Group: General Fitness & Exercise

General Fitness & Exercise
Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 382, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

Join group

Found great home gym /smith machine-sale

ssminnow
ssminnow
Posts: 284
Joined: 2004/02/16
United States
2007/08/27, 07:49 AM
So after months of working out at home on a flimsy bench, I found an awesome home gym / smith machine on sale this weekend at Dick's Sporting Goods. If you are like me and have no time to get to a gym, but an hour a day at home this is a great machine.

I did some research and came across this post: http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=38645. Someone else found this gym and wrote a great review. I concur with everything they wrote. If you go to the store, dont let the friction of the smith machine fool you. They dont keep them lubed because people (kids especially) touch it and get everything dirty.

It is a Marcy MP3105 and can be found at the manufacturers website here: http://www.impex-fitness.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=239

It is listed at Dick's for $799 originally and is on sale for $349. A more realistic normal price that I found on the web is $499, so $349 is a great price.

I also purchased a 300lb olympic weight set at Sears. It came with a bar and the weights have hand holes to grip and they are rubber coated on the outside edge. They were on sale at Sears for $189. They can be found here: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00615739000P?vName=Fitness+%26+Sports&cName=Strength+Training&sName=Free+Weights+%26+Dumbells

I would highly recommend this machine. There is a model up the SM4000, that has a built in weight rack etc.. but that wouldn't fit in my basement. It was too high. The 3105 was perfect because it doesnt have a huge foot print and the bench can be used to do situps etc. It can also be rolled out of the way to free up space when not using it.

The only caveat is it takes a long time to put it together if you do it solo. Took me about 5 hours and there are a gazillion pieces.

Also, I am not a huge person and cannot bench or squat tons of weight making this set perfect. There is a 300lb limit for the smith machine, one limit I don't see myself reaching anytime soon, if ever.

Enjoy!