Building a home gym, soliciting recommendations (pics included)

[kyleb]

Tomorrow I'm skipping the Planar Chaos prerelease (Magic: The Gathering ftw) to complete the project of cleaning my office, building a new desk, and planning the build of the essential parts of a gym inside of it.

I'm not really interested in getting into kettlebells at the moment, so let's please leave those out for now. I've got all the necessary information should I want to start via jtb's old threads.

Here's what I already have:


A small television

+

Mod-Chip

+


CobaltFlux DDR Pad

+


A PS2

These allow me to play the very heterosexual game Dance Dance Revolution as a substitute for box jumps and other stupid plyometric exercises that I hate. (Fun trivia: My brother is the nation's greatest DDR player - no jokes. He has defeated all American opponents and many foreigners. Honestly. Check Google Video for 'Kevin Boddy' if you don't believe me.)

I also have a yoga ball and some elastic bands for stretching and light work.

My goals are to build a comprehensive enough gym to get a solid workout in every other day to maximize my performance as an amateur baseball pitcher (see my subtitle). I'd also like to lose some fat and add more muscle, but who wouldn't. My diet and supplements are pretty rock-solid, so let's not get into that.

I'm interested in adding the following components:


A Power Rack for squat/deadlift/bench/etc


An Elliptical Trainer for cardio (yes I also run but my knees aren't in the greatest shape)

...and maybe some light free weights for shoulder isolation exercises.

So, what I'm interested in from you guys is:

1) Recommendations on where to buy the above products I listed.
2) Suggestions for new products or replacement products, and where I should buy them.
3) Insults about the fact that I play DDR.

Fire away!

[tedfurlong]

You're asian?

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
You're asian?

[/ QUOTE ]

NO

(yes)

[nolanfan34]

Kyle,

My wife and I just bought an elliptical machine, so I've done a bit of research on this. Unfortunately, you won't find a TON of info online when it comes to reviews, etc.

Here's a good site to check out though, the Treadmill Sensei. He has some good reviews, and since he repairs treadmills and ellipticals for a living, he has some good insight into what's actually well built.

Much of it depends on what you want to spend. We checked out Precors, but they're so expensive that it wasn't feasible for us. We ended up getting a Spirit X150. It's really solid, we like it so far.

On the other hand, my wife's sister recently bought a NordicTrack elliptical - which I had to put together - and I'm predicting that thing breaks down within 6 months.

Just a few thoughts.

[1C5]

good move on that sqaut rack, many different uses for it!!!

For dumbells I would suggest something like www.powerblock.com as they are pretty cool and take up way less space than individual dumbells. I have a set that goes from 5 lbs to 130 lbs.

[1C5]

re: solid supplement plan.

What are you taking, just want to compare it to my new plan I am just starting.

[guids]

Ive been seriously working out since I was about 17, Im 24 now, in the 7 years that Ive been training, Ive used a cardio machine once, and that was enough. Im not a big fan of them at all, just run, saves you the money, strengthens the joings/ligaments that are "bad", etc. If you really ahve bad knees (only like 5% of people that have ever said to me they have bad knees really do) do some other cardio exercises, jumping jacks, shoot the cannons, clean and jerk with a broomstick, jump rope etc. Anything by cybex is good btw for your power rack, also, if you need to save on space get the bowflex all-in-one dumbells, then all you need to do is buy a small rack for the really heavy dumbells.

[XxGodJrxX]

I dont think you'll need anything more than the Power Rack, an adjustable bench, and DDR in order to get maximal results. I personally find that DDR on heavy is a MUCH more intense form of cardio than ellipticals or w/e.

If you get bored somewhere down the line, you can get some dumbbells, but I don't think they are really necessary. Is there a specific routine that you were thinking of doing?

Now Canadian??

You mean living here, or have become a Canadian citizen?

[2/325Falcon]

If you have the dough to spend get a Concept 2.