Deal for GHD Sit UPs?

[Darla Powell]

I found this on Amazon. Good deal or a waste of dough?

Apex Roman Chair wfs

[Brian Carver]

My advice would be to spend the $35 dollars for an Abmat to do sit-ups and save the rest until you can afford a GHD. The glute-ham raise is well worth buying the piece of equipment that will allow you to perform it, and a roman chair simply won't work.

[Darla Powell]

Originally Posted by Brian Carver

My advice would be to spend the $35 dollars for an Abmat to do sit-ups and save the rest until you can afford a GHD. The glute-ham raise is well worth buying the piece of equipment that will allow you to perform it, and a roman chair simply won't work.

Ahhh I see. ( Abmat is on the way BTW ) I didn't realize there was a difference, I admit.

[Tyler Sullivan]

Originally Posted by Brian Carver

My advice would be to spend the $35 dollars for an Abmat to do sit-ups and save the rest until you can afford a GHD. The glute-ham raise is well worth buying the piece of equipment that will allow you to perform it, and a roman chair simply won't work.

Untrue. I do situps and back ext. on roman chairs all the time. Same movement, same function. Just not as nice of a machine. Go for it IMO. That is what I'm buying. The fancy GHDs are too pricey for the same benefit of the cheaper alternative.

The one thing I do though, for safety, is load down the side where my feet hang out with 90lbs in bumpers. It's not designed the best for fast movements like situps and back ext. we do in CF workouts.

[Ron Murray]

Personally I would slow down on the buying of equipment right now. I fear you may run the risk of inundating yourself with equipment and having too much going on. You've already got more equipment than some garage boxes have, I would say train with what you have and gradually add. You don't have to have everything up front, that's some of the luster of CrossFit. But hey, if you're buying, I can PM you my address

[Brian Carver]

Not the same benefit. You can't perform a glute-ham raise on a roman chair, and this is a more beneficial exercise than GHD sit ups or roman chair back raises. You can perform sit-ups with an ab-mat (or rolled up towel) or good-mornings instead of back raises, but I feel the training stimulus of the glute-ham raise is poorly replicated using RDLs or good mornings.

Its more than just a fancier machine, it offers a greater degree of function. There are (relatively) cheap GHDs available now which will be more than adequate for someone training in their home.

Take the advice for what its worth-- its not really my prerogative to get in an argument with someone on a forum. You can buy a roman chair now, but once you do a GHR somewhere (visiting a box or something) you will want a GHD, and then your roman chair won't allow you to do anything that the GHD can't.

[Darla Powell]

Originally Posted by Tyler Sullivan

Untrue. I do situps and back ext. on roman chairs all the time. Same movement, same function. Just not as nice of a machine. Go for it IMO. That is what I'm buying. The fancy GHDs are too pricey for the same benefit of the cheaper alternative.

The one thing I do though, for safety, is load down the side where my feet hang out with 90lbs in bumpers. It's not designed the best for fast movements like situps and back ext. we do in CF workouts.

Hmmmm....

Originally Posted by Ron Murray

Personally I would slow down on the buying of equipment right now. I fear you may run the risk of inundating yourself with equipment and having too much going on. You've already got more equipment than some garage boxes have, I would say train with what you have and gradually add. You don't have to have everything up front, that's some of the luster of CrossFit. But hey, if you're buying, I can PM you my address

Lol! It's fun. I can tell you now I won't be getting a climbing rope if that helps. Or Vibrams.

Originally Posted by Brian Carver

Not the same benefit. You can't perform a glute-ham raise on a roman chair, and this is a more beneficial exercise than GHD sit ups or roman chair back raises. You can perform sit-ups with an ab-mat (or rolled up towel) or good-mornings instead of back raises, but I feel the training stimulus of the glute-ham raise is poorly replicated using RDLs or good mornings.

Its more than just a fancier machine, it offers a greater degree of function. There are (relatively) cheap GHDs available now which will be more than adequate for someone training in their home.

Take the advice for what its worth-- its not really my prerogative to get in an argument with someone on a forum. You can buy a roman chair now, but once you do a GHR somewhere (visiting a box or something) you will want a GHD, and then your roman chair won't allow you to do anything that the GHD can't.

I do appreciate all the advice/opinions. I want stuff that will last. I have a cheap Walmart bench I thought was a good deal at the time and now I wish I had that $50.

How 'bout if I just do them on the plyo box and hook my feet under the bar on the squat rack?

[Brian Carver]

How 'bout if I just do them on the plyo box and hook my feet under the bar on the squat rack?

You're going to want some padding under your knees if you do it this way-- like a pillow or the AbMat. Also, doing the "poor man's" or "ghetto" glute-ham raise is very difficult, so do them on the floor so you can push-up off of the floor for the concentric portion of the lift. You're going to find that you can only slowly lower yourself down at first, then push back up into the starting position. As you become stronger, you will be able to lower yourself more slowly and will require a bit less of a push-up to return to the top. There are videos of this on you-tube, but because it is much harder than a GHR on a GHD bench, it basically looks backwards from the version with the expensive bench--if that makes sense.

[Tyler Sullivan]

I've seen people to situps like one would do on a GHD machine with two stacked tractor tires... Wants and needs are two different things. Hope you choose what works for you! ;-)

[Darla Powell]

Originally Posted by Tyler Sullivan

I've seen people to situps like one would do on a GHD machine with two stacked tractor tires... Wants and needs are two different things. Hope you choose what works for you! ;-)

Thanks. I'm gonna try the Roman Chair. The GHD footprint is just too big for my small gym. Worst case scenario I have a back extension thingie.