Here is a very detailed testimonial from Lance Jensen. If you are a serious weight trainer and are interested in setting up a home gym then read this document. Lance as competed has competed for 13 years as a natural bodybuilder and has many titles to his credit. Even if you are not into competitive bodybuilding this testimonial demonstrates that the Powertec Multi System is much more than your run of the mill home gym.I have been training since the age of 17 years of age.  I am now 37 years of age and have competed as a natural bodybuilder for the last 13 years.  In the 13 years of competing I have had two children and set up a supplementation business as well as winning a number of titles including: 5 overall state titles and Australian title and an Asia Pacific title to name a few.  Prior to competing in 2008 I would always train at a commercial gym because I thought that I need a huge amount of equipment to prepare for an Australian title, how wrong I was.  In April 2008 I came across Sam’s Fitness via a mutual friend.  I am involved in managing a number of gyms in the Hunter region that have budgets for gym equipment.  I always advised them on which gym equipment to get for their personal training studios.  However, I was not aware of Sam’s fitness until earlier this year.  I had a look at the Powertec and Ironmaster range of gym equipment and was extremely impressed with the multi gym setup in particular.  My previous experiences of home gyms was that they did not allow for enough weight, were too flimsy and could not manage any extra weight, and their range of movement was nowhere near biomechanical requirements for the major lifts.  Enter the Powertec Multi System.  I was so impressed with it that I purchased one for home to use for myself.  I have a young family so I wanted to be home with the family more and this allows me to train to prepare for competition.  I utilize the following exercises on the Powertec Multi System. 

1. Bench press:  This includes incline, decline and flat bench.
2. Shoulder press:  I set the bench to 3 different angles to vary the muscle fibers activated for this exercise.
3. Lateral pull down, either facing the centre of the machine or looking away from the machine.  Each position hits an entirely different part of the latissimus dorsi.
4. Bicep Preacher:  There are 3 different angles that I use on the preacher bench to hit central, lower and middle of the bicep.  I also change positions of the elbows on the padding to incorporate inner and outer head of the bicep.  Insane feel on this exercise.
5. Tricep Pushdown:  An attachment is added to the lat pull down to enable this exercise to be carried out.  Extremely smooth movement really hits the outer head of the tricep.
6. Squat:  The squat incorporates a bit of the hack squat movement as well as the front squat movement.  The knees are in the best biomechanical position I have ever felt for any machine for legs which is a big wrap as knees are problematic for me.  The back is also well supported with this exercise.
7. Leg extension:  Once again for a home gym this exercise is ridiculous it isolates the vastus medialis like nothing else; you have to try this one.
8. Leg curl:  You have to make sure that you knee is in the correct place just below the padding on this one to hit the middle of the hamstring.  If you persevere with this exercise you will hit the spot and get a great feel out of the exercise.
9. Abdominal crunches:  This exercise requires focus on behalf of the trainer.  You need to activate abdominals prior to the movement; if you do this you will get great results from this exercise.
10. Calf raises:  This exercise for calves is better than any commercial gym.  The range of motion allowed for on this exercise and the positioning of the calf muscle is perfect.  If you like calves like me you will love this.
11. Rows:  Using the bench press part of the machine you can perform rows for lower back, upper back, traps, excellent variety allowed for with this part of the machine.
12. Several other exercises can be performed on this machine as well; you just need to use your imagination and experiment with the machine.  However, every part of the body can be trained using the powertec multigym, chest, shoulders, traps, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, and lats.

Above is a brief outline of what I do on the Powertec Multi System.  However, as a national competitor I found a need to do a little bit more than the average trainer.  I need to isolate and refine a number of different muscle groups to ensure separation of muscle, striation of muscle and muscle conditioning.  As a result I included a couple of other bits of gym equipment to compliment the Powertec Multi System in my home gym.  I also purchased the Ironmaster Super Bench, 5 foot Olympic bar and the Ironmaster Duicklock Dumbbells.

  I also got the dip, chin up and crunches attachments with the superbench.  I use the superbench for the following exercises:

1. Shoulder Press, lateral raises, rear delts kickbacks.
2. Bench press, incline, decline and flat with barbell and dumbbells, utilizing various movements including pressing and flies.
3. Bicep curls, various angles of the bench as well as using dumbbells and barbells.
4. Tricep extensions, scull crunches and dumbbell kickbacks.
5. Dips using the dip attachment. Chin ups using the chin attachment.
6. Abdominals using the abdominal attachment.
7. Single arm motor mower pulls for back, pullovers and rows.  I also complete rows using the bench for a rest for the barbell. 

The Olympic bar and the Ironmaster Duicklock Dumbbell set allows me to complete all of the above exercises as well as a number of others that do not require a bench for example:

1. Deadlifts, for lower back and middle back.
2. Olympic lifts including, snatch, clean and jerk.
3. Squats and lunges.
4. Shoulder pressing standing, lateral raises standing.
5. Bicep curls standing.
6. Tricep extensions standing.

The above gym equipment is set up in half a standard garage, i.e 6 metres x 3metres.  In this area I have got a motorbike, shelving, shoes and a fridge.  I can still fit in all of the above equipment which enabled me to prepare for the Asia Pacific title that I won this year.  The Powertec and Ironmaster fitness equipment is state of the art biomechanically and is incredibly well priced.  I challenge you to find equipment that is better than Powertec and Ironmaster at the same price.  I really don’t think you will.  If I had full garage or even a little more space in my garage I would include a couple of extras in the home gym setup: 

1. Powertec Compact Leg Sled:  This machine is awesome it incorporates the leg press and hack squat movement but smoother.  No pressure on the lower back or the knees and the burn in the middle of the quadriceps is better than anything similar I have tried.  I would love to include this is in my home gym setup.
2. Powertec Shape System:  This piece of gym equipment allows for isolation of muscle groups and the ability to train one side of the body in isolation.  This allows me to balance the physique for symmetry as well as ensuring that striation of muscle is evident.  Excellent for rehabilitation of injured muscle, but more importantly a great finisher for some of the larger muscle groups.

With all of the above gym equipment you need nothing else to build a champions physique.  However, if you are just interested in getting fit and building a bit of muscle you can not go past the Powertec Multi System as a home gym.  Do yourself a favour and invest in your health now and into the future.

Regards Lance Jensen

Tags: home gym, Ironmaster Dumbbells, Ironmaster Super Bench, Powertec Multi System

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Testimonials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.