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Buying Strength Equipment

There’s no shortage of great gadgets to build your muscles at home. There’s

also, regrettably, no shortage of junk. This chapter covers all your legitimate

strength-training options — from $3 rubber tubes to sophisticated, gym-qual-

ity machinery. We introduce you to some innovative new products and help

you decide which type of equipment is best for your home and your budget.

If you’re going to lift weights at home, read Chapters 11 through 14. In those

chapters, we explain how to use all types of strength equipment and how to

design a strength-training program that’ll get you results.

Exercise bands and tubes

Rubber bands and tubes are the absolute cheapest way to strengthen your

muscles — you can buy three or four bands for $15 or $20. They’re also

extremely versatile and great for traveling. Even if you own weight machines

316 Part VI: Conquering the Gym (Even at Home)

Don’t be swayed by scientific terminology.

Product manufacturers love to throw

around big words, but some of the most

impressive-sounding terms have no

accepted meaning in the scientific commu-

nity. Others are misused to hype bogus

products.

Give no credence to celebrity or “expert”

endorsements. Don’t think for a minute that

a three-time Mr. Universe built his biceps

with some plastic contraption that looks like

a model of the Starship Enterprise. Athletes

and celebs know that fame can be short-

lived, and at some point their name may be

their only asset. “There’s a lot you can talk

yourself into,” one athlete told us. “You

figure, I’ve gotta make a living. If the public’s

dumb enough to buy this stuff, that’s their

problem.” Beware, too, of health and fitness

“experts” with fancy titles they may have

invented.

Don’t be awed by the fact that a product

was “awarded a U.S. patent.”You could

patent a nose-hair clipper for mice if you

wanted to. To get a patent, you need to have

an original idea or process, not necessarily

a good one.

Beware of the term “proven.”Many com-

panies cite scientific research without

telling you where the studies were con-

ducted. When we inquired about a certain

cardio machine, we learned that the calo-

rie-burning studies — which seemed dubi-

ous to us — were carried out by a company

that the manufacturer owned. This is like

admitting your mother was the judge of a

beauty contest you won; maybe you were

the best looking, but we need to hear it from

an unbiased party.

Hide your credit card between midnight

and 4 a.m.At that hour, everything kinda

looks good. Go to bed. If you’re tempted to

buy an infomercial product, jot down the

number and wait before ordering. You may

feel differently about that Ginzu Rider in the

light of day.

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