Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Has anyone found a piece of home exercise gear they like?

I'm currently in a space where I'm just not limber enough to get on my bike that often. I feel like I'd benefit from having a fall-back on days where getting on my bike just wasn't going to happen. Has anyone found a piece of in-home exercise equipment they actually like and use? I feel like it would be really handy to just have something on hand so, no excuses, I could always get in motion every day for at least 30 minutes, helping me to limber up and get the ball rolling better.

I use a recumbent stationary bike. When the weather is crummy or for time if I have something else going on. At this point I do 7-10 miles a day 5-6 days a week. Since the weather here hasn't really turned the corner yet the indoor riding is almost a must. I'm admittedly a fair weather rider. When its super windy and lower than 50 degrees I would just as soon stay in the basement and ride. But I do love it when I ride outside, obviously the rides are more enjoyable, and usually longer.

Yeah put on your shoes and go for a good fast walk.

Cheap and readily available.
you don't need expensive gear to get in shape, you just need motivation

+1 on walking. My dog appreciates it too.

My wife likes her spin cycle but I'd probably go crazy and shoot myself if I had to spend any time on that thing.

Probably not as relevant to you as it isn't cardio, but I have free weights, elastic bands, an exercise ball and a mat. I work with the weights a couple times a week. I do a day or two of lighter core work. I use the elastic bands for rotator cuff rehab exercises. The exercise ball I got to mix up the core work a bit. I did crunches on the ball yesterday and got nauseated from the slightly odd motion it created. Yuck.

We have an old Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike (our fixie :)). I have used it when it rains. I hate it, hate it, hate it.

I agree with those who say you don't need equipment. Walking, jogging are available for free. If you don't want to go outside, bodyweight exercises - push-ups, squats, various others of varying degrees of severity - will give you as good a workout as you will get with any piece of equipment: maybe better.

I have an old Nordic Trac that has seen lots of use.

Walking, jogging, and I have an elliptical machine I like.

Kettle Bells. Limber you up, strengthen well, you will raise your heart rate when using them.

Report of the surprising benefits of workouts consisting of a 1-minute intense effort followed by 1 minute of rest for a total of 20 minutes per workout:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/how-1-minute-intervals-can-improve-our-health/

I work for a company that manufactures cardio and strength equipment; all I ever use in our employee gym anymore is the strength machines. Once it warms up and isn't raining 24/7 I don't like treadmills, ellipticals, or stationary bikes (even my rollers) any more until the winter.

I've got a really nice Colnago C-50 leaning against the couch. That's my favorite piece of home exercise gear. If for some reason I don't want to take it outside I have a set of rollers to give me something to do while watching tv. :)

http://www.waterrower.com/

praxiseverywhere.com and walking and some easy yoga. Peggy Cappy has a great DVD "Yoga for the Rest of Us", which works well if flexibility is an issue. That's how I roll.

It's a collection of rakes, shovels, spades and various weed whacking devices. Don't really like them, but it needs doing, and is a good workout.

Kreitler rollers with a wind load attachment. I'd rather cycle than anything else (although I do other types of exercise).

I love my Concept II rowing machine.

C2 Rower and a set of gymnastic rings

I love my Concept II rowing machine.

Everyone I know who has this loves it. Sometimes I wish I had a permanent home!

A friend of ours gave us a stationary bike with the built-in computer that varies the amount of resistance over time and distance. Pretty cool, but it runs on 4 D-cell batteries and the ON/OFF switch is broken. This means the batteries have to be removed from the machine after each use or they run down quickly. Pulling the batteries involves removing 4 very easy to lose screws every time.



Anyone wanna' guess how much it gets used anymore???

I have a sea kayak on the deck off the back patio. Does that count?

An extra room for the extra gear is too much more $ to pay for, every month..

I rock the resistance bands whenever I get the chance. They are a little more easy to manipulate than free weights. Also, just plain old stretching does me wonders. I am only 25, but knee surgeries have made my knee stiff as a board on too many instances. I do 20-30 min of stretches 2-3 times a week and it really helps. just a thought....

+1 on walking. I still try to alternate walking and cycling - I remember an article in Bicycling back in the 1990s, where the trainer for what was then the US team in the Tour de France saying that walking, and particularly hill walking, is the best way to build up your legs for cycling, and that cycling by itself won't do it.

Another good thing to do , that doesn't take up a lot of space and doesn't cost a lot is free weights and a folding bench. I use dumbbells, so the space requirements are minimal. This won't get to you Charles Atlas (who remembers him?) proportions, but it will help you tone, and if you do an upper body workout that focuses on the abs as well as the shoulders, arms and back, it will improve your stamina on the bike. There are a bunch of good dumbbell-based workouts around, and I think they're all about equally good.

If you alternate days between 45 min to 1 hour of either walking (briskly) or cycling (spinning), and an upper body workout with free weights, you'll see marked improvement within a few months.

All of you walkers ... it's nice, pleasant, and relaxing to walk around the neighborhood, and a great way to enjoy a slice of the evening. But how many of you go hiking?

All of you walkers ... it's nice, pleasant, and relaxing to walk around the neighborhood, and a great way to enjoy a slice of the evening. But how many of you go hiking?

This is where I get homesick for my former home. I lived in Duluth, Minnesota which is a city on the side of a hill overlooking Lake Superior. There are many hiking trails in town that follow creeks up the hills. Now that I can handle all the trails I no longer live there. :( There also is the Superior hiking trail that follows the rocky ridge line on the north shore of the big lake for 286 miles, some of which is pretty challenging. I hope to get some good hiking in during visits this summer.

All of you walkers ... it's nice, pleasant, and relaxing to walk around the neighborhood, and a great way to enjoy a slice of the evening. But how many of you go hiking?You may be misunderstanding what I mean by walking for exercise. Even on the sidewalks, I try to average about 5mph, which is a decent, brisk walk. We've got a nice system of parks that runs the length of the town, so you can go about 2 miles each way without crossing too many streets.

As far as hiking is concerned, I try to get out once a week, but lately have only been managing every other week or so. Besides being great in and of itself, it's also a special father-son thing that my youngest and I enjoy, which makes it particularly special. I have to drive a minimum of 30 minutes to get to a nice trail, but there are lots of nice trails within 45 minutes of here. Not the Rockies by any stretch, but pretty nice for a city boy.

On Saturday I climbed the Mount Baker Highway by bike. It was the switchbackiest road I might have ever been on - the only similar one I can think of is one of the ways into Yosemite. I gained about 3,600 feel of elevation in 16 miles.

On Sunday (yesterday) I hiked the lower half of the Fourth of July Trail at Icicle Creek, and turned aroudn when the trail got really snowy. I brought camping gear, which I didn't have time to use because I had to come to work today, but it weighed me down. I gained about 2,600 feet in 2.5 miles; the trail goes up about 750 vertical feet in the first mile, and then it starts getting steep. I drank 1.5 L of water in the first two miles. But my god, the scenery!

I almost stepped on or immediately in front of a rattlesnake trying to get closer to a patch of avalanche lilies. Once I realized my error, I decided to use the zoom feature on my camera instead.

It was about a 130 mile drive each way, so I didn't have as much time as I'd like on the trail. Might go camping this weekend for another shot at it, and bring my snow shoes. Either way, I'll try to post some photos tomorrow.

I use a bike trainer and a dreadmill when the weather is crap but more importantly I need a computer in front of me so I can watch a movie or a race while I use them. I would much rather be outside but weather and kids sometime prevent that from happening so it is good to have an alternate.

All of you walkers ... it's nice, pleasant, and relaxing to walk around the neighborhood, and a great way to enjoy a slice of the evening. But how many of you go hiking?

we need to trade, I come up there and you show me around the cascades, and you come down here and I show you around the sierra.

I LOVE to hike!

On Saturday I climbed the Mount Baker Highway by bike. It was the switchbackiest road I might have ever been on - the only similar one I can think of is one of the ways into Yosemite. I gained about 3,600 feel of elevation in 16 miles.

On Sunday (yesterday) I hiked the lower half of the Fourth of July Trail at Icicle Creek, and turned aroudn when the trail got really snowy. I brought camping gear, which I didn't have time to use because I had to come to work today, but it weighed me down. I gained about 2,600 feet in 2.5 miles; the trail goes up about 750 vertical feet in the first mile, and then it starts getting steep. I drank 1.5 L of water in the first two miles. But my god, the scenery!

I almost stepped on or immediately in front of a rattlesnake trying to get closer to a patch of avalanche lilies. Once I realized my error, I decided to use the zoom feature on my camera instead.

It was about a 130 mile drive each way, so I didn't have as much time as I'd like on the trail. Might go camping this weekend for another shot at it, and bring my snow shoes. Either way, I'll try to post some photos tomorrow.That sounds incredible. I have to admit, NJ has nothing to compare with that...

I love hiking, there just isn't much here that's super challenging. Had a blast hiking the mountains of Cali last Thanksgiving. And a close friend just moved to Sedona, so that will be this years big hiking trip.

My fave is a Concept 2 rower I bought used.

It is aerobic exercise, but works the legs and back. I find it very helpful getting ready for riding season.

My 2nd fave is the TRX. It's a niche product, it doesn't take up space or weigh a lot, but it neat for
resistance exercises.

There's a zillion things you could try, from kettlebells to Crossfit to yoga.

Try a few and see what you like.

old school original nordic track. Good work out, easy on joints, works upper body also

Either way, I'll try to post some photos tomorrow.

I was up until after midnight working on pictures from this weekend. I finished, and then I managed to forget to bring in the ones from Mount Baker. But I did bring the pictures from the hike, which is one of my answers to this thread. And to my great shock, bikes are allowed on this particular trail; that's not common in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and none of the trails I hike regularly at Snoqualmie Pass allow bikes. When I saw that I thought I might need to get an MTB (which I've been thinking about doing anyway), but after hiking the trail, I think you'd be extremely foolhardy to try it.

As promised, here are a few shots from the lower Fourth of July Creek trail (http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/list.html), where I was agog at the scenery.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01256.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01258.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01266.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01286.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01312.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01316.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01365.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01390.jpg

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/FourthOfJulyCreek/DSC01400.jpg

I love my Concept II rowing machine.

+3 Motion put forward and seconded. I move for an immediate vote. It complements riding and kicks my butt in minutes.

Seattle, that's what blew my mind in California. We were on a trail at the top of a 60 foot waterfall, about 18" wide, along zipps a guy on his FS MTB. Seemed crazy to me.

not quite what the OP was looking for, but I've started using a BOSU ball at the gym regularly.

it's suitable for big guys (one trainer mentioned someone 566 lbs hopping on it), although BOSU say a 350 lb limit


http://www.ab-core-and-stomach-exercises.com/images/bosu-ball.jpg

not quite what the OP was looking for, but I've started using a BOSU ball at the gym regularly.

it's suitable for big guys (one trainer mentioned someone 566 lbs hopping on it), although BOSU say a 350 lb limit


http://www.ab-core-and-stomach-exercises.com/images/bosu-ball.jpg

My once-trainer told me the secret of the BOSU ball - the name stands for BOth Sides Up.

I love hiking,
as my dad used to go hiking
with me when I was young,
never really got away from it .
Same true of bicycling .
I also use a spin cycle,
and free weights, a Nordic Trak and a Nordic Rider (like a rowing machine)
All thrown out for the trash when the will to follow the New Years' resolution vanished ,
'long about March .