QuantumPositron
New Member
Long story short: I've relocated, the branch in this area is terrible, and I'm charged if I relocate my membership, and I'm charged if I end my membership. So, I'm tired of this contract nonsense. The gym always gets each and every right and option and you get each and every fee. Like taxes, there's nothing one can do without being charged.
There is a YMCA. The rates are fair. No contracts. The equipment is decent, though tightly packed (no one has free weight squat racks anymore - its all 3D smith machines). From now on I will recommend the Y to anyone who wants to lift weights, in the absence of a more hardcore place.
Anyway, the point of this post is to field my idea for my home gym. I recognize there is a home gym forum, but no one reads that. I never do. So here goes:
Being an apartment dweller, barbells, I think, are out of the question. Too heavy to move, too big, too loud, too likely to go through the floor and you can't squat with them w/o a rack (also too big). There are the Bowflex's and what not, but they run in the mid hundreds on up, do they not? And to my knowledge, you can't squat with them, let alone deadlift. This must be cost effective. So my thinking is this: Bands. I am partial to the barbell, but if we are to think like smart weightlifters and not dogmatic ones, we have to recognize that resistance is resistance. I have doubts, and I'll get to those momentarily. ]
EliteFTS sells a deadlift platform of sorts. Really it is just a metal plate with bars welded onto its sides for band placement. With this platform, a set of powerlifting class bands, and a bar I could do just about any major lift. Throw in an adjustable incline bench with a preacher attachment and we have some curling and pressing options. Throw in a chin/dip stand and we have those lifts. Not that they are necessary; I am willing accept bare bones for now.
The thing about bands is they are not weights. They do not behave exactly like weights and so I don't trust their muscle building potential. But, at the same time, resistance is resistance, yes? Bands also wear out, and may possibly lose their tension over time, so they need to be replaced perhaps as often as once, maybe twice a year. The upside is that they are light, cheaper per pound of resistance than free weights, easy to store and move, **and I can do Westside dynamic method with them**.
What do you guys think about this?
There is a YMCA. The rates are fair. No contracts. The equipment is decent, though tightly packed (no one has free weight squat racks anymore - its all 3D smith machines). From now on I will recommend the Y to anyone who wants to lift weights, in the absence of a more hardcore place.
Anyway, the point of this post is to field my idea for my home gym. I recognize there is a home gym forum, but no one reads that. I never do. So here goes:
Being an apartment dweller, barbells, I think, are out of the question. Too heavy to move, too big, too loud, too likely to go through the floor and you can't squat with them w/o a rack (also too big). There are the Bowflex's and what not, but they run in the mid hundreds on up, do they not? And to my knowledge, you can't squat with them, let alone deadlift. This must be cost effective. So my thinking is this: Bands. I am partial to the barbell, but if we are to think like smart weightlifters and not dogmatic ones, we have to recognize that resistance is resistance. I have doubts, and I'll get to those momentarily. ]
EliteFTS sells a deadlift platform of sorts. Really it is just a metal plate with bars welded onto its sides for band placement. With this platform, a set of powerlifting class bands, and a bar I could do just about any major lift. Throw in an adjustable incline bench with a preacher attachment and we have some curling and pressing options. Throw in a chin/dip stand and we have those lifts. Not that they are necessary; I am willing accept bare bones for now.
The thing about bands is they are not weights. They do not behave exactly like weights and so I don't trust their muscle building potential. But, at the same time, resistance is resistance, yes? Bands also wear out, and may possibly lose their tension over time, so they need to be replaced perhaps as often as once, maybe twice a year. The upside is that they are light, cheaper per pound of resistance than free weights, easy to store and move, **and I can do Westside dynamic method with them**.
What do you guys think about this?