Home Exercise Equipment

Coronavirus getting us antsy, resorting to spending money on exercise equipment.

TheBoys have been doing pull-ups and some ring exercises.

NumberTwoSon wanted a barbell and cage, but the cage we liked that didn't require attaching to the floor was too tall for the slighly-low basement ceiling.

We bought dumbbells (the PowerBlock 50lb set) and a bench.

Then considered

• treadmill
• rowing machine
• stationary bike, airbike
• elliptical

I was leaning toward airbike, but more people seemed more likely to use elliptical, so we went that way.

Articles

• Could Air Bikes be the Perfect Cardio Machine? For conditioning, an air bike is the perfect tool for interval training like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There is no programming required. You control the intensity – pedal and away you go. Providing a low-impact, total-body cardio workout – no muscle is left unworked on an airbike.
• The Misery Machine: 4 Brutal Fan Bike Workouts. When it comes to cardio equipment, four options come to mind: treadmills, Stepmills, bikes, and the elliptical trainer. Unfortunately, this overlooks another and, in my opinion, superior option: the fan bike. Pedaling is only half of the work you do. The coordinated pushing and pulling action of the arms and the pushing action of the legs, combined with the air resistance from the fan, challenges your heart to pump blood to both upper and lower body regions. Sure, the elliptical machine also has handles connected with the footpads, but you'd be wrong to assume that these two pieces of equipment are in the same league. The air resistance from the fan results in a workout intensity with no comparison. The fan bike is an excellent option for high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts.
• Air Bike vs. Elliptical- Which is the best workout machine for you? The elliptical is the best pick for your upper body workout while an air bike is more effective in toning your lower body muscles like quads and hamstrings.
• Reddit - homegym - Air bike vs elliptical. Ellipticals are super good at making it easy to do 45 minutes of (debatably effective) steady state cardio. Air bikes are fantastic for (debatably fun) HIIT cardio, but IMO aren't as enjoyable for just moving for 45 minutes vs. a normal bike. The good thing about an air bike vs an elliptical, is that (with airbike) you can't cheat with momentum the way that you can with an elliptical, it's constant work even if you let up on the intensity.
• Assault AirBike versus Rower - Which is Better? (Rogue Echo) requires a minimum of maintenance. Both are full body exercises. With the assault bike you are constantly working – there’s no rest. The rower is fundamentally different – because during the “drive” (where you push with your legs, then retract your arms) you are working – but then you get a nice “recovery” where you glide back to the starting position. The rower is less torturous – and it is much better for steady state workouts. Whether you want to call it steady state, LISS (Low Intensity Stead State), or LSD (Long Slow Distance) – you’ll probably enjoy it more on a rower. I prefer the assault bike for HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training. The Concept 2 (rower) breaks down in to two pieces that are very easy to move – and you can hang it on the wall – out of the way when not in use. Unless you are looking to specialize in some hardcore HIIT training – the Concept 2 indoor rower will get more use, takes up less space, is simpler to store when not in use, and will more likely be an effective part of your training regimen.
• Rogue Echo AirBike VS The Peloton Bike. Since the Rogue Echo comes from the largest manufacturer of Crossfit equipment in the world it has goals and functions related to that of the functional fitness world. Although it will no doubt shred calories the Echo bike is designed to improve overall fitness and target multiple energy systems such as aerobic, anaerobic, and muscular endurance. If we were to relate these two bikes to the running world we would say that the Echo bike is sprinting and the Peloton bike is jogging. While you may lose about the same amount of calories during the duration of your time on the bike the Echo bike will have you burning fat for hours after your workout is over.
• 7 Undeniable Benefits of The Rogue Echo AirBike. When given the option, lesser motivated individuals will almost always try to substitute the rower for the bike and for good reason: because you won’t hurt as much. You, however won’t get as much in return. Doing sprint intervals on the echo bike is without a doubt one of the best ways to improve your muscular endurance in a short amount of time as your body is constantly battling against resistance. It’s $200 cheaper. If you do it right 10 minutes on the bike is more than enough to make you suffer.

We bought the DiamondBack Fitness 1060ef.

• manual PDF
  • console intro p18
  • manual program p23
  • user-setting programs p35
  • console trouble-shooting p38
  • conditioning guidelines p40
• my intent is to use it for interval training
• so far I've just been using it on manual, increasing the level and seeing how far I want to go
  • I'm using calories as my main metric, but is that dependent on the user profile (height/weight/age/sex), and am I in the right profile?
• the pulse meter (heart rate) rarely seems to work for me, ends up usually showing around 70 even when I know that's not true...
  • dry hands?
  • Grasp the Hand Pulse Sensors firmly and avoid moving your hands while exercising. Really? Particularly difficult given that the pulse sensor handles are rather low.
  • try relaxing your grip on the Hand Pulse Sensors
  • NextAction - ask TheBoys if they have the same issue