Home Gym Help

[RickyBoxler]

Soon I will be buying a new condo/house , and Im spending extra money to get an extra room for the sole purpose of a workout room.

Im not exactly sure what to get though, Im not new to working out..i have been going to my local gym for the past 5 years or so..but the hardest part of working out for me is just getting the motivation to actually get up 5 days a week to goto teh gym. Anyways, I was thinking about just getting a BowFlex ( I havent yet decided which one..im getting the DVD explaining them sometime this week), probaly their best one which is 2500, a stationary bike machine, and some adjustable dumbells.

At the gym I use both machines and free weights, I like to try and mix it up and break the routine..having never used a bowflex...or bought anything to workout with at home, Im not exactly sure what to get, or what set up to use.

Help would be appreciated

[RickyBoxler]

After reading what a bunch of people had to say about the BowFlex I am thinking its probaly not for me. Im not looking to compete or anything, but I am looking to keep good uperbody size/definition and atleast keep toned legs. I really like to do free weigh benching, but being at home i think I will have a hard time with that. So I figured a bowflex with all the seperate exercises would work for me..but like I said earlier it doesnt sound like it will be the quality/resistance that I want.

Im thinking I need some type of tower for tricep pulldowns, lat pull downs and other various cable exercises. Some free weights for other tricep,trap,shoulder exercises. And then honestly Im not sure what I can get to use my space the best (im not sure how much I will have yet because I havent gotten the place..might be 100 square ft..might be 500), and withtout spending a bajillion dollars ( I have a decent amount of money..but i dont want to just waste it on unneccesary equipment).

[AZIronMine]

I'm not a fan of Bowflex, but they must be a good solution for many others (they seem to sell enough of 'em).

I prefer iron, but it depends upon what you are trying to accomplish.

Do you have pecific goals (size, strength, speed, general health/fitness, weight loss, ...) ? And how about limitations (sq ft / space, cost) ?

I've put together a heck of a garage gym over the years and learned quite a lot about equipment.

Whether you chose a Bowflex or iron or something else, best advice I could give is think through it - questions as noted above. Good luck !

[country_joe]

I bought my equipment from www.newyorkbarbells.com. Great equipment, good price and free shipping on most items. Weights i got on sale from Sports authority store. 300lbs olympic bar and weights for $100. Shop around and save some $. Can't beat free weights for size and strenght. I can do all bands on Bowflex Machine with no problem!