Home Gym Guys....What to Buy Next?

[Shark01]

I have been working in the home gym for the last 8 months and will never go back to using an outside gym. So far, I have:

Weider smith machine with upper and lower pulleys
Keys fitness leg extension/curl machine
Yukon HLS2000 Hack Squat/Leg Press machine
Vision fitness programmable stationary bike
Precor treadmill
of course, plates and accessories

I have just enough room for two more pieces of equipment (unless I sell the Corvette), I am thinking about.......

1. Row machine - After I fixed the discrepancy with my legs after getting the two leg machines, my back is the hardest thing to work with std equipment. Other than dumbell rows, I haven't found anything that does the job right. So I'm thinking about either a seated row or T-bar (with back support) row. I love the Hammer Strength iso-lateral row because of the divergent motion (the hands get farther apart as you pull the handles to your body) but don't want to spend $2,000 on a Hammer machine so I'm trying to find a knockoff that has the divergent motion. If not, I'll get a Pro Maxima T-bar row for $300.

2. Assisted Chin/Dip machine - Yeah, I'm a fat-ass so I need the counterbalance so I can do chins. There are a couple of these plate-loaded types that I can get for $500 or so (Powertec, Pro Maxima).

3. Nautilus Bicep Machine - The king of bicep workout equipment, I've wanted one of these for a long time. The Nautilus factory is selling refurbished Next Generation units for $450 (plus $411 shipping). The drawback is spending money for a single purpose machine like this vs. the other two.

Well, I'm open to suggestions for anything else you have in mind or if you are familiar with any of these equipment I'd appreciate a review........thanks

 

[Magnus T Rico]

Go for the assisted Chin/Dip machine. How much are those running by the way?

 

[BigBadBootyDaddy29]

Do you have a power rack? Thats the first thing you should buy, and probably the ony thing you need, if you haven't already got one.....as far as the assisted dip/chin machine, I am not flaming, but they're for sissies, no matter how tough they may seem at this point, anybody, and I mean ANYBODY can build the strength required to do these without assistance, you may never crank out 30 chins, but you can certainly work your way up to the 8-12 range.....Also, don't waste the money on a Nautilus Bicep machine, because while they work, why spend all that on 1 thing to work biceps when barbell curls, preacher curls, d-bell curls used with equipmen you already have work a lot better.....I can't say it enough....spend your cash on a top notch power rack, it is all you truly need.

 

[Hannibal]

Do you have a power rack? Thats the first thing you should buy, and probably the ony thing you need, if you haven't already got one.....as far as the assisted dip/chin machine, I am not flaming, but they're for sissies, no matter how tough they may seem at this point, anybody, and I mean ANYBODY can build the strength required to do these without assistance, you may never crank out 30 chins, but you can certainly work your way up to the 8-12 range.....Also, don't waste the money on a Nautilus Bicep machine, because while they work, why spend all that on 1 thing to work biceps when barbell curls, preacher curls, d-bell curls used with equipmen you already have work a lot better.....I can't say it enough....spend your cash on a top notch power rack, it is all you truly need.

Power Rack, Power Rack, Power Rack....

 

[rjl296]

Power Rack, Power Rack, Power Rack....

yep, #1 priority.

 

[Shark01]

Do you have a power rack? Thats the first thing you should buy, and probably the ony thing you need, if you haven't already got one.....as far as the assisted dip/chin machine, I am not flaming, but they're for sissies, no matter how tough they may seem at this point, anybody, and I mean ANYBODY can build the strength required to do these without assistance, you may never crank out 30 chins, but you can certainly work your way up to the 8-12 range.....Also, don't waste the money on a Nautilus Bicep machine, because while they work, why spend all that on 1 thing to work biceps when barbell curls, preacher curls, d-bell curls used with equipmen you already have work a lot better.....I can't say it enough....spend your cash on a top notch power rack, it is all you truly need.

I guess I'm a sissy then, I'm only able to do 120 lb pulldowns (not including the bar, weight carriage etc.) for 12 reps at a body weight of 292 (told you I am a fat-ass, but at least I don't weigh over 400 lbs anymore ). I will disagree about the Nautilus bicep machine though, its the best thing going.......but I understand about spending that kind of money on a single purpose machine, its just a guilty pleasure........like the thing I have for Tonya Harding

Oh, the less expensive assisted chin/dip machines go about $500

 

[t3c]

first of all, congrats on losing a TON of weight. That is amazing. How did you do it?

I would have gotten a powerrack first if i were you

 

[BigBadBootyDaddy29]

Yeah, good job on the weight loss...You're not a sissy, I don't have big enough balls to be able to drop 100lbs, so that says you're serious right there...what I meant was don't sell yourself short, being tough in the gym isn't about the poundages you are using, it is about the effort put forth.......do the lat pulldowns and continue to lose weight and when you can do 4 chins, start doing them, you should seriously get a power rack though......it kills me when people avoid a hard exercise because they feel they aren;t good enough at it...nobody is all that good at an exercise when they first start, thats why you train, to set goals for yourself to work towards, not to be able to do everything when you begin........And even though I hate Nautilus machines, if it came down to that or Tonya Harding, I'd take the Nautilus Machine, so it could be worse.....I won't even get into my guilty pleasures......but to get on track, what are your goals? wwhats your age and height? and how do you have your current diet and routine set up now? When you post your routine I will show you how everything ese is a waste of money you can be spending on Tonya Harding merchandise because a power rack is ALL you need.

 

[Rich_S]

I guess I'm a sissy then, I'm only able to do 120 lb pulldowns (not including the bar, weight carriage etc.) for 12 reps at a body weight of 292

Umm, I weigh 245 and I can do 12 chins with 90 lbs attached to my waist. There was a time when I could only do 2-3 chins with just my bodyweight. You can get there - use a crate or a step to assist yourself until you can do a full rep on your own and then work from there. Pulldown machines and assisted chin/dip machines are VERY POOR substitutes for the real thing.

As far as equipment goes - I have an adjustable bench, a power rack, Olympic barbell/curl bar/dumbells, 600 some odd pounds of plates, and a glute ham raise bench and that's all I would ever recommend for anyone else.

 

[Lee]

treadmill and assisted dip machine, or a power rack instead of treadmill