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Review - Iron Gym

Welcome, to The GFC Product Reviews.

1) Recently I was seeking methods to build physical strength and harden my body.

2) In particular, I was seeking methods involving bodyweight exercises or any type of equipment that only requires a small space and is easily portable.

I began doing bodyweight exercises I learned from a book by Pavel Tsatsouline from Dragon Door, named The Naked Warrior. In addition to the bodyweight exercises, I purchased and piece of equipment name the Russian kettlebell, which I also learned about through Dragon Door.

The Russian kettlebell requires a small space and is easily portable, which are the two qualities I was seeking in equipment.

3) Although the kettlebell was suitable and actually has become much more useful than I originally envisioned, I was looking for a piece of equipment to supplement the kettlebell.

Why?

4) The kettlebell requires a small space and is easily portable, although since it is a weight, it does require some preparation and caution to use it. I was seeking an exercise that that I could use very quickly and easily.

5) After reading The Naked Warrior I decided to test out Pavel's 'Grease the Groove' strategy.

In a word, Grease the Groove is when you practice an exercise casually and frequently. You also practice the exercise for an extremely short period of time and whenever you feel like it.

For example, one of the exercises from The Naked Warrior is a one-legged squat named the pistol. Whenever you feel like doing a pistol, you do one or two, perhaps up to five.

You do the exercise with maximum tension and then you stop. You just make sure to do this micro-exercise very frequently – ten, twenty times a day or whatever feels comfortable.

The purpose of of Grease the Groove is to practice as much as possible with intensity, without going into a scheduled, extended, tedious routine; and to practice as frequently as possible while staying fresh throughout the day.

6) One of the other exercises in Pavel's Naked Warrior is the pull-up.

Pavel discusses applying Grease the Groove to the pull-up. Whenever you feel like doing a few pull-ups, do a few (or one) and stop.

You could also have a system whereby you have to do a pull-up every time you walk passed your pull-up bar.

Again, the purpose is to practice as much as possible while staying as fresh as possible.

7) After reading The Naked Warrior, I had a checklist for physical fitness.

I had the bodyweight exercises – check.I had the kettlebell weight equipment – check.I had the pull-up bar – uncheck.

1 – Should I Purchase this Thing? -

8) When thinking of how to install a pull-up bar without nails and screws, and for the best price, I remembered seeing this guy with a no-screws, detachable pull-up bar.

He was a life-long muay thai student, so although I was intrigued by the simplicity and convenience of this pull-up bar, I thought the setup may be too complicated or the equipment be too intense, considering a life-long muay thai student was using it.

9) Despite what I thought when I first learned of this convenient pull-up bar, I decided to research.

10) I went to a sporting goods store and searched for the equipment. It was easy to notice, because there was a recognizable picture on the front of the box and it was heavily stocked with an attention grabbing for-sale sign below it.

11) I picked up the box and thought it seemed too simple to be effective. The box was small and the uses were many. Further, it did not require screws and was portable? How could this be?

12) While inspecting the equipment, I asked one of the employees about it. I remember two statements in particular – (1) it is top-selling and (2) it actually is sturdy and portable – and easy to assemble.

13) I looked at the box, read the name, figured it would at least be a small twenty-dollar experiment, and decided to purchase – the Iron Gym.

2 – No's and Yes's? -

14) The no's of Iron Gym are few, for my purposes. I was seeking a pull-up bar and the Iron Gym is effective in this regard.

The Iron Gym is also a tool for push-ups and tricep-dips – here is where the no's are.

Well actually, I was about to write that the push-up feature was unnecessary and possibly less effective than push-ups without equipment and the dip feature did not allow enough range of motion to be effective.

Then I realized I had not tried these features and was assessing the Iron Gym by its appearance.

I just paused from writing and tried the push-up feature – it is effective. The Iron Gym has great handles for grip and allows you to move deeply into the push-up, which effectively exercises your chest and abs.

I tried the dip feature – it is effective. The Iron Gym dip feature does allow only a small range of motion as it appeared to, although this small range of motion is sharply effective.

Imagine doing pushups, squats, crunches, or pull-ups, and imagine only moving a small distance back and forth.

Can you feel it?

The small motion requires constant contraction and more specifically targets your muscle – this is my experience with the tricep-dip feature of the Iron Gym.

There is one more feature of the Iron Gym, and that is its use for crunches. I found the crunches feature to be difficult to setup and inconvenient, which is contrary to what makes Iron Gym appealing – its ease of use.

I also do not do crunches, because of the strain it can put on the lower back. I prefer hanging leg raises – which you can do with the Iron Gym, the Russian kettlebell, or other full body methods of strengthening the abdominal muscles.

I suppose the only other 'no' of Iron Gym thus far, is that it does not work on every door frame.

The Iron Gym is able to be screw-less and portable because there is a bar that rests on the back of the door frame and a bar in front of the door frame, that you grip while doing your pull-ups.

The compression on the front bar pushes into the back bar, the compression on the back bar pushes into the front bar, and all the compression is pushed into the door frame, which keeps the equipment stable.

There are some door frames that are too narrow or have too large a molding for the Iron Gym to fit – this seems to be the major 'no' of Iron Gym.

15) The yes's of Iron Gym have largely been revealed throughout this review.

The Iron Gym does not require a drill or hammer, is portable, effective, multi-functional, and great for the micro-exercise-whenever-you-feel-like-it system of Grease the Groove.

I imagine the Iron Gym is easy and effective for most people and would be a suitable gift for the growing boy as well as the aging lady.

16) When I last checked, Iron Gym was offering a two-for-one special for the same price that I purchased one Iron Gym from the sporting goods store, which is a deal that may be worth a look right now.

17) If you are interested in the ease and effectiveness of bodyweight exercises and the effectiveness of high-practice underlying Pavel Tsatsouline's philosophy of Grease the Groove, then – I Click here for more information about The Naked Warrior.

Further, if you are interested in the ease and effectiveness of the Russian kettlebell – I Click here for Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell Quick-Start Kit for men.

18) I have been satisfied with my exercise-trio of Naked Warrior bodyweight exercises, the Russian kettlebell, and the Iron Gym. Perhaps you may find this combination to be effective in developing a tone body for entertainment and self-esteem as well as, perhaps most importantly, physical skills that are functional in daily living.

The Naked Warrior, the Russian Kettlebell, and the Iron Gym
– Easy and Functional Fitness -