First manufactured in 1974 and originally used for rehabilitation and sports training, Total Gym workout machines have been marketed for home fitness use since 1996. Although a wide variety of Total Gym models are available, they all work essentially the same way: You perch on the glideboard and push or pull yourself up the inclined rails. Your own body weight acts as resistance, and a variety of attachments allow you to push and pull from different angles, working every major muscle group in your body.
Sets and Repetitions
The same weight-training guidelines you would apply to free weights or strength-training machines apply when using the Total Gym. A single set of 12 repetitions is enough for general strength training, but if you're trying to achieve more specific results, you should alter your sets and repetitions accordingly. Theories abound on which combination of sets and reps is best, but some general guidelines can help cut through the confusion. Doing 15 or more repetitions with little to no rest between sets builds muscular endurance. Lifting a heavy weight for eight or fewer repetitions, with two-minute or longer rest periods in between sets for each muscle group, builds muscular strength.
Setting the Resistance
You set the resistance on your Total Gym by raising or lowering the incline rails. The higher you set the rails, the more of your body weight you lift with each exercise. The actual resistance for each exercise also varies somewhat, depending on your weight. In general, the heavier you are, the smaller percentage of your own weight you lift. If you weigh 130 lbs. and set the Total Gym to its highest incline, you'll lift about 45 percent of your total body weight, or 55 lbs. If you weigh 230 lbs. you'll lift significantly more weight at the same setting -- about 99 lbs. -- but only about 43 percent of your total weight. If you use the pulleys on the machine instead of attachments, such as the wing bar, the mechanical advantage further cuts the amount of weight you're lifting in half.
Potential Problem
To get the fullest benefit from training with the Total Gym, you should lift enough weight that completing the final repetition in each set brings you to the point of fatigue. Although using the Total Gym at high-resistance settings might make even large-muscle exercises such as chest presses and back rows challenging at first, if you train regularly, you'll get strong enough to do more than 12 to 15 repetitions, even at high resistance settings.
Solutions
Some Total Gym models come with a small weight bar that slides through holes near the glideboard's bottom edge. You then slide free-weight plates onto each side of this bar to increase the amount of weight you're lifting. The extra weight is added to your body-weight total, and you lift a percentage of that total as described above. Although the Total Gym doesn't offer enough resistance for building enormous muscular strength, it is suitable for toning workouts and functional workouts, which simulate the sort of real-world pushing and pulling movements you perform during everyday life.
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