Total Gym 1800 Club

My wife has been wanting to buy a Total Gym for some time now, and we''re glad we waited, because the Total Gym 1800 seems a bit better than the 1700 for a very similar price. We had a hard time finding enough info on the 1800 but decided to take a chance. Although we''re not familiar with the 1700, there doesn''t seem to be anything "missing" and the 1800 does include a few extras such as larger glide board, and ab boards. It also has leg pulley kit, one foot harness, dip bars, press up bars, and the wing accessory, many of which I think are included in the 1700 as well.

Pluses: Convenient and easy to exercise many different muscle groups, compact and reasonably priced. Adults and older kids can use it comfortably. I don''t find it difficult to make adjustments even raising and lowering, but may be difficult for people who weigh only 100 lbs or less.

Minuses or things that may take some getting used to:

(1) Lot of adjusting required. Different exercises require different attachments, some of which get in the way of each other so you don''t (can''t) have everything permanently attached. At least with the hitch pins it''s easy. What''s not so easy is adjusting the effort level, because the only way to do this is by raising or lowering the glide table so it''s inclined at a different angle (all exercises require raising your body on the glide table, at a steeper angle this requires more effort). So where I''ve started is level 1 (easiest) for a few exercises, then I adjust to level 3 for a couple of other exercises. While I do expect to get stronger at the level 1 exercises, I kind of doubt that I''ll ever be at the same setting for all exercises.

(2) Mechanical design leaves something to be desired. (a) I have yet to find a good place to keep the handles when not using them so they just kind of rattle around on the floor. (b) There''s a safety hitch pin, but either I''m not using it right or it doesn''t fit well there''s a hole it seems it should go in, but it either goes in cockeyed or it bangs up against the main spring loaded pin that holds one end of the glide table up. (c) There''s a velcro pad on one of the rails, the pulley fitting rubs against this and it''s going to come off sooner or later. (d) There''s a foam pad that goes under the unit. But when you raise or lower the glide table, the distance between the feet changes and the foam pad shifts around. Minor nuisance keeping the unit on the foam pad, I''m inclined (no pun intended!) to get a nice big plywood sheet and keep the Total Gym on that. (e) Depending on the attachments in use, the plastic-sheathed cable may rub on the attachment.

(3) At first it was awkward getting started with each exercise, but I''m getting the hang of it. Seems to help to grab both handles of the rope-pulley and then adjust your body position. And empty your pockets ;-)

(4) Be careful with loose hair. First time my wife tried, her hair got caught in a pulley assembly.

Drawbacks notwithstanding, a good deal for the money.

I''m very happy with this purchase. Amazon delivers again a great product at a great price and in great shape when it gets to the consumer. I am already finding the Total Gym is making a difference in the way I feel after three weeks.

Start out with the Beginners circuit training and stay with it until you are comfortably ready to move on to the next set of exercises. The attachments are not that bothersome to attach after you get used to using them a couple of times. Watch the video first to get motivated and see how the trainer makes the transitions. That helped.

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I still use the same one, even though it is old. I have Fibromyalgia, and because I need to do some

kind of exercise to help with the muscle pain from the Fibro, the Total Gym is my choice. I sing it''s praises to anyone who I can find that will listen. Think Palites, core muscles, skiing etc when you are using your TOTAL GYM. Some use the TOTAL GYM fast, thinking they will get there faster. I use it slowly, so I am doing a lots of stretching which gives me some relief from the pain. Think Skiing, and do it slowly, you will feel muscles all of your body stretching. When I had surgery recently my anestheologist commented about what great muscles I had when he gave shot around my midsection in preperation for the surgery! Brought about by the skiing workout and the core muscle workouts I do daily.

This was the best money I ever spent on myself. I purchased it when they first came out, and it is

still working fine. I workout out every day, at least one time, for half hour up to full hour and

I am 71 years old. My TOTAL GYM, keeps me up and running!Total Gym 1800 Club Mine looks different because it is much older.

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I love mine. It works great. Fairly easy to change aroung. But be careful when folding it up. I got my finger smashed while folding it up.

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I am a 29-year old male. My wife and I have a treadmill and a flat bench with some free weights, but were looking for a versatile machine that could cover arm and shoulder exercises. We initially were looking at the Gold''s Gym weight stack combos, as well as some Smith machines, and the Bowflex. I was vaguely familiar with Total Gym, but it hadn''t even crossed my mind.

Well, after trying it out in the store and getting it home, the value of this machine is immediately obvious. This is a great machine for men AND women because of how versatile it is. It basically works like a glorified situp/pilates board with pulleys. Instead of adding weights, your own weight and angle on the slideboard create the resistance. You can do everything from chest presses to pec flys, to triceps extensions and dips, and that doesn''t even cover all of the core and abdominal exercises (which is what a lot of the gals are after).

A lot of the guys looking at this machine (like me) may have no interest in pilates and think that this machine can''t offer them a real workout. I have to tell you that if you''ve ever used a cable cross machine in a gym, the same principles are at work here. The exercise you''ll do on this thing are not necessarily "hard" to the degree that you''ll fail after a few reps, but you will notice the results IMMEDIATELY. The key to this is that unlike a fixed weight setup, the use of cables forces all of the connective muscles to go to work. While this is not necessarily a machine you would use to add bulk, you can get additional muscle mass and certainly work on tone. Again, every muscle group imaginable has a workout (or three) on this machine.

If I could give a 4.5, as opposed to a 5, I probably would, because there are a few drawbacks. It''s not the easiest machine in the world to set up, and there is a bit of a learning curve to actually picking the right settings and properly getting into a workout. Most of the exercises use the pulley handles, but it isn''t entirely obvious how to get on the machine, or what to do with them when you get off. Also, the commenter above who mentioned long hair possibly getting caught in the slider board pulley is right! I have that concern when my wife uses it, though it isn''t really a pulley that actually rotates while you''re using it with both arms. But I''m still going with 5 stars because the thing ships in the box fully assembled (a big plus) and really offers a great workout. At $350 or $400, good luck trying to find a home gym setup that will give you this many workout options and actually remain functional!