Stamina Bandflex Home Gym Reviews' - Should I Get A Bowflex Instead?

An affordable alternative to the Bowflex is the Bandflex Home Gym. The Bandflex Home Gym uses a series of 6 bungee cables with three on each side to give you the resistance you need in your weight training.

You stretch and pull these cables as you lift. A quick snap click lets you change the resistance levels to match your experience level and needs. In comparison to the Bowflex, this home gym seems to have more appealing features for far less money. There are 67 different exercises you can do and it is offers up to 260m pounds of resistance.

The Bandflex Home Gym consists of a multi-position bench, which of course is adjustable and a bench press. It has a lat pulldown for your back and triceps. For your legs, it features a leg curl, a leg press and a leg extension to give a workout for all the muscles.

There is a preacher curl attachment you can use for your biceps and a seated row for your back and shoulders. A simple adjustment of the pin lets you move through the exercises easily. It also takes up much less space and can be folded for easy storage.

The bungee cables of this machine tend to stretch and gradually get too long for then to be of any use to you. This means you will have to purchase replacement cables for the equipment.

OVerall, we do recommend the Bandflex home gym instead of the Bowflex. But, do bear in mind the pointers above and you will be have very satisfied with your purchase.

Check out http://www.1-stop-fitness.com/ for articles on yoga mats 1/4 and olympic weight benches.

3 Steps For Maintaining Your Home Gym

Once you have bought a home gym, it is time to figure out how to start caring for it. Although you may not be entirely sure on how to begin, it's a good idea if you learn. This can be done easily enough with the maintenance manual that you got with this fitness equipment. This manual can be indispensable for those who want to know how to properly care for their equipment. Doing so can keep it from wearing down too soon and help it to last longer as well.

1) For example, one step that may be needed in caring for your home gym is oiling and/or greasing. This may be needed on machines that have gears. This maintenance step is required for these gears not to jam or even break. Make sure you check out your manual as soon as you get your gym equipment, in order to know if this step is necessary in the care of the machine. You will want to know this as soon as possible, so you don't miss doing so and damage your machine unnecessarily. Usually this needs to be done only once a month, but check the manual to see if they recommend how often it should be done with your particular machine.

2) Sometimes the only thing that needs to be done as far as maintenance is concerned is wiping it down. This however is a very important step in caring for your equipment. You should do this at least every time you use the machine. This will prevent sweat and grime building up on the machine and causing damage. Sometimes letting this build up can cause gears to break or work themselves loose, even while you are working out.

3) One last step is to make sure that all the nuts and bolts are kept tightened. This should be a routine check that you do to ensure that they are not coming loose. By letting them get too loose you could risk injury by them coming undone at a most importune time. This may seem like a hassle, but can be well worth the extra time to save you from getting hurt or someone else for that matter.

As you can tell, caring for your home gym equipment involves more than just keeping it clean. You must make sure all the gears are oiled or greased and all the nuts and bolts are kept tightened as well. You can see that keeping up these things can save you money as well as any injuries that could occur. So make sure you read the maintenance manual thoroughly and are aware of what you will need to do to start your maintenance program. You'll be glad you did.

Check out http://www.homegymsreview.com/ for more articles on homegym and home gym equipment sales.

Bodybuilding Hormone Secrets

More today on the secrets of supersets...

In the past, I've mentioned supersets being effective simply because they save you time - and that results didn't depend on your heart rate (even though it gets jacked with supersets).

But recent research suggests another reason for the effectiveness of supersets - and that's the increase in Growth Hormone in your body.

GH, for those that don't know, is one of the hormones in your body that increases fat burning.

It's also one of the most popular scam supplements that you hear about in spam email.

So why is GH so popular?

Because everyone calls GH "the Fountain of Youth". It's supposed to make you lose fat and apparently make you look and feel younger...(and it must work - I was 'accused' repeatedly in NZ and Australia of being only 25 years old - almost 7 years younger than I really am - must be the TT lifestyle).

And that's why it doesn't surprise me that both interval training and high-intensity resistance training have both been shown to increase GH.

But the so-called GH boosting supplements aren't backed by science. On the other hand, I've been able to show you the science behind Turbulence Training. And not only science, but results too!

But now for some bad news...a recent study (from JCEM, 91: 678-, 2006, for any science nerds) showed that obese men burn fewer calories and have less post-exercise GH than normal men. And the obese men also had higher cortisol levels. AND the obese men burned fewer calories in the post-exercise period. That's a triple-yikes!

Three strikes against obese men...and possibly why some guys have a heck of time losing fat in the first place. Their hormones are out of whack to begin with - so its harder for their bodies to burn fat.

If you turn to a low-fat diet and lots of cardio, you aren't going to get the GH response that you would if you eat according to Dr. Mohr's fat loss guidelines and if you use the strength and interval workouts.

So let's review the workout set-up that will get you more results in less time...I'm talking 3 workouts of 45 minutes per week that will blast your post-exercise metabolism through the roof and help maximize your hormonal response to exercise.

A - The Warm-up

We use three bodyweight exercises done in a circuit. This is a much better way to prepare for training than by walking slowly on a treadmill.

B - The Strength Training Supersets

This can be as little as one brilliant superset (DB squats + DB presses) if you have only 10 minutes, or up to 4 supersets if you want to spend 30 minutes on your Strength Training.

C - Intervals

Bodyweight circuits, stationary bike intervals, or running on the treadmill or outside, these are just a few of the ways we can do intervals for 10-20 minutes.

We don't need 40 minutes of slow cardio, or even 40 minutes of intervals.

There is still a lot to learn about interval training, but most research is using only 20-minute interval workouts to get major, much-better-than-longer-cardio results.

As I learn more, you'll learn everything.

So that's that. Eat according to the Fat Loss Guidelines to avoid the Western Lifestyle, and exercise and live according to the strength and interval lifestyle, and you'll look and feel fantastic - and YOUNGER!

3 sessions of 45 minutes per week for your fountain of youth!

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men?s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com