Workout "Gear Find"... :-)

Hey,
I thought it might be fun to post a thread where we can list good workout gear bargains or places we've found interesting gear! :-)

Here's my first find:

For anyone who'd into Pilates, I was at Kohl's today and found that they had their "Daisy Fuentes" pilates equipment on sale. In particular, I bought the resistance bands and one of the Winsare pilates circles.

What I'm doing with the pilates circle is resting it between my knees while on the computer to try to work out my legs. We'll see how well this experiment works! ;-)

Sat. Feb 4, 7:58pm

The Calorie King- Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter!

Found this book for about $7.50 at the local mega mart store...

It lists lots of foods & a great variety of fast foods & restaurant. :-) PLUS, it's small enough to fit in my purse, or glovebox, so that I can carry it with me when making decisions at restaurants about what to eat!

Saturday, February 04, 2006, 8:34 PM

Diet and Exercise Assistant

hand little software for PDA. log all your meals, and exercise and it will calculate all the calories, fats, proteins, carbs etc... it will also calculate the calories burned during exercise.

Saturday, February 04, 2006, 10:13 PM

Balance Balls are the best! I like to sit on them while watching TV or a movie. It helps me "center" myself and to not slouch. I also like to do hip rolls while sitting on them... :-) I don't count, just do them for a while until i've watched the movie! :-)

Sunday, February 05, 2006, 12:46 PM

What a great idea, let's keep this thread active and near the top

You can find unbelievable buys at Ross or Marshalls, especially on stability balls. I imagine TJ Maxx has deals as well. Bed, Bath and Beyond has fitness stuff, and if you have one of those mailer coupons you can really save ($5 off purchase of $15 or more, or 20% off). For those in metropolitan areas, craigslist is great (I got my gym style step for $20) Don't forget ebay or half.com for dvds and videos. There is also a forum for swapping/selling fitness dvds/tapes at ezboard.com (the group is firm ya yas, you have to join to access the forum)

Sunday, February 05, 2006, 4:56 PM

used stuff

try craigslist.com maybe .org. I found some decent stuff pretty cheap, some is even new, but not so cheap.

Sunday, February 05, 2006, 9:27 PM

Yes, Marshalls or TJ Maxx is a great place to find exercise mats, pilates balls, and other misc. work-out things for a lot less than the usual "retail" price. :-)

Has anyone tried buying a hula hoop? it is a good (cheap) workout for the waist, plus, if you get the mini-hoops (you can use them to twirl around your wrists and work out your shoulders & arm-jiggle)

Monday, February 06, 2006, 12:02 AM

I'm in Canada, but I found out this weekend that Winner's has a lot of great workout gear for cheap. Balance balls, nice yoga mats, etc. I got a "The FIRM" toning dvd for $8. Pretty good price for around here.

Monday, February 06, 2006, 8:07 AM

I got some Cheap "workout music" CDs at Target this weekend. $1 a CD. It's not the best music, and I'm not sure how long the routines are, but for $1, they tell you when to do warm-up, exercise, then cooldown (it's up to you as to what the heck you are doing.)

At the very least, it's a cheap CD you could pop into your CD player when walking. :-)

Monday, February 06, 2006, 4:53 PM

rent workouts on Netflix

Thiis is a great way to try before your buy. Of course there also is blockbuster (who I avoid because of their business tactics) but netflix online has a great variety of workouts and add more each week, including the FIRM. Tami Lee and Billy Blanks.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006, 6:51 PM

hula hooper, help!

To the person above who mentioned the hula hoop, do you use a regular cheap kid's one? I bought one the other day on a whim, and I can't do it at all! It's so humilating -- esp since it sortof crashes to the floor every few seconds (I worry my neighbors are wondering what I'm up to!) Can you give me some tips???

Tuesday, February 07, 2006, 11:19 PM

Yes, I use a regular cheap kids one. It takes a while to get the hang of it.... Just keep practicing! :-) You have to get in sync between the amount of time it takes for the hoop to go around yo and the time you need to move your waist to meet the hoop.

Also, I heard on NPR radio about some musical group--"String Cheese Incident" which talked about the phenomenom of "hooping"... using a different kind of hoop that's heavier and easier to use than the kiddie hoops of old... ;-)

Here's a link to the NPR broadcast about this phenomenon:
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/driveway/archive/2005/oct/051018.html

See the link (below) about how to make your own hula hoop. Apparently, it is not too hard to do and it will be easier to "hoop" with a home-made one vs. the lightweight plastic ones used as a kid. :-)

It's from a site called "www.hooping.org" and if you go to the bottom of the page, they give some simple instructions on how to make your own hoop. :-)

Link

Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 2:54 PM

How to Hula Hoop

Here's another link at that site that describes how to hula hoop and what size hoop you will need!

Link

Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 2:56 PM

thanks for all the info! How fun, now I want to try it for real. Clearly my hoop is too little -- they say "between waist and nipples height" and mine doesn't even come up to crotch height. I will try making one and report back! (Of course, a bigger one will be too big for my apartment, so I may need to rearrange some furniture too...)

Thursday, February 09, 2006, 11:48 PM

Very Cool!
I have some tiny hoops that I use for arm exercises. I have some "regular sized" ones that I use for hula-hooping, but I, too am thinking about trying to make my own hoops as well. :-) Sounds like it isn't too difficult and it would also be less noisy (the ones I own have some kind of beads inside that rattle as you gyrate. :-)

I'm definitely going to have to do some hooping--I think it would really help to strengthen my abs!!

Friday, February 10, 2006, 10:02 AM

barbell find

I needed to up my weights for lower body work (squats, plies, etc) and have been looking at barbell sets. I don't need 100#, or even 50#, nor do I need to spend alot of money. I already have an adjustable barbell set, so I have plenty of extra 2.5 and 5# plates, so I bought a barbell set by Danskin made for women (they boast the plates are fingernail-friendly). For $20 at WalMart, it includes a padded bar (5#), two 2# plates and two 4# plates, for a max. of 17#. You can buy additional matching plates if you need to increase weight, but the bar is also compatible with standard plates, which are much cheaper. The set also comes with a workout dvd (haven't viewed yet).

Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 10:40 PM

THose barbells sound good. I only wish they were not at Walmart-- I refuse to go to the one by my house any more because their manager at the customer service desk was extremely rude and nasty to me...

Thursday, February 23, 2006, 2:49 PM

Love the PDA thng.

I have always used it

Thursday, February 23, 2006, 8:26 PM

Bumping this up! ;-)

Bump!!!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006, 1:57 PM

K-mart has some really cute and cheap work out pants and tops price range from 5-12 dollars.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006, 2:10 PM

Bumping this up! :-)

Monday, May 01, 2006, 2:14 PM

Sam's club currently has some Reebok women's work-out shirts (synthetic) for only about $12 a piece! beats the normal $24-40 price range for work-out gear!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006, 4:48 PM

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