I'm shopping around for a new pull-up bar for my garage. This one is not in the running.
Showing posts with label pull up bar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pull up bar. Show all posts
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Treadmills Are Just Humongous Clothes Hangers
A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times' "Bucks" blog offered tips on how to get in shape without breaking the bank. Suggestions included:
- $40
) and a pull-up bar ($20
- $35
). Then, print out this list of bodyweight workouts. And do 'em.
Don't like that option? Here's another: Get yourself a kettlebell and use it.
Either way, you'll save another $600, free up valuable space in your house, and whip yourself into shape more efficiently and effectively than you ever will by TRUDGING ALONG ON A TREADMILL WHILE SURFING THE WEB.
- Running/walking outside,
- Joining a "local no-frills gym,"
- Working out with fitness DVDs and/or shows on the Exercise TV channel,
- Taking advantage of free passes to local gyms, and
- Setting up a home gym with used equipment.
- A $75 stair machine,
- A $145 weight bench with “great hex dumbbells,”
- A $450 treadmill "outfitted with a laptop stand for Web browsing," and
- A $15 exercise bike.
But given that the "Bucks" blog is supposed to help readers "Mak[e] the Most of [Their] Money," shouldn't it have pointed out that Thibeault wasted his $685?
After all, cardio equipment is unnecessary; in fact, chronic cardio is ineffective and counterproductive. And if you're on a budget, why bother with dumbbells when you can just lift your bodyweight? (Oh, right: So you can do endless bicep curls and triceps extensions in front of a mirror.)
A tip for Mr. Thibeault: If you really want to maximize your fitness while minimizing costs, sell off the stuff in your "Craigslist gym" (fine -- you can keep the dumbbells), and reallocate a small fraction of the proceeds to the purchase of a good jump rope ($10After all, cardio equipment is unnecessary; in fact, chronic cardio is ineffective and counterproductive. And if you're on a budget, why bother with dumbbells when you can just lift your bodyweight? (Oh, right: So you can do endless bicep curls and triceps extensions in front of a mirror.)
- $40) and a pull-up bar ($20 - $35). Then, print out this list of bodyweight workouts. And do 'em. Don't like that option? Here's another: Get yourself a kettlebell and use it.
Either way, you'll save another $600, free up valuable space in your house, and whip yourself into shape more efficiently and effectively than you ever will by TRUDGING ALONG ON A TREADMILL WHILE SURFING THE WEB.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday's Workout
Yesterday, at the end of the 5 a.m. workout, our coach casually mentioned that the Saturday morning class would be doing "Angie" -- one of the original CrossFit benchmark workouts:
It looks like this:
Well, hell. I didn't want to miss this. "Angie" is a bodyweight-focused WOD, and therefore totally up my alley. But I'm playing suburban dad today -- shuttling the boys to martial arts class and a soccer game -- so there's no way I'm going to make it to the gym.
Thankfully, the only piece of equipment required for "Angie" is a pull-up bar, and I have one in my garage. And the kids weren't going to get out of bed until 7:30, so...
It was a no-brainer to start the day with "Angie," right?
Not so much. The first dozen or so pull-ups went off without a hitch, but then it started to really, really suck as my forearms started to cramp up. Soon, I found myself unable to string together more than three pull-ups in a row without dropping off the bar. It took me almost ELEVEN MINUTES just to get through the pull-ups.
Thankfully, the other three exercises in "Angie" are solidly in my wheelhouse. I cranked out all 100 push-ups in 3 minutes, and the sit-ups (my favorite -- not kidding) took even less time. My plan of attack with the squats was to break them up into five sets of 20, and just fly through them. It worked.
I finished "Angie" in 19:47.
If I can manage to improve my pull-up time (and, say, cut it in half), I might be able to one day complete this workout in less than 15 minutes, which would be awesome.
Of course, even then, I still wouldn't come close to Chris Spealler's 10:11 "Angie" time. I mean, the guy started by stringing together 70 straight pull-ups, fer cryin' out loud.
For time:
- 100 pull-ups
- 100 push-ups
- 100 sit-ups
- 100 squats
Well, hell. I didn't want to miss this. "Angie" is a bodyweight-focused WOD, and therefore totally up my alley. But I'm playing suburban dad today -- shuttling the boys to martial arts class and a soccer game -- so there's no way I'm going to make it to the gym.
Thankfully, the only piece of equipment required for "Angie" is a pull-up bar, and I have one in my garage. And the kids weren't going to get out of bed until 7:30, so...
It was a no-brainer to start the day with "Angie," right?
Not so much. The first dozen or so pull-ups went off without a hitch, but then it started to really, really suck as my forearms started to cramp up. Soon, I found myself unable to string together more than three pull-ups in a row without dropping off the bar. It took me almost ELEVEN MINUTES just to get through the pull-ups.
Thankfully, the other three exercises in "Angie" are solidly in my wheelhouse. I cranked out all 100 push-ups in 3 minutes, and the sit-ups (my favorite -- not kidding) took even less time. My plan of attack with the squats was to break them up into five sets of 20, and just fly through them. It worked.
I finished "Angie" in 19:47.
If I can manage to improve my pull-up time (and, say, cut it in half), I might be able to one day complete this workout in less than 15 minutes, which would be awesome.
Of course, even then, I still wouldn't come close to Chris Spealler's 10:11 "Angie" time. I mean, the guy started by stringing together 70 straight pull-ups, fer cryin' out loud.
Friday, October 22, 2010
I Don't Sweat -- I Mist.
The good folks at Re-Nest want you to know that there are lots of advantages to having a home gym that’s “both handsome and healthful,” such as: “[y]ou can watch television to make the time pass quickly during your 20-40 minute cardio” and “you are comfortable and completely at ease.”
YES! FINALLY! That’s EXACTLY what I want when I'm exercising: Complete comfort and ease! While watching TV to kill time!
Here’s Re-Nest’s recommended shopping list for starting your very own super-chill home gym on a budget:
That bench makes me want to put on some Coldplay and curl up in a Snuggie with a soothing cup of fucking chai latte. It does not, however, make me want to work out. I daresay that if you plan on using an upholstered ottoman in place of an exercise bench, you’re pretty much committing to either NOT sweating or investing in a Costco-sized pallet of Scotchgard.
And if you hate exercising so much that you need to stare at something on TV to distract you, just buy a Wii Fit. It won't get you in better shape, but at least it'll only set you back a hundred bucks or so.
Don't get me wrong. I’m not saying you have to accumulate a crapload of equipment to outfit your home gym. But if you have $400 burning a hole in your pocket, and you want to buy some stuff to enable you to ACTUALLY WORK OUT, consider these options instead:
Option A: P90X
What to buy:
Option B: Insanity
What to buy:
Option 3: CrossFit Bodyweight Workouts
What to buy:
Option 4: Run (Barefoot or Close to It!)
What to buy:
Keep the change.
YES! FINALLY! That’s EXACTLY what I want when I'm exercising: Complete comfort and ease! While watching TV to kill time!
Here’s Re-Nest’s recommended shopping list for starting your very own super-chill home gym on a budget:
- Hand weights – Savasa Hand Weight Set with Workout DVD. $14.99 - $24.99
- Body ball – Savasa Eco Body Ball. $14.95 - $24.00
- Exercise Mat – Natural Fitness Eco Yoga Mat. $29.99
- Gym storage – any bench, basket, chest, or cabinet: West Elm Nailhead Upholstered Bench. $349.00
- Free online exercise demos – sparkpeople.com. $0.00
- Free online fitness videos – Spark People's Youtube channel. $0.00
That bench makes me want to put on some Coldplay and curl up in a Snuggie with a soothing cup of fucking chai latte. It does not, however, make me want to work out. I daresay that if you plan on using an upholstered ottoman in place of an exercise bench, you’re pretty much committing to either NOT sweating or investing in a Costco-sized pallet of Scotchgard.
And if you hate exercising so much that you need to stare at something on TV to distract you, just buy a Wii Fit. It won't get you in better shape, but at least it'll only set you back a hundred bucks or so.
Don't get me wrong. I’m not saying you have to accumulate a crapload of equipment to outfit your home gym. But if you have $400 burning a hole in your pocket, and you want to buy some stuff to enable you to ACTUALLY WORK OUT, consider these options instead:
Option A: P90X
What to buy:
- P90X DVDs. $139.80
- A door-frame pull-up bar. $38.00 (But feel free to upgrade.)
- A yoga mat. $13.95 - $19.95
- A bunch of resistance bands. $24.44
Option B: Insanity
What to buy:
- Insanity DVDs. $144.80
- A box of ShamWow towels to mop up your sweat. $15.61
Option 3: CrossFit Bodyweight Workouts
What to buy:
- A pull-up bar. This time, let’s splurge on something nicer – let’s go for the StudBar. $139.45
- Olympic rings – prices on Amazon range from $39.95 (for rings by XFit Equipment) to $84.24 (for EXF Rings – I have a pair and love 'em)
- A kettlebell. Kettlebell King -- the cheapest KB seller I could find online -- sells them for about a buck per pound. For our purposes, let's start with a 35-pound kettlebell. $34.65
- Jump rope – I like Buddy Lee’s Aero Speed Hyperformance rope ($39.90) but you can get a basic speedrope (like Valeo's) for much cheaper ($7.74).
Option 4: Run (Barefoot or Close to It!)
What to buy:
- The Barefoot Running Book by Jason Robillard. $14.95
- OPTIONAL: A pair of Vibram FiveFingers. $75 - $100
Keep the change.
Monday, June 21, 2010
What I Did on Vacation
We’re (finally) back home from our family vacation, so beware: I am about to bore you with details of our Alaskan cruise.
Alaska was beautiful (but what's with all the Sarah Palin calendars for sale? And in June?) and the weather couldn’t have been better, but there wasn’t a whole lot we could do with our kids and our parents in tow. It turns out that AARP members and pre-schoolers don’t have a lot of mutual interests other than the ship’s all-you-can-eat buffet. We ate plenty of meals at the two main dining rooms onboard, but the buffet restaurant scored the biggest hit with our family. The kids loved the 24-hour access to ice cream and French fries, and their grandparents enjoyed ingesting massive -- possibly toxic -- amounts of fruit. (They were taking no chances with scurvy.)
M and I carefully steered clear of the buffet's endless aisle o’ bread ‘n pastries, which didn’t look all that appetizing to me despite the homey glow of the heat lamps. Still, it was eye-opening to witness some of our fellow passengers load up their plates with as much carbohydrate content as possible. (I saw someone stack eight pieces of whole wheat toast on her plate and then head over to the pancake station to ladle a huge glob of imitation maple syrup over her tower of bread. She explained to her companion: “The French toast is too soggy.”) The amount of sugary (and sugar-loaded) food items on garish display at the buffet was almost enough to send anyone into diabetic shock by just looking at it.
To be honest, M and I ate a lot, too, but we tried to stick mostly to the meat, eggs and vegetables. Breakfast usually consisted of eggs (or an omelet), bacon, sausage and plain yogurt with berries. For lunch, we had heaping veggie-loaded salads with whatever meat was being carved up. And dinner was usually more meat (steak, pork, lamb, etc.) or fish.
We also ate freakish quantities of nuts. We purchased about eight pounds of nuts in Seattle to bring with us on the ship, and made bags and bags of trail mix in our cabin -- but that wasn’t enough for me. There was a cheese station at the buffet where you could spoon some nuts and dried fruit onto your plate to accompany your cheese slices (or blocks, depending on your level of hunger/gluttony). But every time I passed by, I loaded up whatever empty container I happened to have with me -- coffee cup, soup bowl, Ziplock bag, pants pockets -- with fistfuls of nuts. On the last night of the cruise, I walked by the cheese station again, and they were completely out of nuts. I like to think I had something to do with that.
Besides eating, our primary activities on the ship were: (1) sleeping, (2) keeping the kids from hurtling things overboard (although our five-year-old did manage to kick his shoe into the frigid waters of Glacier National Park), (3) compulsively washing our hands to avoid the risk of contracting illnesses involving “diarrhea and vomiting,” as the helpful signs in the elevators put it, and (4) trying to find time to exercise.
Eighty-five percent of a cruise is spent cooped up in a floating hotel. About a third of that time is spent eating, and another third is spent sleeping. And unless you love gambling, drinking, playing shuffleboard and/or bingo, or buying really overpriced, mass-manufactured “art” on the high seas, you might as well go work out. One great benefit of having lots of adult family members aboard: Free babysitting while you hit the gym.
Sadly, the fitness center on the cruise ship was less than awesome. Sure, the view from the row of cardio machines was incredible; passengers looking to trudge endlessly on the ellipticals and treadmills could gaze for hours out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the water stretching to the horizon. But there was little space in the narrow gym for anything other than cardio and weight machines. Three benches were bracketed by two small dumbbell racks -- and that was it.
And don’t get me started on the water situation. Thirsty gym-goers had three choices: (1) bring their own water bottles; (2) line up at the one water fountain in the busiest corner of the fitness center with a tiny Dixie cup in hand, or (3) pay $4.50 for a bottle of water.
One saving grace? The gym had a pull-up bar. This is huge. Most hotel gyms don’t have one, figuring that a lat pull-down machine is sufficient. For this cruise ship to have a pull-up bar was awesome -- especially for someone like me, who’s just starting to get into CrossFit, a program that heavily features pull-ups.
Another plus: The gym was next to the pool deck, which had lots of sturdy benches built at the edge of the swimming pools. For most of our time at sea, it was too cold for swimming, so the deck was mostly empty, which meant I could use the benches in place of plyo boxes for depth jumping without too many people laughing at me.
Anyway, for those of you who are keeping track, below are my past week’s workouts. None took more than an hour (most took far less time), but with the exception of the Sunday workouts, each day's session kicked me in the balls.
Sunday:
Before we checked out of our hotel in Seattle, I ran from the Westlake Center downtown to Cafe Flora (at East Madison and 29th -- a restaurant we visited regularly when we were last in Seattle) and back. On the way back, I stopped at Trader Joe's and bought a few big bags of nuts, which wasn't a smart idea given that I still had a few more miles to run and no easy way to carry my purchases. (Again: I like nuts.)
Monday:
Bodyweight Fran workout (21-15-9 reps of burpees and pull-ups)
Tuesday:
Half-Angie (50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 sit-ups), but not done for time
3 X 6 dumbbell bench presses
3 X 6 dumbbell back rows
10 X 10 plyo box jumps
4 minutes Tabata row
The other half of Angie (50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 sit-ups), not done for time
Wednesday:
6 X 5 pull-ups
6 X 4 pistols
100 plyo box jumps (broken up into as few sets as possible)
6 X 25 push-ups
6 X 25 sit-ups
6X 25 squats
Thursday:
5-minutes of L-sit (it look me almost 12 minutes to do this, and my “L” often looked more like an “N”)
50 long-form burpees (1X squat, 1X push-up, 1X sit-up, 1X superman, 1X tuck jump)
Friday:
3 X 6 dumbbell bench presses
3 X 6 dumbbell back rows
3 X 6 pull-ups - feet-to-bar
3 X 6 corkscrew dumbbell shoulder presses
3 X 6 chin-ups - feet-to-bar
3 X 6 pistols
Saturday:
For time: 100 plyo box jumps (it took me 4:10 - ugh)
20 bodyblasters (burpee to pull-up to knees-to-elbows)
Run 5K (on the ship’s jogging track, where people kept gawking at my Vibram FiveFingers and saying helpful things like: “You look like you have otter feet.”)
20 more bodyblasters
Sunday (yesterday):
M and I carried a bunch of luggage and two small children off a cruise ship, up and down rainy hills in Seattle, to the airport, on a plane, and off a plane.
I need a vacation.
Alaska was beautiful (but what's with all the Sarah Palin calendars for sale? And in June?) and the weather couldn’t have been better, but there wasn’t a whole lot we could do with our kids and our parents in tow. It turns out that AARP members and pre-schoolers don’t have a lot of mutual interests other than the ship’s all-you-can-eat buffet. We ate plenty of meals at the two main dining rooms onboard, but the buffet restaurant scored the biggest hit with our family. The kids loved the 24-hour access to ice cream and French fries, and their grandparents enjoyed ingesting massive -- possibly toxic -- amounts of fruit. (They were taking no chances with scurvy.)
M and I carefully steered clear of the buffet's endless aisle o’ bread ‘n pastries, which didn’t look all that appetizing to me despite the homey glow of the heat lamps. Still, it was eye-opening to witness some of our fellow passengers load up their plates with as much carbohydrate content as possible. (I saw someone stack eight pieces of whole wheat toast on her plate and then head over to the pancake station to ladle a huge glob of imitation maple syrup over her tower of bread. She explained to her companion: “The French toast is too soggy.”) The amount of sugary (and sugar-loaded) food items on garish display at the buffet was almost enough to send anyone into diabetic shock by just looking at it.
To be honest, M and I ate a lot, too, but we tried to stick mostly to the meat, eggs and vegetables. Breakfast usually consisted of eggs (or an omelet), bacon, sausage and plain yogurt with berries. For lunch, we had heaping veggie-loaded salads with whatever meat was being carved up. And dinner was usually more meat (steak, pork, lamb, etc.) or fish.
We also ate freakish quantities of nuts. We purchased about eight pounds of nuts in Seattle to bring with us on the ship, and made bags and bags of trail mix in our cabin -- but that wasn’t enough for me. There was a cheese station at the buffet where you could spoon some nuts and dried fruit onto your plate to accompany your cheese slices (or blocks, depending on your level of hunger/gluttony). But every time I passed by, I loaded up whatever empty container I happened to have with me -- coffee cup, soup bowl, Ziplock bag, pants pockets -- with fistfuls of nuts. On the last night of the cruise, I walked by the cheese station again, and they were completely out of nuts. I like to think I had something to do with that.
Besides eating, our primary activities on the ship were: (1) sleeping, (2) keeping the kids from hurtling things overboard (although our five-year-old did manage to kick his shoe into the frigid waters of Glacier National Park), (3) compulsively washing our hands to avoid the risk of contracting illnesses involving “diarrhea and vomiting,” as the helpful signs in the elevators put it, and (4) trying to find time to exercise.
Eighty-five percent of a cruise is spent cooped up in a floating hotel. About a third of that time is spent eating, and another third is spent sleeping. And unless you love gambling, drinking, playing shuffleboard and/or bingo, or buying really overpriced, mass-manufactured “art” on the high seas, you might as well go work out. One great benefit of having lots of adult family members aboard: Free babysitting while you hit the gym.
Sadly, the fitness center on the cruise ship was less than awesome. Sure, the view from the row of cardio machines was incredible; passengers looking to trudge endlessly on the ellipticals and treadmills could gaze for hours out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the water stretching to the horizon. But there was little space in the narrow gym for anything other than cardio and weight machines. Three benches were bracketed by two small dumbbell racks -- and that was it.
And don’t get me started on the water situation. Thirsty gym-goers had three choices: (1) bring their own water bottles; (2) line up at the one water fountain in the busiest corner of the fitness center with a tiny Dixie cup in hand, or (3) pay $4.50 for a bottle of water.
One saving grace? The gym had a pull-up bar. This is huge. Most hotel gyms don’t have one, figuring that a lat pull-down machine is sufficient. For this cruise ship to have a pull-up bar was awesome -- especially for someone like me, who’s just starting to get into CrossFit, a program that heavily features pull-ups.
Another plus: The gym was next to the pool deck, which had lots of sturdy benches built at the edge of the swimming pools. For most of our time at sea, it was too cold for swimming, so the deck was mostly empty, which meant I could use the benches in place of plyo boxes for depth jumping without too many people laughing at me.
Anyway, for those of you who are keeping track, below are my past week’s workouts. None took more than an hour (most took far less time), but with the exception of the Sunday workouts, each day's session kicked me in the balls.
Sunday:
Before we checked out of our hotel in Seattle, I ran from the Westlake Center downtown to Cafe Flora (at East Madison and 29th -- a restaurant we visited regularly when we were last in Seattle) and back. On the way back, I stopped at Trader Joe's and bought a few big bags of nuts, which wasn't a smart idea given that I still had a few more miles to run and no easy way to carry my purchases. (Again: I like nuts.)
Monday:
Bodyweight Fran workout (21-15-9 reps of burpees and pull-ups)
Tuesday:
Half-Angie (50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 sit-ups), but not done for time
3 X 6 dumbbell bench presses
3 X 6 dumbbell back rows
10 X 10 plyo box jumps
4 minutes Tabata row
The other half of Angie (50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 sit-ups), not done for time
Wednesday:
6 X 5 pull-ups
6 X 4 pistols
100 plyo box jumps (broken up into as few sets as possible)
6 X 25 push-ups
6 X 25 sit-ups
6X 25 squats
Thursday:
5-minutes of L-sit (it look me almost 12 minutes to do this, and my “L” often looked more like an “N”)
50 long-form burpees (1X squat, 1X push-up, 1X sit-up, 1X superman, 1X tuck jump)
Friday:
3 X 6 dumbbell bench presses
3 X 6 dumbbell back rows
3 X 6 pull-ups - feet-to-bar
3 X 6 corkscrew dumbbell shoulder presses
3 X 6 chin-ups - feet-to-bar
3 X 6 pistols
Saturday:
For time: 100 plyo box jumps (it took me 4:10 - ugh)
20 bodyblasters (burpee to pull-up to knees-to-elbows)
Run 5K (on the ship’s jogging track, where people kept gawking at my Vibram FiveFingers and saying helpful things like: “You look like you have otter feet.”)
20 more bodyblasters
Sunday (yesterday):
M and I carried a bunch of luggage and two small children off a cruise ship, up and down rainy hills in Seattle, to the airport, on a plane, and off a plane.
I need a vacation.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Don't Get Mistaken For A Pedo Bear
Another reason to buy yourself a pull-up bar for home use:
If you do pull-ups at the playground, helicopter moms are eventually going to mistake you for a pedophile.
(Source: Gawker)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Beachbody: Helping You Lose Weight (From Your Wallet)
To achieve "optimal conditioning," the P90X Fitness Guide recommends purchasing a crapload of "official" P90X/Beachbody-branded equipment and supplements, including:
Still, if you're dead set on replicating the full P90X experience (without breaking the bank), here's what I recommend:
Pull-Up Bar
Forget about the P90X Chin-Up Bar, and get yourself a rafter-mounted pull-up bar ($50) or the Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar ($40) instead. The rafter-mounted bar is fantastic if you're working out in your basement or garage; otherwise, buy the removable, door-mounted Iron Gym bar -- it's virtually identical to the P90X-branded version, but sells for almost half the price.
Push-Up Stands
Push-up stands aren't absolutely necessary unless you have serious wrist issues (in which case you probably shouldn't be doing P90X anyway), but if you want a basic set, you can get them for about $12. The PowerStands are for wealthy Tony cultists only. (But even Tony himself doesn't use PowerStands in the P90X videos; he uses regular, no-frills push-up stands.)
P90X Peak Health Formula
The P90X Peak Health Formula is basically just another daily multivitamin, but costs TEN TIMES AS MUCH per serving. Try Costco's 100-pack box instead, which sells for $16.49.
The P90X Recovery Drink
As for the much-heralded P90X Results & Recovery Formula (a.k.a. the "P90X Recovery Drink"), you can just swap it out for a glass of chocolate milk. Researchers have found that chocolate milk's a perfect post-workout recovery drink; as one article put it:
P90X Protein Bars
Clif Builder's Bars offer virtually the same nutrition as the P90X Protein Bars (260 cal., 7g fat, 31g carbs, 20g protein). And if you buy a box of 12 Clif Builder's Bars for $17 from Amazon rather than buying the P90X variety from Beachbody, you'll save $1 per bar. The savings add up quickly over a period of 90 days.
Beachbody Strength & Muscle Men's Formula
The "Strength & Muscle Men's Formula" is just creatine and artificial flavoring mixed with some carbs (in the form of dextrose) to spike your body's insulin and drive the creatine to your muscles. For a much cheaper alternative, pick up some pure creatine monohydrate powder (Vitamin Shoppe sells a 181-serving container for $20) and some grape juice. Better yet, just mix a scoop of creatine powder into your post-workout chocolate milk.
Beachbody's Whey Protein
You can buy whey protein powder just about anywhere (Sam's Club, Safeway, Costco, Wal-Mart, etc.), and for a lot cheaper than $47 for a one-pound package. GNC sells a pound of 100% whey protein powder for $16 -- ONE THIRD of Beachbody's price. You can add whey protein powder to your chocolate milk, too.
Beachbody's Joint Support Super Formula
The main ingredients in Beachbody's Joint Support Super Formula are glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), which work together to form the building blocks of collagen. Costco's version costs $17 for 180+ servings. The same amount of Beachbody's product will set you back $228.
Frankly, none of the above items are essential for completing P90X (though taking a daily multivitamin's always a good idea, with or without P90X). But if you're intent on going all-out, consider some alternatives before you take out a second mortgage to fund your Beachbody purchases.
*These prices include shipping & handling charges as listed on Beachbody's website.
- The P90X Chin-Up Bar ($75);
- Tony Horton's PowerStands ($53);
- P90X Peak Health Formula ($50 for a 30-day supply);
- P90X Results and Recovery Formula ($51 for 25 servings);
- P90X Peak Performance Protein Bars ($29 for 12 bars)
- Beachbody's Strength & Muscle Men's Formula ($51 for 78 servings);
- Beachbody's Whey Protein Powder ($47 for 30 servings); and
- Beachbody's Joint Support Super Formula ($38 for a 30-day supply).*
Still, if you're dead set on replicating the full P90X experience (without breaking the bank), here's what I recommend:
Pull-Up Bar
Forget about the P90X Chin-Up Bar, and get yourself a rafter-mounted pull-up bar ($50) or the Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar ($40) instead. The rafter-mounted bar is fantastic if you're working out in your basement or garage; otherwise, buy the removable, door-mounted Iron Gym bar -- it's virtually identical to the P90X-branded version, but sells for almost half the price.
Push-Up Stands
Push-up stands aren't absolutely necessary unless you have serious wrist issues (in which case you probably shouldn't be doing P90X anyway), but if you want a basic set, you can get them for about $12. The PowerStands are for wealthy Tony cultists only. (But even Tony himself doesn't use PowerStands in the P90X videos; he uses regular, no-frills push-up stands.)
P90X Peak Health Formula
The P90X Peak Health Formula is basically just another daily multivitamin, but costs TEN TIMES AS MUCH per serving. Try Costco's 100-pack box instead, which sells for $16.49.
The P90X Recovery Drink
Believe it or not, 1% low-fat chocolate milk is one of the best recovery foods out there according to the results of a small, randomized trial reported in the February issue of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. “Our study indicates that chocolate milk is a strong alternative to other commercial sports drinks in helping athletes recover from strenuous, energy-depleting exercise," coauthor Joel M. Stager, PhD, from Indiana University in Bloomington, said in a news release. "Chocolate milk contains an optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio, which is critical for helping refuel tired muscles after strenuous exercise and can enable athletes to exercise at a high intensity during subsequent workouts."If you compare the P90X Recovery Drink's nutrition label with that of skim chocolate milk, the latter actually has fewer calories (170 versus 220), less fat (0 grams versus 2 grams), fewer carbs (29 grams versus 39 grams), and about the same amount of protein (11 grams versus 10 grams). Although the P90X Recovery Drink adds a boost of Vitamins C and E, it's not really necessary if you're already downing a daily multivitamin. The Recovery Drink is also spiked with a bit of creatine, L-glutamine and L-argenine, but you can buy these supplements separately -- and a lot more cheaply -- at a health food or vitamin store like GNC. And while I've seen reviews touting the tastiness of the Recovery Drink, chocolate milk is both delicious AND cheap.
P90X Protein Bars
Beachbody Strength & Muscle Men's Formula
The "Strength & Muscle Men's Formula" is just creatine and artificial flavoring mixed with some carbs (in the form of dextrose) to spike your body's insulin and drive the creatine to your muscles. For a much cheaper alternative, pick up some pure creatine monohydrate powder (Vitamin Shoppe sells a 181-serving container for $20) and some grape juice. Better yet, just mix a scoop of creatine powder into your post-workout chocolate milk.
Beachbody's Whey Protein
You can buy whey protein powder just about anywhere (Sam's Club, Safeway, Costco, Wal-Mart, etc.), and for a lot cheaper than $47 for a one-pound package. GNC sells a pound of 100% whey protein powder for $16 -- ONE THIRD of Beachbody's price. You can add whey protein powder to your chocolate milk, too.
Beachbody's Joint Support Super Formula
The main ingredients in Beachbody's Joint Support Super Formula are glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), which work together to form the building blocks of collagen. Costco's version costs $17 for 180+ servings. The same amount of Beachbody's product will set you back $228.
Frankly, none of the above items are essential for completing P90X (though taking a daily multivitamin's always a good idea, with or without P90X). But if you're intent on going all-out, consider some alternatives before you take out a second mortgage to fund your Beachbody purchases.
*These prices include shipping & handling charges as listed on Beachbody's website.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Rafter Mounted Pull-Up Bar
Last night, I finally got around to installing the rafter-mounted pull-up bar I bought on Amazon. I can't believe I waited this long to get it mounted -- I love it.
The photo of the product on Amazon doesn't do it justice. The four-foot-wide bar is made of heavy gauge, knurled steel, and can be mounted on just about any wood joist. It's not fancy, but it's solid and mounts firmly with four hex bolts. It feels indestructible.
The installation was simple and straightforward, though I ended up having to make a couple of trips to Home Depot (first, to pick up longer bolts -- the ones included weren't nearly long enough to make it through the doubled-up planks where I wanted to mount the bar -- and then later, to buy the necessary 7/16" drill bit, which I mistakenly thought I already had in my toolbox). It took me a while to get the bar leveled and bolted tight, mostly because I was trying to balance on a ladder while juggling a metal bar, a level and a handful of nuts and bolts. I'm sure I would have finished much sooner if I'd asked M to help, but I didn't want to interrupt her ChaLEAN Extreme workout.
Once the bar was up, I was eager to give it a try. Unlike my removable door-frame-mounted bar or my clunky, big-ass power tower, I found the rafter-mounted bar solid enough for me to swing from it like a monkey bar. I can freely switch grips and direction, perform core exercises and twists, and even get a nice back stretch without worrying about slamming into a door frame or protruding power tower attachment. My only regret is that I spent beaucoup bucks on a bunch of other pull-up bars before landing on this solution.
The photo of the product on Amazon doesn't do it justice. The four-foot-wide bar is made of heavy gauge, knurled steel, and can be mounted on just about any wood joist. It's not fancy, but it's solid and mounts firmly with four hex bolts. It feels indestructible.
The installation was simple and straightforward, though I ended up having to make a couple of trips to Home Depot (first, to pick up longer bolts -- the ones included weren't nearly long enough to make it through the doubled-up planks where I wanted to mount the bar -- and then later, to buy the necessary 7/16" drill bit, which I mistakenly thought I already had in my toolbox). It took me a while to get the bar leveled and bolted tight, mostly because I was trying to balance on a ladder while juggling a metal bar, a level and a handful of nuts and bolts. I'm sure I would have finished much sooner if I'd asked M to help, but I didn't want to interrupt her ChaLEAN Extreme workout.
Once the bar was up, I was eager to give it a try. Unlike my removable door-frame-mounted bar or my clunky, big-ass power tower, I found the rafter-mounted bar solid enough for me to swing from it like a monkey bar. I can freely switch grips and direction, perform core exercises and twists, and even get a nice back stretch without worrying about slamming into a door frame or protruding power tower attachment. My only regret is that I spent beaucoup bucks on a bunch of other pull-up bars before landing on this solution.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Trial & Error: Pull Up Bars
According to P90X, the only equipment necessary to get through the program are a pull-up bar and either a set of weights or elastic resistance bands. (Obviously, you also need a TV and DVD player, and for yoga and some of the cardio routines, a padded mat is a good idea. Also: a water bottle, some yoga blocks, a towel, and a barf bag.)
I already have a set of adjustable dumbbells (Bowflex SelectTechs), so all I needed was a pull-up bar before getting started. Clicking around on Amazon.com, I found a bunch of power towers with pull-up bars of different grip configurations, and ended up buying this one, thinking it would suffice for P90X.
Wrong. Most power towers, including the one I purchased, are perfectly fine for wide grip pull-ups, but they lack the center section of bar needed for close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. And of course, P90X features tons of close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. I didn't realize this before spending an entire evening assembling my enormous new power station. After all the sweat equity I put into this behemoth, there's no way in hell I'm disassembling and returning it.
So on to Plan B: I bought a pull-up bar that attaches and detaches from a door frame without fasteners or marks on the frame. It's virtually identical to the one sold by Beachbody, and it's cheaper to boot. Perfect, right?
Wrong again. After it arrived and I put it together, I discovered that this pull-up bar doesn't fit either of the doors in our garage-slash-home gym. Our door frames are about an inch too deep.
So here's Plan C: I'm buying a rafter-mounted pull-up bar. No frills -- just a piece of heavy-duty steel that I'm going to bolt to our rafters.
The silver lining? I'll have three separate pull-up stations in the house, so if anyone wants to come over and crank out some pull-ups, let me know.
I already have a set of adjustable dumbbells (Bowflex SelectTechs), so all I needed was a pull-up bar before getting started. Clicking around on Amazon.com, I found a bunch of power towers with pull-up bars of different grip configurations, and ended up buying this one, thinking it would suffice for P90X.
Wrong. Most power towers, including the one I purchased, are perfectly fine for wide grip pull-ups, but they lack the center section of bar needed for close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. And of course, P90X features tons of close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. I didn't realize this before spending an entire evening assembling my enormous new power station. After all the sweat equity I put into this behemoth, there's no way in hell I'm disassembling and returning it.
So on to Plan B: I bought a pull-up bar that attaches and detaches from a door frame without fasteners or marks on the frame. It's virtually identical to the one sold by Beachbody, and it's cheaper to boot. Perfect, right?
Wrong again. After it arrived and I put it together, I discovered that this pull-up bar doesn't fit either of the doors in our garage-slash-home gym. Our door frames are about an inch too deep.
So here's Plan C: I'm buying a rafter-mounted pull-up bar. No frills -- just a piece of heavy-duty steel that I'm going to bolt to our rafters.
The silver lining? I'll have three separate pull-up stations in the house, so if anyone wants to come over and crank out some pull-ups, let me know.
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