Many people come to my store and want to get a gym to work out in, but are not too sure what to buy. There are many types and some take a lot of room and are very expensive. I’m going to talk about 3 gyms I sell, all 3 below $2000.00. And all 3 fit a particular client.

Let’s start of with the most common gym, the Home Gym with a weight stack. These are designed to keep workouts simple, timely, safe and are easy to use. They are designed today with style in mind, usually colors that match the home decor. People that use these gyms are serious about keeping fit, but not serious about bodybuilding.

Good examples of this type of gym are the Wolverine from Yukon and the Europort Express Gym. Both take about 12 x 13 feet of space and will fit in any decor. There are approx 30-35 different exercises that can be performed with these gyms. Both come with 200 lbs of plates and include leg presses. Most people will work out how they feel that day, mix up the workouts a little and take about an hour to do. They usually work out 3 times a week.

Another gym I sell, and my most popular is the WB-LS Gym from Powertec. It sells under $1000.00, and doesn’t take too much room. You need Olympic plates to use it. You can add accessories like dumbbells, EZ curl bar, Preacher attachment, etc. Safety is the key here. It’s a leverage gym, meaning that the weight of the bar is pushing down on you, but from a pivot point. If you get tired, you don’t need a spotter. You just lower the bar and walk away. This gym can accomplish almost every exercise from any workout.

The big difference from the Home Gym is that with the WB-LS Gym from Powertec, you have to lift the plates onto the bar. With the Home Gym, you move a pin on the weight stack. The WB-LS is more geared to the more serious trainer, one that will workout each body part separate to achieve a long term goal of not only fitness, but of body proportion and a certain muscularity.

The third kind of gym is geared to the hardcore bodybuilder. It involves total usage of free weights and benches. There are a few varieties. You can use a weight bench with a bar (Big Bear Bench from Yukon), power rack for heavy lifting involving safety (Yukon Power Rack), or a Smith Machine (Yukon Caribou III Smith) for safety and muscle isolation. Most trainers will work out with definite programs and at least 4 to 5 times a week, lasting from 1 to 2 hours per workout. Every move should be strict and well thought out, proper pace without swinging or cheating, and at a level to allow muscle tears to occur in the fiber to allow growth from recovery and nutrition. Nutrition plays a very important role in workouts and will be covered in another article. So, if you can place yourself in one of these categories, this may help you decide on your choice of home gyms. If not, call us and we’ll be glad to help you make the right decision.