I'm looking to shape up and lose some weight. So i'm in the market for a treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike. Does anyone have any recommendations in the 350$ and under range? Or which kind is best and why etc. Thanks.
I would check something like this against what consumer reports says. Is working out in a gym out of the question? In a gym you'll have a variety of bikes, treadmills, and ellipticals to work out on to keep from getting bored and switch things up.
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
That does seem pretty interesting. I'll have to figure out where I can put it, though. I'm not sure if there's room in the gym.
The only piece of equipment that I use regularly is a recumbent bike. It's only OK for exercise, but it does allow me to play video games and get some exercise in. For real exercise, I bike, play sports, and do bodyweight exercises. After my last injury (golfing, of all things) I'm back to doing the stretching that I never should have stopped.
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
That does seem pretty interesting. I'll have to figure out where I can put it, though. I'm not sure if there's room in the gym.
The only piece of equipment that I use regularly is a recumbent bike. It's only OK for exercise, but it does allow me to play video games and get some exercise in. For real exercise, I bike, play sports, and do bodyweight exercises. After my last injury (golfing, of all things) I'm back to doing the stretching that I never should have stopped.
If you're concerned about mountings and the such, you can always get one of these. Altogether, as long as you have standard ceilings, the total footprint isn't much more than a treadmill.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I'm mostly thinking about where it could go. It would be nice to get it in the company gym, but I'm not sure how much room we have in our new space. We'll see.
If you're concerned about mountings and the such, you can always get one of these.
Come to Austin and get mine before I chop it up to repurpose the metal!
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Location: Vancouver, WA, USA, Earth, Milky Way, Universe B
Monday, September 17th, 2007 - 4:50pm
Paleocon wrote:
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
I miss my punching bag. My dad bought me one when I was 13, kept me in the best shape of my life until I went off for college. My dad was too cheap to get my gloves though, when I was 18 my knuckles were so hard I could punch just about anything and feel no pain. In college, I did the whole gym rat bodybuilding thing for a couple years, did the running a couple miles every day thing too. They worked fine, but dang did that punching bag work. Plus it took alot less time to get similar results. 5 minutes of a punching bag and you're sucking wind.
Paleocon, you seem much more informed about punching bags then I am. Is there any punching bags you'd suggest that would be more portable? I have a very small space in my garage where I could put one, the whole metal hanging brace and bag are just a bit too big. Thanks.
I have a very small space in my garage where I could put one, the whole metal hanging brace and bag are just a bit too big. Thanks.
Do you have exposed rafters in the garage?
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
I miss my punching bag. My dad bought me one when I was 13, kept me in the best shape of my life until I went off for college. My dad was too cheap to get my gloves though, when I was 18 my knuckles were so hard I could punch just about anything and feel no pain. In college, I did the whole gym rat bodybuilding thing for a couple years, did the running a couple miles every day thing too. They worked fine, but dang did that punching bag work. Plus it took alot less time to get similar results. 5 minutes of a punching bag and you're sucking wind.
Paleocon, you seem much more informed about punching bags then I am. Is there any punching bags you'd suggest that would be more portable? I have a very small space in my garage where I could put one, the whole metal hanging brace and bag are just a bit too big. Thanks.
Stay away from the water-filled base bags. They suck a lot.
If you have exposed beams in your garage, you can just hang it straight off the rafters. You don't have to go with the full 100 pound Thai bag I pointed to above. They say you should be looking at a bag that is roughly half your body weight, but don't feel like you have to. You'll get plenty of sweat out of a lighter bag.
If you're really pressed for space, get a headhunter or mexican double-end bag. That will work your accuracy and reaction time bigtime.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I would check something like this against what consumer reports says. Is working out in a gym out of the question? In a gym you'll have a variety of bikes, treadmills, and ellipticals to work out on to keep from getting bored and switch things up.
Mimble and I tried going that route. It arrived broken and they wouldn't ship us a replacement unless we bought a second one, then they'd refund the cost of the first when they got the broken one back in the store. Oddly enough, getting a refund and having them haul away the broken one was far less hassle.
Lesson learned: Never buy anything from Sears (in Vancouver, at least), that you can't get on the bus.
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. - Oscar Wilde
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.) - Roedy Green
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
I'm trying to get back on an exercise program, and I really want to get a bag. That was one of my favorite things when I used to go to the gym a lot.
I'm looking into getting exercise equipment for the house as well. The wife wants an elliptical machine, I want dumbbells and a pull-up/dip station. There's a great gym about a mile from the house, but I can't get myself to pay their "membership fee", which would be an upfront payment, in addition to the monthly fee.
Kettlebells rock. Really helps to do a class once or something though, as a lot of the best exercises are non-intuitive.
I'm a HUGE proponent of "lift heavy things until you can't," and "get outside" as fundamental precepts for exercise.
In my house, on those occasions where I haven't been able to get to the gym regularly for whatever reason, I have a handful of things that make the grade:
I have a set of rollers for my bike and I'll pretty much run in any weather. If you take all that, and toss in a dozen or so strength excercises that only require random pieces of furniture and a little Yoga and you'll be a rock in no time.
Oh, and if you are going to go through the trouble of getting and mounting a heavybag, take a couple lessons at a reputable boxing gym to learn the basics. Stay away from the aerobic boxing posers. Those will get you hurt and badly. You'll thank me later.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I'll second Paleocon on the lessons and whichever kind of bag you get, don't skimp on the appropriate bag gloves and hand wraps. My ex was a boxer, and my boys have both been involved.
For a heavy bag, my son's coach had him get this pair of gloves and these wraps. For the speed bag/etc, the wraps work fine on their own. Your local karate supplier will also have a good selection. Just make sure they're real cotton, and most grown-ups wear the 180" size. Some people swear by the new-fangled neoprene/gel stuff, but Coach wouldn't have none of that.
Just make sure you get more than one pair because you'll need to wash them and they're a pain in the you-guessed-it to dry. Store them by rolling the Velcro end into the center and wrapping the inner loop around them rather than the other way around. That way you don't have to unroll them to put them on.
And always wash them alone or with a dark load because no matter what color they are they leak dye like you just poured it into the machine and they'll do it until they fade to an weird muddy shade of their former self.
Duoae wrote:
Crouton wrote:
The upside is that these problems are potentially soluble.
I'll second Paleocon on the lessons and whichever kind of bag you get, don't skimp on the appropriate bag gloves and hand wraps. My ex was a boxer, and my boys have both been involved.
For a heavy bag, my son's coach had him get this pair of gloves and these wraps. For the speed bag/etc, the wraps work fine on their own. Your local karate supplier will also have a good selection. Just make sure they're real cotton, and most grown-ups wear the 180" size. Some people swear by the new-fangled neoprene/gel stuff, but Coach wouldn't have none of that.
Just make sure you get more than one pair because you'll need to wash them and they're a pain in the you-guessed-it to dry. Store them by rolling the Velcro end into the center and wrapping the inner loop around them rather than the other way around. That way you don't have to unroll them to put them on.
And always wash them alone or with a dark load because no matter what color they are they leak dye like you just poured it into the machine and they'll do it until they fade to an weird muddy shade of their former self.
Listen to Mom. She speaks much truth.
The cloth wraps you get at Sports Authority or Dick's are complete crap. They are way too short to be useful. 180 feet is just right for most adults. I prefer the Mexican style wraps, myself though because they have a tiny bit of stretch in them which makes them more likely to stay on your hands without the aid of athletic tape to hold the end down. She's also right that the gel wraps are for crap.
Getting good bag gloves is a must. Don't use speedbag gloves on the heavybag. You will hurt yourself. If you're really paranoid about your hands, get a pair of 16oz training gloves. You'll sweat like a big sweaty thing and get the workout of your life, but you'll also feel like you're having a heart attack after 4-5 rounds using one of these.
The 16oz training gloves also give you the advantage of being great sparring gloves. Oh, and shadowboxing gets a lot harder as well.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
Yah, learning how to hit a bag is important. If for no other reason that if you do it wrong you're going to end up exhausted and sore in 2 minutes flat. Plus, a good heavy-bag workout involves a tremendous amount of footwork practice (at least, how I was taught back in the 70s, you know, when there were cavemen in the gym with me) and you don't just make that up.
I don't recommend using just wraps for the heavy bag, if for no other reason that you WILL slip occasionally and at least drag your second knuckle across the bag, and if you are using a canvas back, you are GOING to lose skin. If you are using a leather bag/bob and weave you can get away with just wraps once you get a little better.
Learning how to do your wraps is also not as simple as it seems. Here's basically how I do mine:
Yah, learning how to hit a bag is important. If for no other reason that if you do it wrong you're going to end up exhausted and sore in 2 minutes flat. Plus, a good heavy-bag workout involves a tremendous amount of footwork practice (at least, how I was taught back in the 70s, you know, when there were cavemen in the gym with me) and you don't just make that up.
I don't recommend using just wraps for the heavy bag, if for no other reason that you WILL slip occasionally and at least drag your second knuckle across the bag, and if you are using a canvas back, you are GOING to lose skin. If you are using a leather bag/bob and weave you can get away with just wraps once you get a little better.
Learning how to do your wraps is also not as simple as it seems. Here's basically how I do mine:
Why are they hard to dry? I just toss 'em in with the laundry? Mine are just natural canvas colored.
The colored ones are the real pain and Coach insisted because the club had uniforms. Also, there's just you, isn't there. With the guys, we were doing four sets at once. This is an exercise in Gordian insanity when you open the dryer door.
And I didn't recommend just wraps for the heavy bag EVER - that's for the speed bag. There are speed bag gloves for real tyros, though. This was just a bare miniumum suggestion to get started.
Interesting wrap technique link. The format is excellent. Makes a heck of a lot more sense than most do. I actually recommend something like this for beginners. It's more complicated, but since it goes between each finger it keeps it from getting scraped back off your knuckles when you hit wrong (and you will) and instead of wrapping all that around your thumb in the beginning this one concentrates around your knuckles (which also works better in the glove).
YMMV. I suggest you try both and see which one you like.
Duoae wrote:
Crouton wrote:
The upside is that these problems are potentially soluble.
I was pondering starting a thread to ask if anyone could recommend a good upright bike, so perhaps I will just pose the question here.
I'm looking for a bike with a smaller footprint that isn't going to break on me. Winter is coming and I want to add biking to my running routine. Recommendations?
I guess it depends on the kind of workout you want to do. If I had $350 to spend I'd look for an adjustable bench and dumbbells like this: http://www.amazon.com/Dumbbell-Package-Quality-Upholstered-Adjustable/dp... (Can't comment on the quality of this example, I picked it because it fits in the budget.)
My problem with buying equipment when I start out is that I usually change my mind. I.e., the elliptical trainer is great until I get into a bit better shape, then the treadmill is fun, then I run outside. Continued enforced use of a single piece of cardo equipment becomes boring quickly for me.
So I'd say think about easing into the workout and saving money for after it becomes a habit. Start walking and stretching. Try a small purchase first. Get some pilates dvds, new running shoes, light dumbbells and a simple bench. Then, after you've gotten used to them and into the swing of things, you'll have a better idea of where to invest. I like dumbbells for working out, one additional advantage w/ building a home gym with them is you can start by buying the cheap little ones and gradually work your way up to a full set.
*Legion* wrote:
There's not enough bandwidth on a thousand Internets to detail what's wrong with that idea.
I was pondering starting a thread to ask if anyone could recommend a good upright bike, so perhaps I will just pose the question here.
I'm looking for a bike with a smaller footprint that isn't going to break on me. Winter is coming and I want to add biking to my running routine. Recommendations?
Lesson learned: Never buy anything from Sears (in Vancouver, at least), that you can't get on the bus.
Oh, I wasn't recommending the store, but the type of bike. With all the bikes, though, you have to be ready to return it if it doesn't end up giving you what you need. About seven years ago I went nuts and bought a Lifecycle. It was extremely expensive, but it still works good as new after hours and hours of use.
Serenj, another option for your budget is one of the original Nordictrak. They're generally available used in the local classifieds. It takes a few hours to get used to using one, but they are very solid pieces of equipment and last a long time.
If you can stretch your budget, here's what I just picked up in preparation for moving to a place with a real winter.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Re the choice of the jumprope -- I suggest a rubber-tubed one. Much quieter. Also, tons of high quality boxing and competitive MA supplies are also sold CombatSports.com. Let the white trash 'rassling/MMA t-shirts on the frontpage not deter you.
I don't recommend using just wraps for the heavy bag, if for no other reason that you WILL slip occasionally and at least drag your second knuckle across the bag, and if you are using a canvas back, you are GOING to lose skin. If you are using a leather bag/bob and weave you can get away with just wraps once you get a little better.
Learning how to do your wraps is also not as simple as it seems. Here's basically how I do mine:
I have had a heavy bag for about 7 years now, and Rabbit speaks the truth on this. My bag is 50lbs and made out of canvas. However, I stopped using gloves a long time ago sticking with just the wraps and have lost a good few square centimeters of skin from my knuckles. I found that it was much more satisfying to hit with just the wraps on then with the gloves. If you do indeed choose to go this route, I found that applying small amount of electrical tape to cover your knuckles works well. Not exactly the "right" way to do it I know, but I got into this habit a long time ago and it just seems natural to me now.
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
Here is what I recommend. You'll want these, these, and this too. And I'm still WAY under budget.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I shall watch this thread like a hawk.
XBox Live|Tshirts|xfire | Last.fm
I would check something like this against what consumer reports says. Is working out in a gym out of the question? In a gym you'll have a variety of bikes, treadmills, and ellipticals to work out on to keep from getting bored and switch things up.
Get something upon which clothes hang well, since that will be its eventual solitary role.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
That does seem pretty interesting. I'll have to figure out where I can put it, though. I'm not sure if there's room in the gym.
The only piece of equipment that I use regularly is a recumbent bike. It's only OK for exercise, but it does allow me to play video games and get some exercise in. For real exercise, I bike, play sports, and do bodyweight exercises. After my last injury (golfing, of all things) I'm back to doing the stretching that I never should have stopped.
XBox Live: PoppinfreshGWJ
LobsterMobster wrote:
If you're concerned about mountings and the such, you can always get one of these. Altogether, as long as you have standard ceilings, the total footprint isn't much more than a treadmill.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I'm mostly thinking about where it could go. It would be nice to get it in the company gym, but I'm not sure how much room we have in our new space. We'll see.
XBox Live: PoppinfreshGWJ
LobsterMobster wrote:
Come to Austin and get mine before I chop it up to repurpose the metal!
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
DAMMIT! You have a double end bag stand on it too!! Why can't you live someplace civilized (ie: not in the South)?
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
Hey! Here in Austin we use forks and even say "Beg yur pardon" after a barbecue burp, at least if some womenfolk is around.
.
Here's another low-space suggestion. A kettlebell can give you a mean workout.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
I miss my punching bag. My dad bought me one when I was 13, kept me in the best shape of my life until I went off for college. My dad was too cheap to get my gloves though, when I was 18 my knuckles were so hard I could punch just about anything and feel no pain. In college, I did the whole gym rat bodybuilding thing for a couple years, did the running a couple miles every day thing too. They worked fine, but dang did that punching bag work. Plus it took alot less time to get similar results. 5 minutes of a punching bag and you're sucking wind.
Paleocon, you seem much more informed about punching bags then I am. Is there any punching bags you'd suggest that would be more portable? I have a very small space in my garage where I could put one, the whole metal hanging brace and bag are just a bit too big. Thanks.
XBL: elliottxW
WoW: Jozak - 80 Death Knight
Do you have exposed rafters in the garage?
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Stay away from the water-filled base bags. They suck a lot.
If you have exposed beams in your garage, you can just hang it straight off the rafters. You don't have to go with the full 100 pound Thai bag I pointed to above. They say you should be looking at a bag that is roughly half your body weight, but don't feel like you have to. You'll get plenty of sweat out of a lighter bag.
If you're really pressed for space, get a headhunter or mexican double-end bag. That will work your accuracy and reaction time bigtime.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
Mimble and I tried going that route. It arrived broken and they wouldn't ship us a replacement unless we bought a second one, then they'd refund the cost of the first when they got the broken one back in the store. Oddly enough, getting a refund and having them haul away the broken one was far less hassle.
Lesson learned: Never buy anything from Sears (in Vancouver, at least), that you can't get on the bus.
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. - Oscar Wilde
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.) - Roedy Green
I'm trying to get back on an exercise program, and I really want to get a bag. That was one of my favorite things when I used to go to the gym a lot.
I'm looking into getting exercise equipment for the house as well. The wife wants an elliptical machine, I want dumbbells and a pull-up/dip station. There's a great gym about a mile from the house, but I can't get myself to pay their "membership fee", which would be an upfront payment, in addition to the monthly fee.
Xbox Live Gamercard - bennard
Beer For Ben
Kettlebells rock. Really helps to do a class once or something though, as a lot of the best exercises are non-intuitive.
I'm a HUGE proponent of "lift heavy things until you can't," and "get outside" as fundamental precepts for exercise.
In my house, on those occasions where I haven't been able to get to the gym regularly for whatever reason, I have a handful of things that make the grade:
Jump Rope
Heavy Bag
Speed Bag
Pull Up Bar.
Nesting Dumbells
I have a set of rollers for my bike and I'll pretty much run in any weather. If you take all that, and toss in a dozen or so strength excercises that only require random pieces of furniture and a little Yoga and you'll be a rock in no time.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
Oh, and if you are going to go through the trouble of getting and mounting a heavybag, take a couple lessons at a reputable boxing gym to learn the basics. Stay away from the aerobic boxing posers. Those will get you hurt and badly. You'll thank me later.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I'll second Paleocon on the lessons and whichever kind of bag you get, don't skimp on the appropriate bag gloves and hand wraps. My ex was a boxer, and my boys have both been involved.
For a heavy bag, my son's coach had him get this pair of gloves and these wraps. For the speed bag/etc, the wraps work fine on their own. Your local karate supplier will also have a good selection. Just make sure they're real cotton, and most grown-ups wear the 180" size. Some people swear by the new-fangled neoprene/gel stuff, but Coach wouldn't have none of that.
Just make sure you get more than one pair because you'll need to wash them and they're a pain in the you-guessed-it to dry. Store them by rolling the Velcro end into the center and wrapping the inner loop around them rather than the other way around. That way you don't have to unroll them to put them on.
And always wash them alone or with a dark load because no matter what color they are they leak dye like you just poured it into the machine and they'll do it until they fade to an weird muddy shade of their former self.
Duoae wrote:
Listen to Mom. She speaks much truth.
The cloth wraps you get at Sports Authority or Dick's are complete crap. They are way too short to be useful. 180 feet is just right for most adults. I prefer the Mexican style wraps, myself though because they have a tiny bit of stretch in them which makes them more likely to stay on your hands without the aid of athletic tape to hold the end down. She's also right that the gel wraps are for crap.
Getting good bag gloves is a must. Don't use speedbag gloves on the heavybag. You will hurt yourself. If you're really paranoid about your hands, get a pair of 16oz training gloves. You'll sweat like a big sweaty thing and get the workout of your life, but you'll also feel like you're having a heart attack after 4-5 rounds using one of these.
The 16oz training gloves also give you the advantage of being great sparring gloves. Oh, and shadowboxing gets a lot harder as well.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
Yah, learning how to hit a bag is important. If for no other reason that if you do it wrong you're going to end up exhausted and sore in 2 minutes flat. Plus, a good heavy-bag workout involves a tremendous amount of footwork practice (at least, how I was taught back in the 70s, you know, when there were cavemen in the gym with me) and you don't just make that up.
I don't recommend using just wraps for the heavy bag, if for no other reason that you WILL slip occasionally and at least drag your second knuckle across the bag, and if you are using a canvas back, you are GOING to lose skin. If you are using a leather bag/bob and weave you can get away with just wraps once you get a little better.
Learning how to do your wraps is also not as simple as it seems. Here's basically how I do mine:
http://www.boxinggyms.com/tips/wraps/eugene01.htm
Why are they hard to dry? I just toss 'em in with the laundry? Mine are just natural canvas colored.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
I like that timer! You would be amazed at how long 3 minutes can be when you're holding your thumbs in front of your mouth.
Duoae wrote:
The colored ones are the real pain and Coach insisted because the club had uniforms. Also, there's just you, isn't there. With the guys, we were doing four sets at once. This is an exercise in Gordian insanity when you open the dryer door.
And I didn't recommend just wraps for the heavy bag EVER - that's for the speed bag. There are speed bag gloves for real tyros, though. This was just a bare miniumum suggestion to get started.
Interesting wrap technique link. The format is excellent. Makes a heck of a lot more sense than most do. I actually recommend something like this for beginners. It's more complicated, but since it goes between each finger it keeps it from getting scraped back off your knuckles when you hit wrong (and you will) and instead of wrapping all that around your thumb in the beginning this one concentrates around your knuckles (which also works better in the glove).
YMMV. I suggest you try both and see which one you like.
Duoae wrote:
I was pondering starting a thread to ask if anyone could recommend a good upright bike, so perhaps I will just pose the question here.
I'm looking for a bike with a smaller footprint that isn't going to break on me. Winter is coming and I want to add biking to my running routine. Recommendations?
I guess it depends on the kind of workout you want to do. If I had $350 to spend I'd look for an adjustable bench and dumbbells like this: http://www.amazon.com/Dumbbell-Package-Quality-Upholstered-Adjustable/dp... (Can't comment on the quality of this example, I picked it because it fits in the budget.)
My problem with buying equipment when I start out is that I usually change my mind. I.e., the elliptical trainer is great until I get into a bit better shape, then the treadmill is fun, then I run outside. Continued enforced use of a single piece of cardo equipment becomes boring quickly for me.
So I'd say think about easing into the workout and saving money for after it becomes a habit. Start walking and stretching. Try a small purchase first. Get some pilates dvds, new running shoes, light dumbbells and a simple bench. Then, after you've gotten used to them and into the swing of things, you'll have a better idea of where to invest. I like dumbbells for working out, one additional advantage w/ building a home gym with them is you can start by buying the cheap little ones and gradually work your way up to a full set.
*Legion* wrote:
informationgames.info
http://twitter.com/nnschiller
If you've already got a bike, hows' bout an indoor trainer?
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/sub_cat.cfm?subcategory_id=4120
*Legion* wrote:
informationgames.info
http://twitter.com/nnschiller
Oh, I wasn't recommending the store, but the type of bike. With all the bikes, though, you have to be ready to return it if it doesn't end up giving you what you need. About seven years ago I went nuts and bought a Lifecycle. It was extremely expensive, but it still works good as new after hours and hours of use.
Serenj, another option for your budget is one of the original Nordictrak. They're generally available used in the local classifieds. It takes a few hours to get used to using one, but they are very solid pieces of equipment and last a long time.
If you can stretch your budget, here's what I just picked up in preparation for moving to a place with a real winter.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Mantis, have you quit your Kung Fu?
Re the choice of the jumprope -- I suggest a rubber-tubed one. Much quieter. Also, tons of high quality boxing and competitive MA supplies are also sold CombatSports.com. Let the white trash 'rassling/MMA t-shirts on the frontpage not deter you.
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
I recommend walking along with pushups, jumping jacks and situps to name a few exercises. Throw in some pull ups too.
cost? close to $0 except for your pullup bar.
I have had a heavy bag for about 7 years now, and Rabbit speaks the truth on this. My bag is 50lbs and made out of canvas. However, I stopped using gloves a long time ago sticking with just the wraps and have lost a good few square centimeters of skin from my knuckles. I found that it was much more satisfying to hit with just the wraps on then with the gloves. If you do indeed choose to go this route, I found that applying small amount of electrical tape to cover your knuckles works well. Not exactly the "right" way to do it I know, but I got into this habit a long time ago and it just seems natural to me now.
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War