Product Review - The Yin to the Iron Gym's Yang

By Franklin Balentine

The Iron Gym pull-up bar gives you access to arguably the best bodyweight resistance exercise ever and for that simple fact, the Iron Gym is worth every penny. It works great in most doorways and installs without having to drill into your walls. You do kind of feel like you are going to bang your head onto the door frame with each pull-up on the Iron Gym, but that is a small sacrifice to be able to perform this tremendous exercise from home. The convenience factor cannot be overstated. The more convenient an exercise is the more likely you are to do it and the more success you will have.
As for the other features of the Iron Gym, the knee raise straps are good as long as you don't use them for too long which may cut off circulation in your arms while you are hanging there. Besides, you can do knee raises while you are doing pull ups. The push-up bar feature is good for those whose wrists are strained by normal push-ups but the dip bar is a joke. The range of motion is a completely inadequate distance of about 5 inches. Furthermore, if you are going to do pull-ups where the resistance is equal to your entire bodyweight you should balance that with a press exercise that also employs your entire bodyweight. So what exercise is the Yin to the Iron Gym's Yang? The exercise that most perfectly balances the resistance of the pull-up is the handstand push-up. Imagine using your arms to pull yourself up to an overhead bar then doing the exact opposite. From a handstand you then press your entire bodyweight up over your head. Or would that be pressing up under your head? Now I'm confused. The point is these two exercises balance each other perfectly. The only problem is that if you have ever tried handstand push-ups you know that it is not exactly easy to get into that position. It helps if you use a wall for balance, but my efforts have lead to some damaged walls and embarrassing falls. Secondly, the handstand push-up does not work because your head gets in the way of full range of motion. There must be a better way. There is only one other exercise that requires you to press your entire bodyweight and that exercise is the chest or tricep dip. The dip is similar to a push-up but instead of pressing only a portion of your weight up against the floor you press your entire bodyweight up against the grips of the dip stand which are usually about waist high or more. This is a great exercise for strengthening the chest, triceps and shoulders. The dip exercise is also a useful addition to the Iron Gym because these muscles are generally the muscle used to counterbalance those engage during a pull-up. The problem with the dip exercise is that most of the dip machines on the market today are either too big or too expense to be considered for home use. However there is one dip machine that is designed specifically for home use and sells for under $100. The Ultimate Body Press Dip Machine is the only reasonably affordable dip machine that is compact enough to use in your home and just like the Iron Gym you will not have to damage you walls to install it because it is freestanding. There are also other exercises you can do with the Ultimate Body Press but the most important similarity is you can now take full advantage of another one of the most challenging and effect bodyweight resistance exercises in the convenience of your own home. That makes the Ultimate Body Press the Yin to the Irons Gym's Yang and for that simple fact it is worth every penny.
Frank Balentine,President,Ultimate Body Press,http://www.ultimatebodypress.com/