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I've gotta be honest…I've
always been a little leery of celebrity-endorsed
products. When I see a product being marketed
by personality more than performance, I get suspicious.
So when I was approached
to review the Terrell Owens Super Strong Man Home
Gym System, I was very curious to see if the sales
copy would match the potential results a person
could get with it.
What Is The Super Strong Man
Home Gym?
The Super Strong
Man Home Gym System is basically rubber tubing
with clips on the ends so you can attach handles
and ankle straps (included with the package).
The handle design gives you the ability to attach
all SEVEN bands at once, giving you tremendous
potential total resistance but plenty of increments
in between for more targeted resistance on exercises
that don't merit as much resistance.
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Another nice
feature is that it includes TWO sets of
handles and ankle straps, so more than one
person can use the bands at the same time.
It also includes
a door anchor that allows you to attach
the bands to a door (it's a small piece
that braces on the other side of the door
with a strap that comes through to your
side of the door).
Rubber tubing
is a staple of small home-gym systems like
this. There's nothing really groundbreaking
about WHAT the Super Strong Man System actually
IS.
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The REAL test comes
down to two things: the quality of the materials
and the effectiveness of available exercises to
perform with the bands.
1. Quality
When it comes to
elastic tubing, Bodylastics is an industry leader.
They've been doing this for 10 years and (according
to their website) were one of the first companies
to attach clips onto the end of elastic tubing
to allow you to use handles with tubing.
The tubing is definitely
top-quality. This stuff will take a beating without
any trouble. The handles are good - they're not
solid steel like you see on cable machines at
the gym, but they hold up very well to the heaviest
exercises and they're comfortable on the hands.
The door anchor
is a great idea and works like a charm. It really
expands the number of exercises you can do with
the bands.
So quality…no
problems there. This package is solid in that
department.
2. Effectiveness
Here's where my
own personal bias comes out a little bit…I've
never been a big fan of tubing training. I've
tried many tubing-based exercises - some have
been fine and some just don't work at all for
me.
That being said,
if YOU find tubing exercises to be effective,
you will be VERY happy with this home gym package.
The number of exercises you can perform with it
is quite large (they state 140 in their marketing
materials but really, there is a plenty more you
can do with it - you'll only be limited by your
imagination).
Rows, chest presses,
shoulder presses, squats, lunges, curls, pushdowns,
extensions, leg curls…you name it, you'll
be able to duplicate the movement with this home
gym system.
As far as tubing
exercises go, this tubing system definitely gets
the job done very effectively.
The main issue I
have with tubing exercises is that of the strength
curve - when the band is not stretched, you get
NO resistance. As you stretch the band, the resistance
increases.
This matches the
strength curve of some exercises well enough but
not others. For example, when squatting, you'll
get almost no resistance at the bottom of the
exercise but as you squat up, the resistance increases.
That matches the strength curve nicely but I kinda
like having some resistance at the bottom!
Also, the stretch
positions of the muscles are not worked well because
of this strength curve limitation. For example,
when doing a flye type of exercise for the chest,
you'll get very little tension with your arms
out wide in the stretch position - it's all at
the top like a cable cross-over. In my experience,
tension in the stretch position is very important
for optimal results.
But overall,
will this home gym help you build muscle and strength?
Absolutely. Is it better than free weight or bodyweight
training. In my opinion, no - not better but different.
Where band and tubing
training DOES shine is in training for
explosiveness.
When you train with
free weights, part of what holds you back in strength
and explosiveness is that your body also has to
work to decelerate the load before it gets to
the end of the line.
For example, when
doing a bench press, if you press a light bar
explosively and don't slow it down, it'll pop
right out of your hands! Therefore, your muscles
won't fire quite as strongly throughout the movement
because they know they're going to have to slow
the limbs down at the end of the movement anyway.
This is known as "deceleration inhibition"
and it can hold you back in strength and explosiveness.
But when you use
bands or tubing, the increased resistance as you
come to the end of the exercise slows your limbs
down. Your muscles don't have to do that work
anymore. This removes some of that "deceleration
inhibition," allowing you dramatically improve
your explosiveness.
Powerlifters use
bands in their training to accomplish this goal
- they combine free weight and bands to improve
explosiveness.
Tubing functions
exactly the same as a training band in that it
helps improve explosive contractions of the muscles.
You'll read in the marketing copy how Terrell
Owens noticed a decline in his on-field performance
when he stopped using band training.
CONCLUSION:
If you're looking
for a compact home-gym system that travels well,
the Terrell Owens Super Strong Man Home Gym system
is definitely worth looking into. It's made from
high-quality materials is well hold up very well
no matter how much abuse you heap onto it.
If you've tried
tubing-based training and it works well for you,
this is a great system to work with and one I
would have no trouble recommending for you.
It's not something
I would as my only training equipment but would
I use it as an additional tool in my arsenal?
Absolutely. I would use it in conjunction with
free weight and bodyweight exercises.
Also, this home
gym system is an excellent option when travelling,
especially if you're going somewhere where you'll
limited gym options. You can attach the bands
to your hotel door and start training within a
few seconds.
Because of the range
of bands and the multiple included handles, it's
great for several simultaneous users.
Click here to learn more about the
T.O. Super Strong Man Home Gym
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