Are Universal Home Gyms Really Universal?

We use slogans and buzz words so much these days we seldom bother to think about what we are saying and doing. It’s not too late to take a look though.

Universal is a great word, implying grand expansive all encompassing qualities even before we see the item promoted. Webster says “including or covering all or a whole without limit or exception.” Now, we’ve seen how marketing and promotion add tags or keywords like universal to products like home gyms. But are they really universal? Of course not, but you knew that already. Truth in advertising must mean something else then.

Implied Qualities

What are the implied universal qualities when associated with home gyms? Offers vary but range somewhere between a whole experience, strength and abundant strength pulsating through the whole body. Yeah, I’ll sign up! Sorry, no sign up is available, but for $29.95 a month in a hundred twenty-five easy payments this universal home gym can be all yours.

I am not being overly sarcastic here. Implied images and results should be what a reasonable average human being can muster with basic expectations of price vs. value.

Personal Trainers

My wife is a personal trainer. She is dedicated, health conscious and a great proponent of the universal home gym. We have two of them, in fact. I wish one of them was in our summer house on Cape Cod but that’s another unrealistic expectation on my part.

Back to personal trainers, the profession is relatively new to the fitness scene. Popularized by Olympic sports and other televised sporting events, the basic idea of a personal trainer is to give guidance, support and practical training assistance. In universal home gym applications, the personal trainer has been replaced by a video cassette. Fair enough, at least a trainer probably made the video. Some more universal qualities exist in the trainer that the video can not capture however.

The goal in using a universal home gym is probably to add some sort of fitness into a larger lifestyle. If the goal were really universal weight training, we’d all be leaving home and heading to the gym to visit our trainer.

Repetition

Repetition is the key. Start a program that addresses the personal issues and repeat the exercises often or daily. Work the muscles to exhaustion, yes, but slowly and steadily. They say humans are a spark of the divine, so I’m not going to be the one that says universality is impossible to achieve. Get that universal home gym cranking and reach for the stars!