I was a little leery of making this purchase. Normally, products that seem too simple for too reasonable of a price just never end up satisfying in the way you hope (e.g. The Dodge Neon, anything on Jack in the Box''s value menu, my two years at DeVry). But this? Oh. Oh, my faith has been restored in cheap American products.Because, you see, kids. This is a WELL ENGINEERED cheap American product. Yes, a rarity. I was worried that it would be difficult to assemble. I was worried that it wouldn''t really hang from my door frame. I was worried that it would break under my underwhelming 155lbs. I was worried the Utah Jazz wouldn''t be able to gear up and start winning road games as the playoffs grew nigh.
I mostly worried for naught.
I assembled the Iron Gym Extreme in about 15 minutes. Probably could have done so a lot more quickly, but I was distracted by Boston Legal on DVD, and by gunning my power ratchet wrench at my cat to stop her from playing in the packing materials.
(Note: You do NOT need your own tools to assemble this product. It comes with a little tool. But you can speed up the process with your own tools. You should have your own tools anyway, you know? Be a man.)
Once you assemble the Iron Gym Extreme, you''ll need to pick a doorway. It seemed to fit all my doorways perfectly, but I have heard word of older houses having issues. You will need to insert a small metal wedge into the top of your doorjamb. This helps to secure the device and make sure it doesn''t fall on anyone''s head. It''s not as scary as it sounds, you just kinda shove the thing behind the wood. Then you kinda wiggle it and say "Will that hold it?" Then a few minutes later you say "Gol-darn, it WILL hold it. Ain''t that somethin''." Should any friends be standing nearby, this would be an excellent time to exchange high-fives.
I then chin-upped. Well, I tried. God as my witness I had no idea I was such a puss. I had like no upper-body strength. I''m pretty sure I heard my cat laughing at me somewhere down the hall behind me, but the blood was thumping in my ears so I can''t be sure. But the bar sure worked!
I didn''t give up and kept at the bar. Now, no, several weeks later I''m nowhere close to entering any Ultimate Fighting Competitions or anything, but I can do buttloads of reps now, and my cat has stopped mocking me.
This product has been excellent. Buy with confidence.
The Utah Jazz, however, appear to be headed towards a first-round sweep at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.
Crap.
Product has changed through time, mine came with a metal block not a plastic one (probably since the plastic ones were breaking) and knurled handles for the pushups. Pushups and dips are WORTHLESS on this, they should never have compromised it to suit those purposes. The knurled plastic pushup handles are the same parts of the device that apply pressure to the doorframe the ridges indent into the wood. Probably this can be fixed by slipping a piece of thin wood between the device and the doorframe, but it is an unnecessary complication and the damage is done.
The bolts I received, instead of 8 of the big kind and 2 of the flatheads, I got 10 of the big kind, rounded head bolts .... the two bolts that were meant ot be flathead, well the roundhead went through the wall, denting the soft wall above the frame. I have fixed this by sliding a thin piece of wood between the bar and the wall, and I put a piece of paper between the bolthead and wall and the paper was undamaged so it is not touching the wall anymore. BUT COME ON! Stupid bolts. Wish I had noticed first, I had even read a review by someone else and missed that point.
If it does not fit your door, you are stuffed. So, here are the elusive measurements that I could not find anywhere. Tags for poor customers searching the internet are here
iron gym deluxe extreme measurements dimensions width door size
Width of support bar on top of door: 45.5cm total width, 34cm between the connecting bars
Width between the ends of the bars that will destroy your doorframe if your doorframe space is not at least this wide: 73cm
Width your doorframe should be as a minimum to allow the "padded" (that is, knurled destructor bits) ends to be on the frame: 81.5cm
Max width of the device: 105cm
Now I have only given it 1 star because the door damage infuriates me, it is unnecessary. Also I don''t like reading the instructions where the first step is "with an electric drill, drill 8 holes in the wall to mount the two brackets that will hold the device, with 4 screws each". It does not need these mounting brackets, but annoying they would even suggest such a thing the whole point of it is to NOT damage the wall.
One more gripe they should have made the main bar solid, not two-piece. It was designed two-piece to minimise packaging, and then, they made a mess of the packaging so it is still quite large. I know it is cheaper to have a package that is shorter and wide, but I would have paid more for one that is long and narrow, with a solid bar. That would make it a rock solid product. Alas, it is a bit wobbly and creaky.
Is it a good product otherwise? Apart from door/wall damage and creaky construction, problems that can be fixed, yes it is good. I give it 1 star because I am so annoyed. Fix the door damage problems and I would give it 4 stars. Solid bar, I would give it 5 stars and pay 20% more for it.
Good handle positions. Great variety of pullups and chinups etc... although, not stable or strong enough to climb around on it like a monkey, jumping from grip to grip, turning upside down. You could do all this, it won''t break or fall off (unless you start jumping up or swinging wildly). For steady, controlled work, it is fine.
Too low? Need to bend knees? This really isn''t a problem, and is probably safer because you will fall a shorter distance if it breaks :) seriously though, the height is not a problem. In fact if you have a low ceiling the lower height bar is probably a bonus.
Note that when you go up, your head generally goes between the handles, which is good. Better than hitting your head on a bar, anyway.
So if you want to get it, please check the measurements, investigate the screws and reinforce the doorframe with thin wood to protect it. If you do all that, it can be a good device.
If you like this review please hit the button so more people notice it my ramblings are not worth much but the measurements I think are essential for everyone to see. I searched for days and only found one reference to any measurements.
Buy Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition Now
Depending on the size of your door frame the rating can be anywhere from 1-5 stars. The assembly is pretty straight forward (the instructions weren''t very good, but you really just need to look at the picture and put the pieces in the correct place). It''s a solid piece of equipment and the quality seems good. Here''s the problem: it says that this will fit any door frame from 24" to 32". What I discovered is that the ends of the ''U'' shaped pieces stick out past the bar that is supposed to rest against the molding. This makes the rubber protective sleeves useless since they are not touching the molding. If your door frame is less than 31" then you will want to find another product. If your frame is 31" to 33" then this would be great. My door frame is 28.5" and I''m having to place towels between the molding and the metal ends so I don''t gouge the wood. If I could make another purchase I would buy one with a simpler grip system that actually made use of the foam/rubber padding. Also, you don''t need to mount this piece to your wall. It works just fine without the wall mount.Read Best Reviews of Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition Here
I''ve used this with the P90X program for three weeks now and have had zero problems. I''m about 200 pounds and have never felt unsafe on it. No hardware needed to attach it, easy to assemble, sturdy materials, and comfortable grips. Definitely the best choice for me in Jan 09.The only downside is a slight mark from the black foam on my white door frame. It''s very slight but if you have a spouse that cares about that and is tall enough to notice it, you may need to wrap it with some fabric.
Want Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition Discount?
Like many of the respondents, I looked around at a number of different pull-up bar options before purchasing the Iron Gym Extreme. I really had two major questions in my mind:1) Should I get a basic bar, or a more complex (Extreme) bar? The simple answer is to ask yourself what you will be doing with it. The Extreme bar is the same quality, and has many of the same features, as the basic bar, with one important difference: grip variety. Not only does the Extreme version have additional, wider tri handles, but it also has wide lat handles, which I would argue give the best workout. Plus, the bar places you farther away from the door for some of the exercises, which helps for comfort and range of motion. If those are not important, I see no reason to not buy a basic model, but for the relatively small additional cost, I think you get more options, and better fitness benefit.
2)Should I get this, or a more expensive bar? I can''t attest to the other bars out there. I wanted to do P90X with it, and, well, they have their own bar. Is it any lighter, stronger, or more durable? Who knows, but the Iron Gym Extreme is well built and does everything I need it to do for much less cost. For all intents and purposes the two (and others) have the same look, feel and features, so unless there is compelling reason, why pay more? Like a lot of things in life, it''s nice to have "matching" items, but with this, there is no need. Use the extra cash to go buy some more protein shakes or something.
With the decision made, here are my general comments on the bar:
1) Assembly: Pretty easy. It came fully wrapped for protection, and all of the pieces fit together perfectly. The manual was essentially a diagram, but it was easy to follow. It even came with a little spanner tool to tighten the nuts and bolts, although I would probably recommend a proper tool to tighten it fully.
2) Build/contruction: Very good. Lightweight steel with a high quality painted grey finish. The nuts, bolts and washers are a bit lighter than I would have expected, but they appear to be strong enough for the job.
3) Set-up: Really easy. There is a small metal door wedge that slides between the wall and trim to keep the bar on the top of the door frame. While the wedge doesn''t appear capable of resisting much force when applied, it doesn''t need to, as it firmly does its job of keeping the bar on the frame.
4) Grips: Standard foam, but quite comfortable.
5) Weigh-bearing/noise: I am about 175lbs, and the whole bar feels really sturdy under my weight. There is no visible flexing of the bar when in use, and the only noise is from the slight rubbing of the foam pads against the frame when initially bearing the weight on the bar due to initial flexing. It is not at all concerning to me (it''s simply physics), and there appears to be no strain on the door frame, wall or joists.
6) Frame padding/marking: Some respondents seem to get scuff marks on their frames and walls, some do not. Personally, I have not seen any with a few weeks of use, but I expect that when the foam breaks down a bit with the friction that I may see some in the future. However, tape a piece of paper to the frame and you have solved the problem.
7) Other uses: I''m not about to do dips with it, but the handles are very useful for push-ups (similar to push-up handles, which cause less wrist strain and give a better range of motion), and I could see the benefit for securing the feet for sit-ups.
With that being said, here are some of the reasons I did not give it a full 5 stars:
1) The ab straps are not included. I knew this going in, and they are "free" with mail-in insert (can''t order online, which is odd), but at $8 for shipping, you might as well buy from the store at $10 and get them instantly. Honestly, they should just be included in the packaging.
2) The bar is designed for a maximum 32" doorway. At 34", it will still straddle the doorway with about 1" overlap on each side of the frame, but I wouldn''t want to try using it. Again, I knew this going in, and I found another doorway that worked, but the extender bar is $10, plus $8 shipping. Really? Couldn''t it come with a longer bar to begin with? Most wheelchair accessible doors are 34", and therefore the bar won''t really work with that door width right out of the box.
3) No wall chart or DVD (without paying more money to Iron Gym and waiting for the mail). Personally, I don''t need them, but for those without much experience, I feel it''s important to be taught correct technique and variety of exercise. For pennies per package, Iron Gym could have provided a great deal more product.
So, full marks for performance and "bang for the buck." If Iron Gym weren''t so cheap on the accessories and modifications, it would be the perfect package. Most importantly, I am seeing results, and I was in very good shape to begin with. Unlike a lot of equipment that gets used for a while, then collects dust and eventually ends up in a garage sale or in the dump, I believe this bar will have a good useful life with most people.
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