Pound
01-03-2017, 11:54 AM
Here's the scenario...
Both my wife and I are wanting a home gym, but we can't come to a full agreement on what to get.
I'm an old school traditionalist, but for her, free weights are out of the question (too manly I guess). We're going to put whatever we get in a sitting area in our bedroom. We've got about a 9x9 area with a little more room for moving around. There are tons of options that will fit in that space.
I've considered a full set of dumbells up to 80lbs w/a good bench. She doesn't like that idea. Her top choice is a multi-function machine like the TuffStuff AXT-225 or SXT-550. I'm okay with that (particularly the 550 because of the extra cables), but the leg extension thing just kinda gets in the way for me. I don't do many leg extensions. Legs seems to be a high priority for her but she HATES squats. They sell a leg press add-on for those two that's very nice, but adds a grand to the price. They're both very well built machines, nearly commercial quality. In fact nicer that some I've seen in apartments or hotels. I was about 95% convinced to settle for that. Then at the last second, I started looking closer at the "functional trainers" like the CXT-200. It's a very cool machine with TONS of exercises you can do, but it's 100% cables. And again for her, she really likes the idea of leg extensions/curls/press. And on the functional trainers, you're relegated to squats, lunges, etc for legs.
Additional considerations, I have 4 boys, 3 of which still live at home and would also get use out of whatever we buy. If it were completely up to her, she'd be fine w/something from academy at about 1/3 the price of tuffstuff/hoist, etc. and lastly, she and I both have access to gyms outside the house. So this would really just be for convenience of working out at home.
Both my wife and I are wanting a home gym, but we can't come to a full agreement on what to get.
I'm an old school traditionalist, but for her, free weights are out of the question (too manly I guess). We're going to put whatever we get in a sitting area in our bedroom. We've got about a 9x9 area with a little more room for moving around. There are tons of options that will fit in that space.
I've considered a full set of dumbells up to 80lbs w/a good bench. She doesn't like that idea. Her top choice is a multi-function machine like the TuffStuff AXT-225 or SXT-550. I'm okay with that (particularly the 550 because of the extra cables), but the leg extension thing just kinda gets in the way for me. I don't do many leg extensions. Legs seems to be a high priority for her but she HATES squats. They sell a leg press add-on for those two that's very nice, but adds a grand to the price. They're both very well built machines, nearly commercial quality. In fact nicer that some I've seen in apartments or hotels. I was about 95% convinced to settle for that. Then at the last second, I started looking closer at the "functional trainers" like the CXT-200. It's a very cool machine with TONS of exercises you can do, but it's 100% cables. And again for her, she really likes the idea of leg extensions/curls/press. And on the functional trainers, you're relegated to squats, lunges, etc for legs.
Additional considerations, I have 4 boys, 3 of which still live at home and would also get use out of whatever we buy. If it were completely up to her, she'd be fine w/something from academy at about 1/3 the price of tuffstuff/hoist, etc. and lastly, she and I both have access to gyms outside the house. So this would really just be for convenience of working out at home.