Total Gym

A buddy I work with is looking to sell their Total Gym. Limited use as it was his parents. Was wondering if anybody is using this Total Gym (might be the XL model) instead of going to gym? My family was looking to get fitness equipment as the gyms are not close to our house. Gets tough for DD to be running around all the time with her school work, hitting lessons, pitching lessons, etc.

We use free weights and videos. There's a free YouTube channel called Fitness Blender with a million free videos organized by what their purpose is: cardio, upper body, lower body, abs, etc. We do yoga with YouTube videos too, Yoga with Adriene. She's awesome. Anyway...

The Total Gym has its place. I own one and can get a good general workout with one. Some of the exercises are better than others but you will get generally better results with your upper body than the lower. I use an exercise ball to supplement the TG and do wall squats with it. You can either create your own workout or use one of their videos. Their series with Todd Durkin is pretty good.

Like MJ said I think you can get a pretty decent upper body workout with a total gym, but doesn't do much for legs. Depending on how intense you want to get with the winter conditioning, you could find some of the original P90X workout videos. The cardio X, Kempo karate/cardo, plyometrics, and the yoga videos are great workouts and will flat out kick your butt.

Go for it!
Anything is better than nothing.
I bought a used Parabody universal machine 14 years ago and a used squat/bench tower 18 years ago...best money I ever spent. The treadmill...meh. The wife and DDs use it.
Keep your eye open on Craigslist. Buy it all used. I've only replaced 1 cable in 14 years on the Parabody machine.
You can set up your own home gym over time by buying one set of dumbbell weights, or one machine at a time, so there isn't so much sticker shock.
The next set I'm buying for the DDs are the 35lb-ers.
A home gym/weight room is great. It saves money, you never have to wait for a station to open up and the weight room is never closed...
Look at it this way, how much is an annual membership for your family? Vs. how much will you spend on equipment.
The used Total Gym can be the first piece of your new home gym...

One of the best investments I made was a set of adjustable dumbbells.. One like this set

https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-D...486867657&sr=1-1&keywords=twistlock+dumbbells


Takes up little space and with up 100lbs total this will fit the needs of a young athlete.

They are around $300..

I also picked up a used Bio-Force home gym for around $200.. These are no longer for sale in the US but are about the very best home gym you can find. Check Craigslist for one..

Also I just picked up a commercial gym Leg Press. It was very lightly used and cost me $300.. Nothing better to work legs aside from squats.

A few other must haves... Pull up bar.. About $30 or so.

We bought a rowing machine used for $100... Works lats very well. For the price of a gym membership for a year you can outfit your home with good equipment.