From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Subject: Re: rubber band machines
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 20:39:25 GMT

> In article <2178393@overmind.citadel>, cs.tulane.edu!fs@overmind.mind.org writes:
> 
> I used to use Nautilus machines at a health club.
> Nowadays I have neither the money for membership
> nor the travel/dress/undress/wait-in-line time to spare.
> So I'm looking into home strength-training machines.

Lots of machines are really meant for exactly what most people do with
them.  Use them for a few months and sell them at garage sales.  A
good machine costs $$.  They're still in the gee-whiz phase.  Every
few years a new exercise fad comes along.  I've been lifting for
about 25 years through the phase when lifters were geeks, and then
when everybody and their brother had "discovered" this new sport,
and now there's the phase of "I want to SAY I lift, but I don't want
to really DO it", and I'm kind of thinking that a lot of these 
machines cater to that crowd.  So watch out.

Actually, for versatility, results, safety, and DEFINITELY for bang-
for-the-buck, nothing beats (currently) a decent bench and a cheap
set of weights.  You can get the more flexibility and use out of
200-300 bucks of weights/bench than 1-2 thousand bucks of machine.

Folks that use machines at gyms use these because the machines you
find there are HEAVY and BUILT for heavy use.

I've studied lots of theories about how particular machines are
better-suited to the human body, etc., but that's ALL THEY ARE --
THEORIES.  Think about it.  Was the human body evolved to do
tasks that incorporate Nautilus-like varying effort curves?  Is
there anything at all that our ancestors did with giant rubber-bands?
Is there any activity at all that mimics turning a big flywheel?

Not that you can't get a good workout with any of these gimmicks --
you can.  It's just that the reasoning is faulty.  There's nothing
that currently performs a more natural exercise than picking
something heavy up and putting it down or a running movement
(optionally after picking up something heavy, and carrying it).

Machines also offer convenience.  But if you have a set of cheap,
vinyl-coated weights right in your own house, and don't go so
heavy that you need dozens of them (you quickly end up running out of
bar), all that you lose is the weight-changing time.  And you
can always buy lots of these cheap things, add to the set as needed,
and get lots of extra bars.  Further, if you have kids around, you
could also lock up a bar with weights by putting holes through the
bar and locking most on the bar.  If you have a 7-year-old that can
pick up a bar loaded with over a hundred pounds, tho', go with the
machine :-).  Personally, I'd think the moving parts of a machine
are more dangerous to kids.  Giant rubber bands look fun to play
with.  Gears and pulleys and cables are nasty.  The chain on
an exercise bike -- you've heard the stories.

If you decide against weights, you might be out 50 bucks for a small
set.  If you decide you don't like Soloflex, you're out, what, 900
bucks?  I haven't used Soloflex itself, but I did notice that one
of the "great exercises" consisted of using the machine for a
pull-up bar.  Don't think that's worth almost a grand.

GMS
Newsgroups: misc.fitness