Not worth buying if you are in it for the long haul.
Written: Jul 20 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick, simple, cheap.
Cons: Poor contruction, very small amount of weight, clumsy
The Bottom Line: A low-cost/high-quality incline bench and dumbell set are far superior to this product, at the same price.
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| neonrh's Full Review: Fitness Quest Total Gym 1000 |
I've had this unit for about 2 years. I'm actually going out today to purchase equipment to replace it. There is now a better model (the 1500 I believe) that is a bit sturdier, but I've experienced it enough to know that it is not worth buying again.
When I first bought it, it was quick, efficient, and worked well for toning my body and keeping me in overall decent shape. However I quickly outgrew the limited weight abilities (I'm about 5'11" and a little over 200lbs). I quickly became discouraged because some exercises that I used a lot of weight for (the highest setting) required so much effort from my other muscles for form and stability, that they tired before the muscle I was trying to work out. Perfect examples were the seated row and the bench press.
Durability also played a big factor. Before the one year ownership period, the rollers were already deforming from simple storage (the foldup position) in my rec room. In addition, the wheels very easily picked up grit in them, making it sound as if I was working out on the beach (not in a good way).
I found through experimentation that free weights provided the best rewards. For anyone thinking of buying this machine, I would STRONGLY recommend purchasing an inexpensive but high quality incline bench, and quality dumbell set. You can purchase both for the same amount of money, and I would nearly promise you better results in the long run. A bench and barbell set would still be as good as new after two years, while the Total Gym unfortunately is not.
I hope this review was helpful. I'm glad I had the experience with the Total Gym to learn its pros/cons, but I would not buy one again, nor would I recommend one to a friend.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
neonrh
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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