Guys

On the quacks advice I need to start doing a bit of regular exercise.
Joined a gym last year on a 3 month trial which went ok but I was relieved when it was over, a lot of waiting around for equipment. Certain I would be much more inclined to make an effort if I had the right equipment at home. I feel a cross trainer suits my needs but have no idea what to buy, make, model, type etc.

Would really appreciate any advice from those in the know or have personal experience.
Have a ballpark figure in my head of £500.

Cheers

OB

Argos are advertising Cross Trainers at the moment on sale at £50 I can't imagine them being very sturdy - take a look.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... RAINER.htm

You are more likely to go to exercise, so find a gym with more machines. Failing that go at less popular times. I found Mondays to be the busiest, and it tails off during the week, and there will be busier times at the gym - you could always ask?

Buying a machine will only fill space in the loft

To enforce what Blahblah has just said, and to probably explain it a little better than his pea sized brain is capable of -

IMHO you are better off going to a gym than rely on a piece of equipment at home, mainly because with just one bit of kit you are going to get bored. Where as at a gym you are going to have the choice of 4 or 5 different bits of CV equipment (plus the weights) which are also important. Plus, it's beneficial for you to use a range of different machines as opposed to just 1 as each bit uses different muscles.

As Blah said, Monday's can be busier, but may I ask what time of day you were going? From my experience it tends to be as busy as hell between 18:00 and 20:30 but before and after that time it is so much quieter.

I thought that was too obvious to type

Also go when there is something worth watching on Sky Sports

I tend to go after work (get there 6-30ish) and that really isn't advisable but is all I can do. I'm not a morning person. Our gym isn't overly popular but I still don't bother even trying on Mondays. Got to start going at weekends again really as I can't do tuesdays or fridays so that only leaves wednesday or thursday (when Liverpool often play) so I tend to visit once a week at most

Still more than I'd do at home with limited (and cheaper/inferior) kit.

Murf -

Don't even get me bloody started on bloody new years resolutioner gym users! I will be going tonight, but I know that I won't be able to plan my routine at all and that it will be more of a case of going on whatever is available. As we all know it will be like this until the end of feb and then all will be back to normal again

Thanks for the input guys but not really helped me find a crosstrainer.

The gym is fine for some but not for me I'm afraid. I am not looking to become an olympic athlete just improve on my current low level of fitness. Should I really enjoy it and want to take it a stage further I may consider a gym but I doubt it.

there is a link to Argos' x-trainers in one of my posts above. Probably won't help you much as you could have googled it yourself if you so wished

Anything is obviously better than nothing and you will notice yourself getting fitter and better at that piece of equipment but you are only training your body for that equipment and what it entails. You'd still be poor at other exercise which needed different muscles etc.

I don't know much about cross trainers except that I use one in the gym and my 'personal trainer' advised working at different levels and different speeds rather than just plodding along at one pace.

This looks "ok"

http://www.healthclubsathome.com/produc ... ainer.html

I think you get what you pay for - Perhaps i would buy a good quality 2nd hand than cheap new although I should caveat that slightly by saying I don't actually know what I am talking about

Any "gym" equipment bought from Argos will end up as landfill quite quickly in my own experience.

You sure we cannot convince you into staying with the gym?

Gets good reviews (110 of them) for £60. The £45 quid one (alternatives at bottom page) gets worse reviews and has a limit of 15st 10lb, so no good for fatties.

Especially a cross trainer at just £59!

No offence or snobbery intended but isn't an Argos users review of a cross trainer a bit like a Thresher users review of White Lightening?

It's the worst time of the year, painful to wait for equipment all the time, but it tails off at the end of Jan/early Feb.

I go 4 times a week, for an hour and a half session each time, but as I work shifts, I can usually pick the quietest times. I'm also benefiting from Birmingham City Council doing something right for a change and providing free memberships to their gyms when you pay council tax, and as my local gym had a £185,000 makeover last summer, with all brand new equipment including CV machines, resistant machines and free weights, it's a very generous incentive.

No offence Rich but I chose not to click that link due to the price quoted, sounded like Meccano strength

No offence taken, but it's not just a link to that one specific item, there are a number of different ones on the same page. Ranging up to about £400.

Someone must have a home cross trainer

They are all in the lofts, or been taken to the tip

just a word of advice on cross trainers lads... i managed to get hold of one which a gym didn't need anymore as they were replacing their kit. anyway, i went nuts on it every morning for about 3 months, full pelt for at least half an hour, to the extent where i ended up in hospital having an endoscopy due to acid reflux - at the time i had no idea the manic cross training was the cause! ...it's now in the tip and i cycle & swim instead

anyhow, don't let that put you off - have fun

You have made my night, there

Unfair! My wife uses all of hers as clothes airers.

Which does she recommend?

Anything apart from them big blow up bouncy ball things.

They're supposed to be good for the abs, but her knickers keep falling off.......Ooooh matron!

Well, tell her not to wear any

Better recommend me a cycle then.

Best change the title of the thread, there are a few cyclists on here, and they get used unlike domestic gym equipment

Cycle, punchbag and pressups........fit as a butchers dog!!

Was going to suggest getting a bike, but didn't want to sound like a broken record

Loads of decent ones around for the £500 mark, although you have to factor in the price of some extra kit to keep warm and comfortable on the bike, plus pump, a few tools, lights etc. Probably best to go for something like a £350 hybrid (Specialised Sirrus or Scott Sub 40 or similar) and spend the other £150 on extra kit. Personally don't like them but if you only have 1 bike then they're a decent compromise, depending on what you'll use it for. Just don't get a Halfrauds 'half price special' unless you want it to join the cross trainers gathering dust in the garage. Check out whether your work operates a cycle to work scheme as you can save a lot (although check how they're applying the final payment because the tax rules have changed recently).

If you're going to use it then it's a great way to get / keep fit.

If you are serious about getting one then feel free to ask for advice. Plenty of others on here that cycle and can offer help as well.

Thanks for the advice Unc.

What kit are you talking about, I'm guessing a helmet but don't know what else.
If I was to go up to £500 for a bike plus kit what would you recommend then??