In a perfect world, everybody would be fit enough to be walking around the streets everyday with shredded torsos and toned arms hiding under their business suits or their casual shirts [...]

2. In a perfect world, everybody would be fit enough to be walking around the streets
everyday with shredded torsos and toned arms hiding under their business suits or their
casual shirts. For the people who can’t find time to stay fit, it would be hard to deny the
fact that what we live in is a fast-paced life where we spend 8 hours or more in the
office, at least 6 to 8 hours in bed, probably an hour total travelling to different
destinations, and a few more to eat, drink, and spend time with family and friends.
The rest of the day, we can dedicate a couple of hours to ourselves. Regardless of what
our priorities in life are, your health should and will always be on top of your list. The
cliché “Health is Wealth” has been overused, only because those three words tell it as it
is.
Reasons We miss out on Workouts
Most of us have different excuses on how we could miss out on a workout session, or
why our body is digesting junk food instead of something organic. We blame it on a few
factors: time, budget, motivation, location, and even safety.
Fitness junkies can attest to most of us that, all but one of those mentioned should not
be a factor, or a reason to skip a day’s worth of exercise. Though we do agree that
motivation is the most difficult aspect to overcome, the other issues such as time,
budget, location, or even safety shouldn’t be an excuse. In this article, we will be
assisting you on coping with these factors.
We understand how difficult the daily grind is, especially to the employees who work 9
to 5 to sufficiently feed their families. Since they worked hard, they have to party hard,
as their mindset has always been Rest & Recreation after office hours before heading
off to bed. Keep in mind though, that exercise is a form of recreation. And workouts are
actually as mental as it is physical. Exercising regularly can relieve you of stress after
work, and can be an effective way to enhance mental toughness that would definitely
help you fight stress in the first place, and keep you alert the whole day.

3. Solution: Home Gyms
If you don’t have the time or budget, or issues with location from either your house or
your office, the best way to stay fit is to purchase a Home Gym. Home Gyms are the
best fitness equipment for people on the go. It utilizes only a small space in your house,
it provides versatility in exercise execution, and assures safety for people who have no
time to drag their gym partner to their home, or if the spotter is not available.
A lot of people are sceptical about using home gyms, especially for most of which prefer
using free weights. Here is where we help you and narrow down your choices to the
best home gyms available in the market today that is a very good replacement to free
weights. People who own a home gym saves money in three ways: no membership
fees, it reduces the purchase of additional equipment, and no transportation expenses
are needed to travel to the gym. And as the last item has mentioned, you don’t need to
travel around the city, which means more time for yourself, and location is no longer a
problem.
What type of Home Gym?
There are different types of Home Gyms, depending on the resistance technology it
uses. The most common home gym types use pin stacks, while there are home gyms
that use plate loading resistance. There are also Home Gyms that use resistance bands
or power rod resistance technologies.
We will break down the upside and downside of each type, and we will give you a brief
summary for each technology, and our recommendation on what the best Home Gym is

4. for you. We will be basing each type of Home Gym on different brands and models of
the world’s top makers of fitness equipment so we can determine the pros and cons of
each type of Home Gym.
Pin Stacks
Pin stacks are the most common resistance technology for Home Gyms. The term is
coined because there is a stack of weight connected to the cable pulley, and you can
adjust the weight by placing the pin on the preferred weight. To get a closer look on pin
stacks, we choose one of the best pin stack Home Gyms right now, the BodySolid
Powerline PHG1000X.
Pros:
- Weight Adjustment: Adjusting the weight is easy to manage, by simply moving the pin
to the desired weight.
- Versatility: Use of cables offer various angles of exercises.
- Floor Space: Since pin stacks are structured vertically, horizontal space used is
minimal.
- Safety: The aid of cables can assure you of safety, since your body is nowhere near
the stack.

5. Cons:
- Limited Maximum Weight: The difference between free weights and pin stacks is that
you cannot add more weight in it. If the stack limit is 150 lbs, you will be unable to add
more resistance to the workouts that you perform on a pin stack Home Gym.
- Resistance Accuracy: Pin stack Home Gyms use cables and pulleys, and simple
machine rules demonstrate that the wheel and axle provides less exertion of effort,
therefore lessening the accuracy of the weight being lifted.
- Durability: Although the equipment can be considered safe for users, cables pulling
heavy weight over time, albeit minimal friction, may contribute to the equipment
breaking down if used frequently.
Plate Loading
Plate Loading is another form of Home Gym. It is called such because you load plates
to the device to provide the resistance that you need for each workout. Powertec are the
leading makers of Plate Loading Home Gyms, and one of their more popular models is
the Powertec Workbench LeverGym.

6. Pros:
- Weight Maximization: Unlike pin stacks, you can add more weight to Plate Loading
Home Gyms. While most home gyms can stack up to 200 lbs., the maximum weight
utilization for Lever Gyms is up to 500 lbs.
- Resistance Accuracy: With the use of lever instead of cables and pulleys, the amount
of weight resistance being utilized is similar to free weights.
- Modularization: Powertec’s signature is the workbench feature, where you can expand
and customize your own home gym architecture, depending on your own preferences.
- Safety: With the use of levers, you do not need a spotter to assist you in lifting a heavy
bench press and worry about your safety.
- Versatility: The objective of home gyms is to be able to simulate all possible exercises
in a limited space and equipment, and plate loading home gyms can do just that.
- Floor Space: The LeverGym is compact, making room for more equipment in your
room.
- Durability: Unlike cables, levers do not encounter friction concerns, therefore
maintenance of this kind of Home Gym would be minimal.
Cons:
- Lesser Angles of Execution with Levers: Unlike cables and pulleys, using levers will
give you a lesser angle of motions, like using a barbell instead of a dumbbell.
Resistance Bands/Power Rods

7. Resistance Band/Power Rods resistance is another form of a Home Gym system. You
place the bands /rods instead of weights to provide the amount of resistance that you
prefer. Production of resistance bands for Home Gyms has decreased due to the
durability of the resistance band as opposed to its users. Nowadays, Home Gym
makers have replaced resistance bands with Power Rods to withstand a higher
frequency of usage. Bowflex uses Power Rod resistance, and the Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE.
Pros:
- Resistance Adjustment: Like the pin stacks, adjust the resistance level by selecting the
rods.
- Versatility: Use of cables offer various angles of exercises, up to 60 exercises.
Cons:
- Limited Weight Maximization: The Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE may hold up to 300 lbs of
resistance, but hardcore lifters would have no other way to increase resistance, unlike in
Plate Loading, where you can have an option to add more weight.
- Durability: The continuous bending of the rods may take its toll in the long run.
- Resistance Accuracy: As mentioned above, the continuous bending of power rods
may affect the resistance level if used frequently, therefore decreasing its accuracy and
consistency.
- Floor Space: The base of Bowflex Home Gyms are normally wide. The area it
occupies is greater compared to other Home Gyms.
Conclusion
Among the different types of Home Gyms, the Plate Loading system is the closest thing
that you can get to a free weight set. The Pin Stacks may give you more options in
placing your Home Gym in a small quarter, but the weight resistance may become
inconsistent and the limited weight options make it improbable for you to progress on
improving your strength gains. The Resistance Band or Power Rod resistance is far off
compared to the other home gyms in terms of resistance accuracy and long-term
consistency. The Plate Loading Home Gym’s levers provide a lesser angle of motion
compared to cables, it works similar to executing a Bench Press without worrying about
getting dropped on by a 300 pound barbell, or hurting your back while performing a
heavy load of Shrugs. Levers are also more durable compared to cables that may
break, or power rods that may snap.

8. And now I have my own Home Gym, a Plate Loaded Home Gym. And as a person who
works 9 to 5, even if I spend a couple of hours eating dinner outside, I know that once I
get home, I have all the time in my hands to workout and not worry about anything else.
I can wake up the next morning and do a few sets without being tardy at work. And
during the weekends, my kids can learn the art of exercise with me, instead of getting
fat in front of the television the whole day.
Powertec is a trusted brand in Weight Training and Fitness Home Gym Equipment
based out of Los Angeles. Powertec manufactures an entire list of strength equipment
for both domestic and commercial use, from basic weight lifting to look good and live
healthier, to functional training development being used in improving athletic
performance.
www.powertecfitness.com
mag.powertecfitness.com
forum.powertecfitness.com