Can I Have Your Opinion About Some Equipment?

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Guys,

The missus wants to get in shape and I believe she (and me) should get out and walk, swim, cycle, but she's not really interested in going out and wants to exercise at home.

Argos have a deal at the moment. If you buy a York electric threadmill you can get either an exercise bike or a cross trainer free. The deal is for the York brand and is about €440. Is the York brand any good? I have some weights by them which I'm happy with, but this is a bit of a step up from that.
If you guys think it's OK I'll probably go ahead and get this. I would think that the cross trainer would probably give you more of a workout than the exercise bike and so would probably choose that with the threadmill.

Hanley

If you are going with it then it's a tough call.

Yes the xtrainer is probably a better work out but would the bike get more use?

Since after she hops off the threadmil I'd miagine she'd be more inclined to want to sit on the bike...

If it were me I'd ditch both the threadmill and the bike and ONLY go with the xtrainer but if it's not going to be used if you do get it then I'd steer clear.


Am I making sense?

Kintarō Hattori

Yep I understand what your saying alright. My main concern though is are York an OK manufacturer?

Mickk

Home cardio equipment usually sucks, think about it you are getting a treadmill and crosstrainer for 440 euro...

I'm not reccomending the competition but you should check out vj's because you can try out the stuff before you buy it. If you look at the crosstrainer in question it only weighs 45kg and if you are over 15 and a half stone you cant use it and the treadmill is only 4 and a half feet long, you wont be happy when you get them I don't think.

Colm_OReilly

I'd advise against a treadmill, mainly because they're not that good in general.

When you run, you actively propel yourself forward when your foot is on the ground and rest while it's in the air. With a threadmill, you don't actively run, because the belt pulls your foot back from in front of you to behind you.

If you want equipment, and are willing to pay for something really good, get a Concept II rower.

Of course you're looking at €1400 for a new one from England, so that might be out of your range. But there's a lot of exercises you can do with just your bodyweight and light weights that can help you guys achieve fitness. Even buying a skipping rope would be better than a threadmill.

skievat.blogspot.com has regularly no equipment required workouts, although they usually have short runs.

Hope this helps,
Colm

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Guys,

I appreciate your advice but there are a few things to remember:

The GF isn't a serious keep fit enthusiast and she just wants something to loose a few pounds
There is no way she's going to spend several hundred on a specific piece of equipment
For the price, do you think the equipment I mentioned will help her loose some weight
Is York an OK brand for someone who's not into fitness, but just wants to loose some weight so she can squueze back into her favourite jeans

Colm, I appreciate the advice you've given above but she's strange on this issue. We don't live that far from the Phoenix park, so we could run/walk/cycle there, but she's against the idea. We live in the city centre so we could go swimming........ hasn't happened yet! She could as you have mentioned just exercise at home without any equipment, but she seems absolutely intent on getting something.

Sleepy

eo980, York would be a pretty well recognised home equipment maker.

However, aside from the Concept II, most home equipment is junk that you'll end up flinging in a skip at some point. Hanley's advice is good regarding which option to go for if you decide to buy this stuff.

If it gets her exercising what harm but for the price of it you'd have the guts of a years membership in a decent gym...

justsomebloke

eo980 wrote:

The GF isn't a serious keep fit enthusiast and she just wants something to loose a few pounds

Truthfully if she isn't I wouldn't bother getting the 2 pieces of equipment cause after aroun 1-2 weeks she is just going to get bored of them and they are just going to become massive clothes hangers taking us space.
Truthfully get her to walk, run or cycle and see if she can keep it up for a month and still be enthusatic about exercising, if not it is just going to be a waste of money that takes up far to much space

rubadub

If she cannot be bothered going out of the house, I can imagine the stuff just lying there taking up space.

All she wants to lose is a few pounds, the skipping rope & bodyweight exercises mentioned sounds fine, if she cannot even give that ago what chance is there of using other stuff. You already have a weights set which can easily make her lose weight.