Total Gym Ultra Compared to Free Weights

The total gym ultra is a low cost, compact home gym that provides a total body workout in one small machine. You might have seen the Chuck Norris total gym on television infomercials or read reviews online about the machine, and found many positive testimonials. Although this is a great home gym for a full body workout, how does it compare to training with free weights?

First off, the total gym is very much like calisthenics exercises. With the use of the machine, you can perform a variety of exercises using your bodyweight. Although this may be enough resistance for some, developing maximum strength with a total gym machine is difficult to do utilizing a fraction of your bodyweight. The maximum load while working out with free weights is not dependant on your body weight, so you can build strength and muscle mass better with free weights compared to a total gym.

Safety wise, the total gym is less injury prone that working out with barbells and dumbbells. Since the total gym is a machine, the risk of injury from exercise is much lower. With free weights there’s always a risk of the dumbbell or barbell falling (which is why you should have someone spotting you during free weight exercises).

In the end, given enough expertise, you can probably get a total body gym workout with a pair of dumbbells, but the total gym promoted by Chuck Norris makes it a lot easier. Unless you’re looking to build massive strength, the Ultra edition (and all other models) of the Total Gym is an effective exercise machine that doesn’t take up a lot of space.

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