I'm thinking of renting some gym equipment. Anyone done this before?

feckidyparp

Hi all.
I'm thinking of renting some gym equipment since my record of attending a gym once I sign up is abysmal. I came across a web site that is offering gym equipment at fairly reasonable rates. Its http://www.tone-at-home.ie/ Has anyone rented from these before and if so how was it. If not I might go ahead anyway and see how I get on. Any advice on other places that offer this type of service would be appreciated too.
Cheers

Guvnor

It would not be my way of doing it.
The prices for renting are not cheap and especially not cheap for the quality of what you are renting.
If you were into cycling then a 2nd hand spin bike would be a good option for you and a half decent one can be had for less than 200 quid.

Colm_OReilly

You could always invest €200 in some weights - they're more versatile, you'd get fitter than just a single piece of exercise equipment, plus they'd have resale value.

Glenman

I bought a set of weights, just a bar bell and 2 dum bells. It was only 80 euro. I also bought a stepper in argos recently for 55 euro, I find it very good. You ecercise the legs and there are elastic cord with handles to work the upper body at same time. Very good for fitness too. BTW you can do a lot of work without any equipment such as press-ups & sit-ups and maybe have a chin-up bar in the garage. Spend around 30-45 min 2-3 evenings a week and it is not too bad. No point in spending big money on a gym and making a big deal of your first 2 or 3 visits, it is hard to keep that up.
I know of someone who bought some equipment very cheap at an auction in Omagh, picked up a threadmill, rowing machine & stepper for a great deal.

Boru.

For my two cents I wouldn't recommend it, the equipment is often sub standard and can't be sold, hence rented, or it's taken from defective or refurbished stock. Alternatively you could just develop yourself using your body's own resistance, no expense at all and it's always available, and if you can't stick to doing a bodyweight based workout for say 6 weeks, then there isn't much point in renting equipment as you won't train with it either. On the other hand if you can train bodyweight for 6 weeks, then you probably won't need gym equipment, but if you wanted to anyway it would make sense to buy it as suggested because you'll be using it long term.

rubadub

If you aim is losing fat I would suggest weights. Cast iron ones cannot really get damaged. Buy them second hand and they should hold that same value when/if you ever go to resell them.

You can get a kit for €80, then just add more when you get stronger.

http://www.irish-lifting.com/product_info_equipment.php?cPath=1_15&products_id=260

feckidyparp

Thanks for the info guys. Just to let yis know tho that I'm considering renting it over buying it for 2 main reasons:

1. I'm in an apartment so space is a big consideration. Since all I wanna do is drop a few pounds, tone up a bit and generally improve my fitness a bit I thought using a cross trainer for a few months would be a good idea. Then I could send it back, get out on the bike and bobs yer aunty. It'd be cheaper than buying one and I wont be stuck with a piece of equipment that I'd be looking to sell in a few months anyway.

2. I have been a gym member in a few different gyms over the years and I end up just finding the incovenience such a pain that I end up not going. Getting the machines in whenever I need a bit of a workout sounds like just the ticket.

I do have cast iron weights at home and my arms and shoulders are grand, Thats not the problem. I do have back pain so getting my stomach sorted is not the easiest thing in the world so the cross trainer would help there too. I know theres probably a million things I could be doing to sort out the belly but my knowledge of excersises and such is limited and finding the time to research it all is difficult. I will be putting in some time on the boards forums tonight tho.

Thanks again.

rubadub

feckidyparp wrote: »

I do have cast iron weights at home and my arms and shoulders are grand,

Sounds like you might be just throwing them around a bit. Do you work your legs with the weights too?

I would forget the trainers and stick with weights if losing fat is your goal and space is an issue. Maybe get a chinning bar and rings at www.ringtraining.com these have taken the place of my bench(as you mention space being an issue.)

You can get a removable chinning bar and loop them over it then you can do dips in different ways and lots of push up variants, flyes etc.

Check here http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
for how to exercise your various muscles.

I have no need for cardio equipment other than my bike to cycle to work/shops/everywhere!. I walk everywhere I can too.

ali.c

This is a good no equipment needed circuit type workout, might be worth checking out
http://skievat.blogspot.com/