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Best Home Gyms
Bowflex offers the best home gyms and other exercise products and accessories at the lowest prices.
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Total Gym XL and Total Gym Platinum
How do these home exercisers compare to Bowflex, Weider Crossbow and others?
The Total Gym XL is the most popular model of these relatively new home exercisers. Comparable in price to Bowflex, these machines offer a new variation on strength training, yet not necessarily an improvement.
By now we've all seen the Chuck Norris Total Gym commercials, and it looks like a relatively easy, low impact way to get into shape.
Rather than the "bending rod resistance" of other machines, the Total Gym Platinum, XL and other models use a cable and pulley system. To use these machines, you adjust the incline of the sliding bench to change resistance (10-50% of bodyweight) and pull the grips to slide up and down.
Total Gym Platinum is the lower end model, available on QVC and other shopping channels, and retails at about $200. It claims to offer 60+ exercises, with a wing attachment, leg pulley, and squat stand, along with a handy exercise flip shot and 52-minute instructional video.
At the upper end of the line is the Total Gym XL, which is the model you see in the Chuck Norris Total Gym commercials. It improves upon other models with a longer, wider glide board with more padding, an extra workout video, additional ankle cuff, upgraded height adjustment, larger squat, water bottle holder and new chrome detailing, plus it can support 400lbs (300 on other models).
The Total Gym XL retails at about $1500-$1600, comparable to equally-equipped Bowflex models. There is also a brand new motorized version called the Electra that will set you back $2400.
Total Gym Reviews - Are they worth the money?
Besides the low end Total Gym Platinum, the other models are quite expensive, starting with the Total Gym 2000 at $999 and working your way up the product line.
It claims to duplicate health club workouts, but we believe that it doesn;t offer nearly the workout you can get in a gym, or even weight-based home gym equipment. The movements are smooth, and it can certainly get you into shape, but for anyone who's used to working out, it takes some getting used to and will probably not offer the expected workout.
If you're going to spend this kind of money, you're much better off with a Bowflex Home Gym or a metal weight based unit like you would find in a gym, such as a Body Solid unit. According to our Total Gym reviews, the only advantage we can see with these machines is that they are much lighter than weight-stack units, and therefore more portable.
Fitness Events Opinion & Recommendation:
Through our reviews, we discovered that resistance trainers such as the Total Gym XL and Total Gym Platinum just don't offer the same high quality workout as weight-based machines, so if you are deciding between the two, we definitely recommend the latter.
The motion of a Total Gym is smoother than Bowflex and Weider's Crossbow but does not provide the uniform resistance and complete workout of a weight-stack machine. For anyone who has been in a gym before, these machines take some serious getting used to. Yet even when you are comfortable with the motion, you'll see that it still does not provide as effective a workout.
Our Total Gym review revealed that the only advantage the Total Gym 2000 and other units have over metal weights is that they are lighter and easier to move around. But with the hefty price tag, if you dont mind the bulk, a metal weight machine is definitely the best choice in home gym equipment.
If you are interested in our top recommended home gyms Bowflex offers a wide selection of home gym equipment at the lowest prices.
If you have had experience with Total Gym XL or any other models please drop us a line and let us know what your experiences have been. We will certainly add your comments to our Total Gym reviews.
more than Total Gym XL on our home gym reviews page or return to our Fitness Events bodybuilding supplements and exercise equipment home page
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