Exodus Strength

KOTJ wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:23 pm
Regarding them requiring a ton of plates, generally it's 70% for what you can squat, for a leg press. Given that these machines are typically used for volume accumulation, I'd be surprised if anyone with a sub 800lb squat would need a ton of plates.

This assumes that form is done correctly. Knee ROM for leg press and hack squat should allow depth like an ATG squat. If your knees touch your chest, something is incorrect or you're an outlier body type.

Anecdotally, people squatting around 550-600 max, will typically use 405-600 for moderate to higher volume work.

I agree, that if you do not have space for a leg press, hack squat, or combo unit, then it doesn't make sense to buy one. Likewise, if you cannot afford to buy one, then you cannot afford to buy one.

Given that a barbell, rack, adjustable bench, and DIY pulley system allow you to do all the compound lifts, as well as: leg curls, leg extensions, hip adductor and abductor exercises, cable pull throughs, shoulder excerise, curls, tricep work, neck work, trap work, chest exercises, glute exercises, etc.
...that is why I recommend a leg press, or a hack squat, or a combo unit, if you have space and can afford it.

For reference, the combo unit I ordered was $2200 shipped.

Footprint is either 94-96" long, 39" wide. Commercial unit on linear bearings, refurbished off eBay.

I have a 2 car garage dedicated as a home gym.

Anecdotally I don't believe your number. My RAW squat, no belt, no wraps, no sleeves, was 650 lbs, and I could rep away with well over 1000 lbs on the leg press (Hammer Strength btw) the once or twice that I fooled with it. 10 reps was not an AMRAP, it was when boredom set in. It's totally unnecessary for building strength. A fellow might enjoy using it, he may like the quad hyprtrophy, he might find it a fun tool in the arsenal, and these are all great reasons to use it. It doesn't do anything to build strength that can't be done without it, and anecdotally it doesn't contribute in any meaningful way to strength - except maybe the ability to do more on the Leg Press. It really doesn't matter how you program it, it is a machine made for quad hypertrophy irrespective of strength goals. So, if someone is "Powerbuilding" or Bodybuilding, it's a good tool to increas size. That's about it. It's very much in the league of calibrated plates. They are pretty but totally unnecessary, and unwarranted for the average lifter. They are most useful for when you are running out of room on the bar becasue they are usually thinner in profile so that you can fit more on without a specialty bar, but that is not relevant to a guy squatting less than 800 lbs. I defend your right to like the machine, and to use it. I just don't see how it could possibly be that high on the list of needs for a home gym.

@Hardartery I don't care about your insight or value your opinion, at all.

Good to know.

I hope someone tells Candito his programming sucks.

KOTJ wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:09 pm @Hardartery I don't care about your insight or value your opinion, at all.

Good to know.

I hope someone tells Candito his programming sucks.

LOL. You're taking this far too personally. And I have never looked at Candito's programming to know, but if I disagreed with it or had questions and was around him to say something, I would not hesitate. And I doubt he would be butt hurt over it, it would probably just be a conversation about training. That's how these things usually go. I am old and hvae had conversations with a lot of "Authorities", and it was never an issue to be in disagreement or question something. Maybe you have some biomechanical issue that makes a Leg Press super beneficial, in which case it would be important to you. I do not have especially wonderfult quads, they would be seen as a glaring weakness if I was BBing. It has no impact on their strength or ability to perform a Leg Press, even without bothering to train that particular piece of equipment, so it is unimportant to me for training. I would wager it is unimportant for most people in training, whatever their goals are. Maybe you should be more open to what other people have to say about training, it might help you.

KOTJ wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:09 pm I hope someone tells Candito his programming sucks.

I hope somebody asks Candito if he thinks a leg press is the 5th item they should buy for their new home gym

(Just messing with you xoxo)

OverheadDeadlifts wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:40 pm

KOTJ wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:09 pm I hope someone tells Candito his programming sucks.

I hope somebody asks Candito if he thinks a leg press is the 5th item they should buy for their new home gym

(Just messing with you xoxo)

When i was at a commercial gym I liked the option of going to town on a leg press after squats. No back stress. Time efficient. If I had the space I'd love to get one for home.

Anybody have good recommendations on a middle of the road Rower to buy? I might check out the local play it again sports if they have any used ones in decent condition, but I'd rather get one that isn't cheap enough that it'll break in 2 years, but I'm not spending Rouge money either.

SnakePlissken wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:47 am Anybody have good recommendations on a middle of the road Rower to buy? I might check out the local play it again sports if they have any used ones in decent condition, but I'd rather get one that isn't cheap enough that it'll break in 2 years, but I'm not spending Rouge money either.

What's your budget and how long do you want to wait? If you aren't in a hurry, my recommendation would be to start saving for a new Concept 2 while watching for a used one. I've been seeing used Model Ds popping up more often on Marketplace for 7-800, and not selling immediately. Model Bs and Cs for 200-500.

The midrange rowers like Schwinn would probably last you a couple years if you're not a heavy user, but I don't think any of them will have the support or parts availability like you get with C2. You've also got Black Friday coming up, so there may be some rower deals there on stuff like Xebex.

murphyreedus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:43 am

SnakePlissken wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:47 am Anybody have good recommendations on a middle of the road Rower to buy? I might check out the local play it again sports if they have any used ones in decent condition, but I'd rather get one that isn't cheap enough that it'll break in 2 years, but I'm not spending Rouge money either.

What's your budget and how long do you want to wait? If you aren't in a hurry, my recommendation would be to start saving for a new Concept 2 while watching for a used one. I've been seeing used Model Ds popping up more often on Marketplace for 7-800, and not selling immediately. Model Bs and Cs for 200-500.

The midrange rowers like Schwinn would probably last you a couple years if you're not a heavy user, but I don't think any of them will have the support or parts availability like you get with C2. You've also got Black Friday coming up, so there may be some rower deals there on stuff like Xebex.

Not in a rush to buy one, but I'd rather not spend a grand. The marketplace where I am is pretty crummy from what I've checked (lot of them are trashed). Didn't get any luck yesterday looking at one of the local resellers either.

Black friday may be it since I was already planning to get an SSB as well around that time.

If you’re buying a rower, just get the C2.

mgil wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:57 pm If you’re buying a rower, just get the C2.

Case of buy once, cry once?

SnakePlissken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:09 am

mgil wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:57 pm If you’re buying a rower, just get the C2.

Case of buy once, cry once?

If you don’t like it just sell it. It’s literally a safer investment than the stock market right now.

Or buy a used one for $650 and make money off it if you don’t like it.

Sometimes conventional wisdom is right.

FredM wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:33 am

SnakePlissken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:09 am

mgil wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:57 pm If you’re buying a rower, just get the C2.

Case of buy once, cry once?

If you don’t like it just sell it. It’s literally a safer investment than the stock market right now.

Or buy a used one for $650 and make money off it if you don’t like it.

Sometimes conventional wisdom is right.

Solid point, I grew up frugal as hell, but I need to get over it.

Also lol about the stock market.

SnakePlissken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:09 am

mgil wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:57 pm If you’re buying a rower, just get the C2.

Case of buy once, cry once?

This and what @FredM wrote, plus, getting parts and service for the C2 is much easier than any other brand.

The C2 also affords some nice interactive features as well as the fish game.

@SnakePlissken have you used a rower before? If not, you might want to find a way to try it before you buy it.

I thought I was going to love rowing but I hated it. The stroke length was too long and slow for <20 second sprints, and sessions >20 minutes seemed to add too much back fatigue for my liking.

I much prefer my fan bike (Titan brand) as it's great for both sprints and long sessions. And I swear fan bike sprints increase leg juiciness.

broseph wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:14 pm @SnakePlissken have you used a rower before? If not, you might want to find a way to try it before you buy it.

I thought I was going to love rowing but I hated it. The stroke length was too long and slow for <20 second sprints, and sessions >20 minutes seemed to add too much back fatigue for my liking.

I much prefer my fan bike (Titan brand) as it's great for both sprints and long sessions. And I swear fan bike sprints increase leg juiciness.

Second the back fatigue factor of rowers.
Would not recommend for exactly that reason.

I tried to get into rowers when they were getting cool, but my thighs always crushed my balls. I used the C2 and some other brand at the globo gym. I watched the instructional videos from manufacturers and rowing athletes.

broseph wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:14 pm @SnakePlissken have you used a rower before? If not, you might want to find a way to try it before you buy it.

I thought I was going to love rowing but I hated it. The stroke length was too long and slow for <20 second sprints, and sessions >20 minutes seemed to add too much back fatigue for my liking.

I much prefer my fan bike (Titan brand) as it's great for both sprints and long sessions. And I swear fan bike sprints increase leg juiciness.

I've used them maybe a dozen times at my old gym before I moved usually for warmup stuff when I thought I needed 15 dedicated minutes of warmup. Never really pushed it hard though.

KOTJ wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:23 pm I tried to get into rowers when they were getting cool, but my thighs always crushed my balls. I used the C2 and some other brand at the globo gym. I watched the instructional videos from manufacturers and rowing athletes.

I almost forgot about the ball crushing. I think I actually have a note in my online log about learning to wear a certain type of underwear that pulled all my junk to the front so it wouldn't get squished.

And +1 to learning to row correctly. I also studied the C2 videos (which are great) and still didn't like it as a cardio implement.

KOTJ wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:23 pm I tried to get into rowers when they were getting cool, but my thighs always crushed my balls. I used the C2 and some other brand at the globo gym. I watched the instructional videos from manufacturers and rowing athletes.

I do 500 meters row on my C2 before every workout and try to hit at least 2:00 or better. I can't stand rowing any further than that though. It is a good warm up however, and to avoid ball crush I extend my knees out to the side which surely isn't optimum for rowing but saves on chafing the jewels..

I had the monitor fail and had to buy another one. Parts seem fairly easy to get and besides the monitor nothing else has failed in 7 years of using it.

So I wound up talking to my girlfriend about this last night and realized a rower probably wouldn't work anyway. I'm buying a piece of cardio equipment mainly for myself, but something she can use too; she has a bad knee with a bone spur and can't bend that knee much though. Rowers need a lot more knee bend than an air bike. I wanted something that was "full body" and I think an air bike would do the trick and probably take up less space. The posts about your twig and berries not liking rowers has me concerned too because I can't cross my legs without some serious discomfort.

So from what I've seen I could do 3 things...
Get a Titan bike for 630 bucks right now (on sale from 700), but reviews are complaining about missing parts which I had issues with ordering my rack. Kinda concerned about rotating component quality with Titan
Assault Air bike is 800 bucks and seems a lot more like a bridge between a Rouge echo and the titan bike
Rouge Echo which is 900 and probably won't have any quality/build issues.