My Total Trainer Beginner Workout Review

It has been about a week since I started using my Total Trainer. I have had 3 good workouts on it and I have to say that I really like it.

First, let me say that I have been sore after each workout. I was wondering if it would be challenging enough, and the answer is yes.

I usually do bodyweight exercises like push ups, chin ups, squats, etc., and was curious to see how the Total Trainer would challenge me, since it basically only uses some fraction of my bodyweight as the resistance for the exercises.

Cons: If you can already do a bodyweight squat, then the Total Trainer will not be much of a challenge for your legs and will probably not replace your traditional lower body exercises like lunges and squats. It will need to be included with these exercises and not used as a substitute for them. I can't imagine that Christie Brinkley is still doing squats on her Total Gym after 12 years.

Pros: The biggest thing I like about the Total Trainer is the ability to run through most of my upper body exercises without stopping. I can set the platform to the angle I need and use that to go from chest presses, to incline presses, to pull-overs, to lat pulls, to biceps, to triceps...you get the idea. The movement is very fluid and is easy on the joints. If there is a muscle that is not getting worked as hard as the others then I can easily change the angle I am pushing on or add an exercise. When I am done working out my muscles are totally exhausted. I can have a total body workout in 20-30 minutes.

I have found that the platform angle is very easy to change and it rolls very smoothly during the exercises. There is one seam in the frame that you can feel when the rollers hit it but it is very minor and has not been a distraction.

My model has the side pulleys on the rolling platform for chest presses. I like this feature and have not had any problems moving the pulleys to accommodate this feature. I did think it was a little clumsy at first but realized what I was doing wrong and have no problems with it now.

Once I find out what exercises I am using consistently in my routine I will post a sample workout here.