt with this comment. He's not training to the be the most fashionable trendy trainer. There is huge merit in working each muscle group individually. Isolating his biceps and triceps separately will help him achieve better results.

3) If he intends on training from home then doing exercises in the garden is a little impractical in this country as it's just going to be too dark and too wet for the hours he works most of the year. In addition he'll have to manoevre fairly large equipment into his garden all the time as even a beginner is going to need at least one large bar and a few large plates for squatting or deadlifting - just not easy for the home. Compound exercises are without doubt fantastic but I'd probably advise him to do these once he's trained for a month or two.

4) You are working your abs and core with a lot of exercises but this doesn't mean they should replace a dedicated time to do some specific abs exercises.

Whilst this has been brought up, I could do with a bit of advice, I have recently recently re joined a gym, loving every minute of it when I get time to go. The main reason for me to join was to get a bit of ME TIME, which is working, but i do also want to see results, which I have started to do so. I am, to say the least , flabby around back and under arms, not bingo wings i mean rib area, now then,  I am succesfully increasiing my tread mill time and cross training, but my major problem is that I have had some lymph nodes out from under my left arm and it is so bloody weak still evey time I try toning  excersise it kills to a point of tears. My right side is fine, any ideas on what gym equipment would help, the gym I use  has a full range of equipment.

i don't know why i bother getting involved in H&F threads on blonde. everyone ignores my links and thinks that cos they read Arnie's encyclopedia of body building in 1985 that they are a fitness guru.

it's like the way live pro's still think it's a great play to raise for info when it's been thrashed out over and over on the internet that it is in FACT tez :)

If anyone wants to start learning about H&F then I recommend starting with the mostly excellent 2p2 forum, crossfit and rippetoe.

Are you a personal trainer or something?

hundredpushups.com

punchbag

skipping rope

run 3 times a week

swimming

No real need for exercise bikes etc

Yes babe. Your club should have a Power Plate and this is a fantastic bit of kit for toning and firming. 10 minutes on it is equivalent to about 1 hr's toning work on the gym floor. It tones any area of the body through intensive vibration and it is very effective in conjunction with the cardio work you're doing. Also, investigate studio based classes at the club. You don't really need to participate in aerobics cos you're already working on the treadmill, but classes like Yoga and Pilates work on toning your body's core (eg..around the rib cage & back)....mentally you will really target that "you time" you're after as well.

ty x

to answer the question, I wouldnt buy any equipment to begin with, I would use one of these rental firms and try at home for a month. If you find yourself using it a lot, then go ahead and buy one