Been trying to get back into shape in the last few weeks to some limited success. Last year I dumped fat. This year I build muscle. To that end, beststephi, sui66iy and I decided to go out and buy a home gym. We had been debating the merrits of Bowflex amongst ourselves for the past week or so, but eventually decided to just go get something cheaper from Dick’s. While there, we discussed the merrits of free weights vs. pulley systems and eventually decided on the Weider 9400.
Apparently you can have it delivered and assembled for an extra $165 or something like that. We decided not to do that, because of course we’re intelligent people, five college degrees between the three of us. Certainly we can handle the assembly of a simple piece of weight equipment. So we shoved it in the van and brought it home. What they don’t tell you in the store is that main unit weighs about 250 pounds, and there are another couple hundred pounds of weights that come in separate boxes. So its quite a workout just getting it down the stairs and into the basement and then trying to put the damn thing together. Mike and I worked on it for the last 4 hours or so, and we’re half way done. The rest will wait til tomorrow.
I feel healthier already. Simply by doing the work we’ve done so far, I now look like this:
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Just wait til tomorrow. I’ll be benching armored cars by the end of the week.
oh my god mav! all i can think is betelgeuse. i can’t believe that dead tribal guy shrunk your head too! i’ll beat him up for you.
Nice toy.
Though I must advise you never to abandon calisthenics and the simple virtues of the wheel on a stick and free wieghts in favor of the flash of the fancy machines. (not to knock fancy machines, I love those too)
I’ve just discovered a machine at the Brandeis gym that lets you bend over backwards and upside down and do situps from that position. Especically fun with a weight on your chest. You get some looks when you do that though. The quest for legendary abs continues.
Re: calisthenics – Of course not. That’s what DDR is for. Very important.
Re: wheel on a stick – actually, I can’t find my wheel on a stick. I know I packed it up when I moved, so its in the house somewhere. I need to find it. That’s just a hell of an exercise.
Re: legendary abs – yeah, there is a weighted crunch thing on the home gym we bought. Looking forward to trying that out.
Are you getting a cardio machine of some kind too?
I actually just rediscovered jump ropes a little over a year ago. Simple, but not to be underestimated.
I would love an ellipical machine, but those are pricey and take up lots of space.