If you are starting to get sick of going to the gym, you might be considering establishing your very own home gym. However, you might be surprised at how much home gyms can cost you.
You have to buy dumbbells, lots and lots of dumbbells. You need a weight bench, you need mats, maybe you want a pullup bar and a Smith Machine. Maybe you need a treadmill too or some form of an elliptical.
If you want a full home gym, the expense is going to be high.
And, on top of the high expense, you will also run into the problem of space. Very few people have enough space to build a gym that is in any way comparable to an industrial gym.
If this sounds like you fear not, there is a different avenue you can follow that will grant the same end result, at a fraction of the price.
Total Gym 1900
The Total Gym 1900 is a piece of machinery that might be a little difficult to picture. This machine is essentially a body weight workout machine that uses gravity as its greatest tool. It’s a great tool to do weight and strength training.
It consists of a base and a stand, then a sliding board that ends in a footboard. Every workout you do makes the board slide up and down.
To increase resistance, simply adjust the height of the board. The higher it is, the more deeply impacted you are by gravity – the more difficult the workout will be.
The highest you can go is an incline of 45%. This is a relatively high incline, which allows for a pretty maximum amount of resistance. For comparison, this is about halfway to a completely vertical incline – it is significant enough to be impactful.
Specs and Stuff
Let’s start with dimensional of the Total Gym 1900. This machine is 92.5 inches long, 16 inches wide, and 43.2 inches tall. It is not exceptionally large, although if you are operating in a very tight space, you might run into issues with length.
However, this can be easily remedied, as the machine folds up easily when not in use. So, if it comes down to pushing the couch back a few feet every time you go to work out, that’s a semi-worthy, low-maintenance sacrifice.
The Total Gym 1900 weighs only 79 pounds, which is not particularly light. But in comparison to other total gym machinery, it is at least movable on your own.
The fact that it is comfortably under 100 pounds makes it much more accessible to a greater spread of people. Most people should be able to move the Total Gym 1900 without help, which is a little considered fact that can become extremely relevant.
It has 12 different levels of incline (again, these start at 0% and end at 45%). It comes fully assembled in-box, which is honestly one of the best things to read about before purchasing.
Having to mess around with odd-looking wrenches and knuts and bolts and hammers and screwdrivers is always a consistent and extreme headache. The fact that you get to avoid that headache if you purchase the Total Gym 1900 makes it that much more desirable.
It includes a pilates bar, footpads, armrests, and leg harnesses, all to help you perform a total body workout.
On top of this, Total Gym 1900 has a user weight capacity of 350 pounds. This is a pretty strong number – for comparison, Gold’s Gym 420 and 720 Treadmills only have a bodyweight capacity of 300 pounds. This just makes the Total Gym even more accessible to a wider audience.
Additionally, you can get it on Amazon (it also has a high rating and many customer reviews).
Should I Get It?
Depending on the kind of athlete you would like to be, yes, the Total Body Gym 1900 is a good purchase. Think about it in the same category as calisthenics or body workout.
You won’t add a huge amount of muscle weight. If your goal is to gain a significant amount of weight in muscle – if you’re a bodybuilder in other words – this won’t help you. To gain that kind of muscle weight, you need to lift heavyweight and you need to lift at consistent and high intensities.
But if all you want to do (I say ‘all’ despite the fact that this is by no means insignificant) is lose weight, tone core, upper and lower body, or increase overall body strength or flexibility, the Total Gym 1900 is a great option.
Especially if you are a beginner, this is a great way to build and strengthen those stabilizer muscles that make pullups and chin-ups and planks so much easier. Again, don’t expect to wake up looking like the Rocky, but you can expect positive results after consistent and intense use.
Plus, if you perform your routines at a high enough intensity, they could even serve the dual function of cardio in addition to strength training, which just adds to the overall healthiness of what you’re doing.
With the option of more than 60 different exercises that condition, tone, and strengthen every single muscle group, the Total Gym 1900 is a great addition to your home gym.
Just make sure to measure your living room corner (or wherever you want to put it) before buying, as it is a bit long. But the length is really the only con to this product.
Just keep in mind your own athletic goals – if you are trying to gain weight, this is not for you. But if you want to get stronger, this will definitely prove useful. And at this price point, it is almost hard to say no.
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Article by:
Daniel DeMoss
I’m a personal trainer based in Denver (Matrix Gym) and a true fitness nerd. If I’m not training clients or working out at my home gym, I’m probably skiing, cycling or hiking with my dog Rufus.
Get in touch: daniel@dumbbellsreview.com
