Tuesday, May 19, 2009

GoFit Ultimate ProGym (review)

After my wife came home with the GoFit Ultimate ProGym resistance band/tube set, I opened it up to check it out (because I saw a bunch of bad reviews about it on Amazon where people only gave it one star). The thing that reviewers were complaining about was the thing that I saw in the picture at Amazon and thought could be a problem. If you look at the picture on the left, you can see the band clasps that connect to the handles or ankle straps... they look like small, thin, plastic carabiners that would probably break under tension. That's exactly what the reviewers that gave it one star were complaining about... that they actually DID break, or were even broken when they took them out of the box.

I want to make sure everyone knows that this is NOT what is on the bands that I have. In fact, my guess is that the picture is of an older model that had them, but since the company has fixed that problem. The bands on mine have solid, sturdy feeling, plastic loops, and then the handles have a larger metal carabiner that you can hook multiple bands to to increase the resistance. The new desing seems very sound and strong enough to me... I tested putting a lot of stress/tension on them and everything seemed very solid.

I am pasting a 5 star review that was on Amazon, because I believe this gentleman received the newer model like I did, but he also seems to have some great ideas about how to use them.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great little on the go or at home work out, November 11, 2005
By danmirage "danmirage" (Ukiah, California) - See all my reviews
A note about operation of the ankle straps: you have to open them up and turn them so the scratchy Velcro is on the outside away from your skin...place the ring where you want it, wrap the remaining strap around your leg and then thread the strap through the ring and pull snug before securing the Velcro.

This way it will stay on no matter what weight you use. I promise...I use A LOT of weight for leg training.

I have been involved in health and fitness for over 20 years as a Body Builder, Body Sculptor, Trainer, Therapist, Coach and many other positions in the field. I am currently the Director of Personal Success Now.

I bought this to check it out - to determine if it was a good option for some of my clients who do not want to go to the gym. I also travel and wanted some way to ensure I would have the ability to work out anywhere.

Finally, no more work outs with a towel for resistance!!

This little gym in a bag is great. It comes in a small bag and is very light. It comes with a poster or book demonstrating possible workouts and it comes with a DVD (or CD) that describes and demonstrates workout possibilities. You can play this CD as a "trainer" or view the exercises singly.

The DVD has in a very good core performance, functional workout and some excellent information on nutrition. (The CD features Trainer and Fitness Model Linda Leene, and describes and demonstrates workout possibilities. You can play this CD as a "trainer" or view the exercises singly)

You get the aforementioned ankle straps, handles, and a door anchor. You also get a 5, 10, and 15 pound cable. The weight range is 5 to 30 pounds in 5-pound increments by combining the cables. The handles are comfortable and the cables hook and unhook very easily.

The possible weight/cable combinations look like this:
5 / 10 / 15 / 20=15+5 / 25=15+10 / 30=15+10+5

Additional cables are only $4 from the company...note: if you need more weight, you only need to get another heavy cable...because you can create any combination up to 45 pounds in 5 pound increments with only the 1 additional cable.

Combinations from 35 to 45 pounds look like this:
35=15+15+5 / 40=15+15+10 / 45=15+15+10+5

Every time you need more weight, you only need another 15-pound cable.

The weights discussed above represent the resistance for each hand. So, doing curls with the heavy cable is like curling 15 pounds in each hand.

I highly recommend this as an at-home and on the go training tool!

For safety - Always check your cables for wear before working out. Always make sure the door anchor is secure in the door and the door is closed and LOCKED before training with the door anchor. Always warm up before your workout. Always warm down and do flexibility movements after your workout.

There are down-loadable sheets for "tone and shape" and for "muscle and strength" 12-week workouts.
gofit.net/prod/progym.html

Eat right for you. Take your vitamin. Get enough sleep. Drink your water. Avoid artificial- colors, flavors, and preservatives in your diet. Laugh often...and live well!

One final note to update this review - in 5 months of using the ProGym, I have lost 10 pounds of fat and gained over 20 pounds of muscle.

Wishing you Personal Success Now!
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Today I did the Cardio X workout, so I didn't get to use these in an actual workout yet. I will either create a new post or update this one after I use them a bit in some workouts.

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