Home Gym - 30+ wrestler

[drcrook]

Hey Folks,

I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as my main sport 6 days/week. Im 150 and 5’9”. Im pretty fit given the nature of my sport.

Id like to get up to 165 and gain some of that lifter type strength to help out. A lot of the other guys are 180-220 and 6’ or so can be a bit tough; so I figure if i had another 15 lbs of lifter muscle on me, id do good.

I have free weights and bars etc. Ive just got such bad sciatica that free weights will immobilize me for a week or two, while machines seem to help with the problem. I think much of it is due to spine compression and i tore some stabilizer muscles earlier this year doing clean and jerks.

I was looking at a bowflex xtreme se 2 primarily because of all the positions the pulleys can go to provide a variety of angles to work muscles from. Pr3000 is also on the short list.

Based on my reading though folks dont like the resistance rods.

2 questions:
1. With the 310 lb upgrade can i hit that 165 weight?
2. What would be an alternative with similar space and price points with similar range of exsercize motions?

I expect my goal to take upwards of 6-12 months given i need to be a bit slow due to the number of injuries accumulated over the years.

By hit that weight, im looking at pound for pound strength, not just sheer bulk; but if its good looking bulk my wife wont mind and im not in the competition circuit any more.

Thanks!

[irongrandpa]

Hey Folks,

I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as my main sport 6 days/week. Im 150 and 5’9”. Im pretty fit given the nature of my sport.

Id like to get up to 165 and gain some of that lifter type strength to help out. A lot of the other guys are 180-220 and 6’ or so can be a bit tough; so I figure if i had another 15 lbs of lifter muscle on me, id do good.

I have free weights and bars etc. Ive just got such bad sciatica that free weights will immobilize me for a week or two, while machines seem to help with the problem. I think much of it is due to spine compression and i tore some stabilizer muscles earlier this year doing clean and jerks.

I was looking at a bowflex xtreme se 2 primarily because of all the positions the pulleys can go to provide a variety of angles to work muscles from. Pr3000 is also on the short list.

Based on my reading though folks dont like the resistance rods.

2 questions:
1. With the 310 lb upgrade can i hit that 165 weight?
2. What would be an alternative with similar space and price points with similar range of exsercize motions?

I expect my goal to take upwards of 6-12 months given i need to be a bit slow due to the number of injuries accumulated over the years.

By hit that weight, im looking at pound for pound strength, not just sheer bulk; but if its good looking bulk my wife wont mind and im not in the competition circuit any more.



Thanks!

This reply is a little off your topic but since you mentioned the limitations using free weights causing sciatica issues I thought I would share what solved my sciatica issue. I started using a reverse hyper regularly and I haven't had any issues since. I don't know if you have access to one or have the room to add one to a home gym but it resulted in complete relief for me.

[drcrook]

This reply is a little off your topic but since you mentioned the limitations using free weights causing sciatica issues I thought I would share what solved my sciatica issue. I started using a reverse hyper regularly and I haven't had any issues since. I don't know if you have access to one or have the room to add one to a home gym but it resulted in complete relief for me.

Im putting the setup in my home office which is also a guest room (luckily its big). Not sure i have room for two peices of equipment. What excerises seemed to fix you back? It starts at L4/5 and into S1 for me.

It would be good to ensure machine i pick can incorporate excersizes that assist those areas as well

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Hey Folks,

I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as my main sport 6 days/week. Im 150 and 5’9”. Im pretty fit given the nature of my sport.

Id like to get up to 165 and gain some of that lifter type strength to help out. A lot of the other guys are 180-220 and 6’ or so can be a bit tough; so I figure if i had another 15 lbs of lifter muscle on me, id do good.

I have free weights and bars etc. Ive just got such bad sciatica that free weights will immobilize me for a week or two, while machines seem to help with the problem. I think much of it is due to spine compression and i tore some stabilizer muscles earlier this year doing clean and jerks.

I was looking at a bowflex xtreme se 2 primarily because of all the positions the pulleys can go to provide a variety of angles to work muscles from. Pr3000 is also on the short list.

Based on my reading though folks dont like the resistance rods.

2 questions:
1. With the 310 lb upgrade can i hit that 165 weight?
2. What would be an alternative with similar space and price points with similar range of exsercize motions?

I expect my goal to take upwards of 6-12 months given i need to be a bit slow due to the number of injuries accumulated over the years.

By hit that weight, im looking at pound for pound strength, not just sheer bulk; but if its good looking bulk my wife wont mind and im not in the competition circuit any more.

Thanks!

I thought I'd mention these since you're working around back pain and since these setups are becoming all the rage these days, but you could use a dip belt, or get a belt squat belt (more comfortable than the dip belt chain digging into your thighs with weight attached) and test it out on a cheaper rig such as a barbell butted up against the corner of a wall (maybe eventually get a stand alone landmine attachment for it) and hook the belt near the opposite side of the barbell before the sleeve to test out belt squats which takes the loaded weight/pressure off the spine and places it below you instead to strengthen and build your legs.

Another way to do them if they are of some relevance to your workouts is to get a belt squat belt and a loading pin and attach them together and have two raised blocks, or some kind of step up platforms to squat the weight in between them.

The two methods above are the cheaper DIY ways to set these up, but there are also stand alone and mounted belt squat stations available as well (these would be a slight risk to drop coin on though without testing the cheaper alternatives and seeing how they gradually feel with your back).

[irongrandpa]

Im putting the setup in my home office which is also a guest room (luckily its big). Not sure i have room for two peices of equipment. What excerises seemed to fix you back? It starts at L4/5 and into S1 for me.

It would be good to ensure machine i pick can incorporate excersizes that assist those areas as well

My problem wasn't back pain , but rather, sciatica issues that caused pain at the hip and down my leg. Daily stretching and regular use of the reverse hyper has completely eliminated all the sciatica issues.

[drcrook]

Cool, I'm starting a daily routing worked into my work schedule which is every 2 hours do 10 minutes of "stuff". That stuff I hope to help improve my sciatica but also build up the muscle.
10am - stretch
12noon - full body warm up
2pm - heavy lift
5pm - stretch

M, W, F is Upper Body for the 2pm block
T, Th is Hips, Core & Lower Body for the 2pm block

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for 1-2 hours daily as well which is a bit of everything and very cardio intensive.

As my home office only has room for a "compact" gym; I'm hoping to find a single piece of equipment for that noon and 2pm slot daily. That will assist in gaining the size I'm looking for (extra 15lbs). The size profile of the bowflex is pretty attractive with all the excersizes it provides. I was just hoping to find something basically like that, but maybe I can put plates on it instead. I've found a few options, but they are twice the size of the bowflex.

Actual Machine I Bought
I ended up with the Valor Fitness BD-62 and a few grips. Why? Its only 25"L x 25"W; so the footprint is SO small it hardly takes up space in the office. Additionally, it was only $270. Worst case scenario, it is a small footprint cheap piece of extra equipment providing a range of exercises. I also already have all the plates and benches to make it shine. Based on what I'm reading about the bowflex with least resistance at the bottom of the motion, I just couldn't justify it because in Jiu Jitsu, the most pressure is at the bottom of the motion (getting out of a headlock type position or various positions of immobilization). The least pressure is fully extended, because you create a frame with your joints. So, to build muscle for my sport, I figured I needed to ensure I had consistent resistance throughout the motion. I believe this machine will provide the variety necessary to bulk up with the safety of the cables to help with my injury recovery issues as well. I believe I can hit a full body work out with this thing as well; though it would be nice to do leg extensions with it; maybe if I get creative with the bench and a bottom position pulley.

So regarding the issues I had with it during my thought process: I resolved the bench because I already have a few. I found demos using the pulleys to do what I wanted without grinding them against their own bodies & necks; so, that ended up selling it for me (as well as price, because I can get the bigger model as well and be at the same price as just the bowflex).

What I was thinking before I bought the machine.

Examples from Amazon:
1. This is the most compact and interesting I think: Valor Fitness BD-62 Wall Mount Cable Station with Adjustable Dual Pulley System and Strap Handles for Functional Home Gym (links not allowed apparently)
2. This is a bit too big: Valor Fitness BD-61 Cable Crossover Station with LAT Pull, Row Bar, and Multi-Grip Pull-Up Station with Bundle Option

#1 just needs a bench and the pulleys need to be shoulder width apart, not 2" apart.

Hoping to find something in the $800 or less range which is essentially the bowflex but plates. The main attractive feature of the bowflex being just all the pulleys w/grips and a lat bar, while the others to accomplish bench presses & Flys have that giant fixed bar thing which only allows for a single motion range; while I would really benefit more from many ranges due to the focus being to gain weight and strength for my sport.

Thanks!