Anything Clearly Better Than The Nautilus/Bowflex Revolution?

[Packard]

David Sklansky is my favorite author. It feels strange giving him advice instead of me reading his advice.

Thanks for deleting Thremps post. Thremp was a good poster for awhile. He had been getting too aggressive and rude lately. I hope he comes back nicer. Now onto the point:

The advice on kettlebells and free weights is good advice.

I would not buy a Nautilus or Bowflex at all. I have been training 10+years, I can military press more than 170 lbs and I weigh around 250 pounds and I have bench pressed 400+, and I own a Total Bodyworks 5000. This machine is awesome for what pot odds you get for the price.

The Total Bodyworks 5000 is basicly a knock off of a Total Gym and both are very good. You can do over 50+ different exercises and you use your own weight as resistance.

A new TotalBodyWorks 5000 is under $100 online.

I would get one of these for a fraction of the Bowflex price and add some freeweights and kettlebells and dumbells.

[David Sklansky]

Hey guys,

Please stop trying to save me money. I already have an Olympic weight set in the garage and am a member of a gym. I might not look it now, but once was in very good shape and know quite a bit about the subject. I am fully aware that simple equipment used right is better than the best equipment used not as well.

But I have this extra room and I want to fill it up with an effective machine that also looks pretty good. The Powertec doesn't use an individual weight stack but rather plates. You can't drop the weight but at times it could weigh 1000 pounds. The Revolution uses something different than the bowflex rods and I have never seen it in person.

The two machines mentioned, to my knowledge, are kind of unique. The other alternatives would be the best Bowflex or one of the numerous type of multistation machines that uses weight stacks.

So far it seems like everyone here is kind of inexperienced about this stuff thinking that a 45 minute workout on a $100 machine is better than a 40 minute workout on a $3000 machine. Who taught you to think this way?

[Hendricks433]

[ QUOTE ]
So far it seems like everyone here is kind of inexperienced about this stuff thinking that a 45 minute workout on a $100 machine is better than a 40 minute workout on a $3000 machine. Who taught you to think this way?


[/ QUOTE ] machines suck.

[shemp]

You aren't a sucker because those machines are expensive-- you are a sucker because you are slurping up a marketing campaign designed for suckers and you think you understand the opposition, but you don't.

I could go on, but you apparently are gifted with such superior analytic abilities that whatever I think is based on a faulty construct (even if I were right) or a lack of appreciation of your fitness level/needs.

So good luck with your home gym. I'm sure one of those machines could be part of an excellent home fitness routine and I hope you are happy with it as an accessory, too.

[David Sklansky]

[ QUOTE ]
You aren't a sucker because those machines are expensive-- you are a sucker because you are slurping up a marketing campaign designed for suckers and you think you understand the opposition, but you don't.

I could go on, but you apparently are gifted with such superior analytic abilities that whatever I think is based on a faulty construct (even if I were right) or a lack of appreciation of your fitness level/needs.


So good luck with your home gym. I'm sure one of those machines could be part of an excellent home fitness routine and I hope you are happy with it as an accessory, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where did all that come from? I just want to know which machine that takes up about fifty square feet looks and works the best in a second floor room.

[shemp]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You aren't a sucker because those machines are expensive-- you are a sucker because you are slurping up a marketing campaign designed for suckers and you think you understand the opposition, but you don't.

I could go on, but you apparently are gifted with such superior analytic abilities that whatever I think is based on a faulty construct (even if I were right) or a lack of appreciation of your fitness level/needs.


So good luck with your home gym. I'm sure one of those machines could be part of an excellent home fitness routine and I hope you are happy with it as an accessory, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where did all that come from? I just want to know which machine that takes up about fifty square feet looks and works the best in a second floor room.


[/ QUOTE ]

I was reacting to:

"Please stop trying to save me money."

"So far it seems like everyone here is kind of inexperienced about this stuff thinking [X and Y]. Who taught you to think this way?"

I considered it a mis-diagnosis of the response you obtained generally, and from me, specifically.

To get back on what is apparently the correct track: I think ultimately you can trust your own opinion of what looks the best, but running it by an interior decorator couldn't hurt. I have no idea which one works the best, but it seems likely that the value is marginal enough that utility shouldn't be the governing factor (aesthetics or some kind of acquired/associated status should). As I said, good luck and good health.

[cbloom]

David, if you just want something that looks cool and is useless for fitness, may I make some alternative suggestions that also cost around $5000 ?

1. Stuffed animals "



2. Multi-mon setup :



3. DDR machine (great for fitness too) :



4. Real doll (also a good workout) :

[Blarg]

The answer you got was the best one but you're rejecting it. Screw machines.

They do not make you anywhere near as strong as weights or develop you functionally as well. Reliance on stabilizer muscles, from the muscles around your ribcage to your abs and obliques and lower back, and including your legs, is what teaches you to lift properly and gives you strength that's applicable in the real world, including sports. When you give that up, you give up a LOT, and what people are doing is warning you that you probably are undervaluing that by a country mile.

Don't assume that everyone with a different point of view than your own is always dumber than you are or flat out ignorant. In this instance especially, you would do well not to jump to that favorite conclusion. You really do yourself a noticeable disservice by using machines.

But if that's what you want to do, so be it and more power to you. Some of us were just trying to help.

[David Sklansky]

Why are you bringing up weights vs machines when I am asking for a comparison of machines? But as long as you did bring up the subject, what about the fact that free weights don't stress you to the max through the total range of motion while some machines do?

[Wynton]

[ QUOTE ]
Why are you bringing up weights vs machines when I am asking for a comparison of machines? But as long as you did bring up the subject, what about the fact that free weights don't stress you to the max through the total range of motion while some machines do?

[/ QUOTE ]