I’m getting rid of my puny, liked the commercial, was really stupid to buy it, bowflex.
I am looking at the IMPEX MARCY SMITH MACHINE/BENCH COMBO HOME GYM SM4000.
It has 800lb capacity and seems to have the basics I need to put in the garage.
Anyone use one, or have another economical suggestion? I can get it shipped with 475lbs of olympic plates for under a grand, new on Ebay.
Any advice or expirience with this would be helpfull.
you don’t need the smith machine part of it but the rest of it looks fairly usefull… but I think you would be better served with a regular power rack
[quote]JNeves wrote:
you don’t need the smith machine part of it but the rest of it looks fairly usefull… but I think you would be better served with a regular power rack
http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/92563.html[/quote]
I agree. Ditch the Smith, get a power rack.
You’d be much better served getting the stuff yourself, locally. If you can save a hundred bucks or so on shipping, it’s that much more to spend on plates. I know Omni Fitness has some stores in the PA area.
http://www.omnifitness.com/about/pennsylvania.cfm
Other than that, I agree that a Smith should be wayyyy down low on the list of things to get, right underneath “magic weightlifting shoelaces”. I power rack, multi-angle bench, and Olympic barbell set is a near-perfect start.
I have a New York Barbell power rack, and I’ve been quite happy with it. Get a pair of dip bars with it. If you feel like you need it, you can get a cable attachment for it as well.
If you spend any time reading the forums here, you’ll find that most folks have a pretty low opinion of the Smith machine. A Smith machine limits range of motion, creates an unnatural bar path, turns a three-dimensional lift into a two-dimensional lift and takes many stabilizer muscles out of the equation. If that’s what you want, you might as well stick to the Bowflex.
When I was shopping for my rack, I found that I could get a better deal online for benches and racks than I could locally, even with shipping prices figured in. That might not be the case where you live – shop around first and see what’s available.
Elroy, get off your spaceship and buy yourself a power rack, Olympic barbell set and a bench.