My Bodylastics Home Gym Arrived!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Exactly 33 days ago, I placed an order online for the Bodylastics Home Gym. It actually arrived yesterday, but because nobody was home to receive the package, it got sent back all the way to Paya Lebar, the HQ of Singpost.
So I had to make phone calls just to make sure that it's there and told them to hold it there and I'll go pick it up myself. Since I won't be home, it's going to get sent back there again if they try to deliver it today.
If you think Singaporeans are kiasu, wait till you see the packing.
They actually put a box inside another box! There's even packing material in the bigger box! Think about this for a moment will you? What is Bodylastics? In very simple terms, they're just rubber bands. The handles and other "accessories" are basically cloth straps. There's NOTHING to break! Americans win, ok?
Anyway, excitedly I began to unpack the items:
Nice! The whole thing fitted completely into 2 plastic bags. So I tore open the bag and found....
... the handles, ankle straps, and door jam inside the bodylastics travel bag!
The accompanying "manual" which you can see on the left in the pictures, is pretty thick and fully illustrated with many different exercises for different muscle groups. They have even created catergories of exercises for specific sports like golf, baseball etc!
The bands themselves, however, looked and felt "flimsy". I know they're made from the best quality rubber they can find, but the feeling of "flimsiness" is still there. Partly because I expected the bands themselves to be heavier in weight, but they were all surprisingly light. The bands are colour-coded for their "weight" in terms of resistance if you used them. The second cue they gave you was that the "heavier weights" were actually thicker!
As a quick test, I loaded up with a black band (23 pounds) and a blue band (19 pounds) and did just 3 or 4 reps of bicep curls. Somehow still didn't feel "heavy" enough, so I stopped. I sat down at the computer and started to chat with people on MSN. It was THEN, that the nice feeling of having worked out hit the arms. Nice! Not a "tired" feeling but a tingling.
Just 3 or 4 reps! Not even a full set!
I ordered the "Max Tension" version of the kit, so it included everything, even the DVD. I ran through the DVD quickly (dragging the slider) just to look at the "follow-along" workout. Looks pretty good actually. It's a circuit-training kind of thing, and circuit-trainings usually help to burn alot of calories. Very useful if you're losing weight.
In my personal opinion, the Steel Bow is more "targetted" in their exercises. For example if you're working the arms, you feel most of the strain on the arms. With Bodylastics, not only do the arms feel the strain, but the "supporting muscles" around the target area get worked on too! It truly is a mini-home gym in a nice neat little bag.
I won't be "throwing aside" the Steel Bow though. It's great for those workouts when you're sitting down watching TV and want to get some workout in. I'll use Bodylastics when I have time to commit to a more complete workout.
Originally, my aim was to lose weight and stop having my gut patted by giggling women asking me "so when is it due?". That tummy has dramatically been reduced now. Now my aim is to get fit and build muscles. No, I'm not going for the Arnold Schwarzenegger look. I'm just going for the "lean mean fighting machine" look, like those guys you see in the movie "300".
I know I probably won't be anywhere near them but it sure will be a far cry from what I was back in Sept 2007.
So I had to make phone calls just to make sure that it's there and told them to hold it there and I'll go pick it up myself. Since I won't be home, it's going to get sent back there again if they try to deliver it today.
If you think Singaporeans are kiasu, wait till you see the packing.
They actually put a box inside another box! There's even packing material in the bigger box! Think about this for a moment will you? What is Bodylastics? In very simple terms, they're just rubber bands. The handles and other "accessories" are basically cloth straps. There's NOTHING to break! Americans win, ok?
Anyway, excitedly I began to unpack the items:
Nice! The whole thing fitted completely into 2 plastic bags. So I tore open the bag and found....
... the handles, ankle straps, and door jam inside the bodylastics travel bag!
The accompanying "manual" which you can see on the left in the pictures, is pretty thick and fully illustrated with many different exercises for different muscle groups. They have even created catergories of exercises for specific sports like golf, baseball etc!
The bands themselves, however, looked and felt "flimsy". I know they're made from the best quality rubber they can find, but the feeling of "flimsiness" is still there. Partly because I expected the bands themselves to be heavier in weight, but they were all surprisingly light. The bands are colour-coded for their "weight" in terms of resistance if you used them. The second cue they gave you was that the "heavier weights" were actually thicker!
As a quick test, I loaded up with a black band (23 pounds) and a blue band (19 pounds) and did just 3 or 4 reps of bicep curls. Somehow still didn't feel "heavy" enough, so I stopped. I sat down at the computer and started to chat with people on MSN. It was THEN, that the nice feeling of having worked out hit the arms. Nice! Not a "tired" feeling but a tingling.
Just 3 or 4 reps! Not even a full set!
I ordered the "Max Tension" version of the kit, so it included everything, even the DVD. I ran through the DVD quickly (dragging the slider) just to look at the "follow-along" workout. Looks pretty good actually. It's a circuit-training kind of thing, and circuit-trainings usually help to burn alot of calories. Very useful if you're losing weight.
In my personal opinion, the Steel Bow is more "targetted" in their exercises. For example if you're working the arms, you feel most of the strain on the arms. With Bodylastics, not only do the arms feel the strain, but the "supporting muscles" around the target area get worked on too! It truly is a mini-home gym in a nice neat little bag.
I won't be "throwing aside" the Steel Bow though. It's great for those workouts when you're sitting down watching TV and want to get some workout in. I'll use Bodylastics when I have time to commit to a more complete workout.
Originally, my aim was to lose weight and stop having my gut patted by giggling women asking me "so when is it due?". That tummy has dramatically been reduced now. Now my aim is to get fit and build muscles. No, I'm not going for the Arnold Schwarzenegger look. I'm just going for the "lean mean fighting machine" look, like those guys you see in the movie "300".
I know I probably won't be anywhere near them but it sure will be a far cry from what I was back in Sept 2007.
Labels: Bodylastics, home gym
