360 Degrees on Workout 180 Personal Gym (see negative update at bottom of post)

“180” is an attractive product.  Appeals  this male psyche.  Construction yellow.  Rubberized handle bars.  Seemingly weather-proof and rust-proof system (check with me on this when the winter is over).   I love the concept of resistance training with simultaneous balance training.  I tried to do several non-stop super-set style workouts (switching from shoulders to biceps to traps to triceps) while balancing the entire time on the “surf-board.”  Initially, it feels awkward and much of the attention seems to be diverted away from the body-work to balance-work.  But after a while, the body figures the balance out and balancing goes on autopilot and you sink back into resistance focus.   10 minutes later (of non-stop super-setting and exercise-switching) you step of the board and feel surprised that you spent the entire time balancing on this weight-training “skateboard.”

I bought two of these things.  One busted within a week: the max resistance cable got de-capped.  I took it back to Dick’s and got it swapped for a new one.  So, now I have effectively tested three of these gizmos.  I believe the break-down was a fluke.  But I do encourage you to get store warranty just in case.

I dig how portable it is.  The one I got for my office slides right under a waiting room chair.   The one at home travels from one room to another.  The other day, while waiting for my wife to get ready to go out, I grabbed the “180” and took out onto the deck and squeezed in a few max-resistance slow sets – before the sweat kicks in.  The portability of this gizmo is a huge plus.  Unlike my Bowflex, I can toss this thing into the trunk of my car without a huff.

Now, the issue of resistance.  When I saw this baby in the store my first concern was whether it’d offer enough meaningful resistance.  So, here’s the deal.  There are three cables – yellow (light), gray (medium), black (max weight).  If you combine all three and do biceps reps – to my mind – it feels like you are doing reps with 40-45 lbs dumbbells.  So, that’s your reference point.  I am hoping that there will be an upgrade to this product.  It’d be easy:  the board could easily accommodate two more cables on each side for additional weight progression.  Or, perhaps, the company would be willing to sell heavier resistance cables to replace the existent ones (which might be possible in principle).

My wife likes the video that came with this piece of equipment.  I don’t.  Not big on step-aerobics myself.  The 70 or so exercises that are possible are a bit of a stretch.  The chest exercises, for example, really don’t work.  If you lay down on the board and do “flies” – even with all three cables together – there’s just not enough room to feel any resistance of meaning.  At least, I haven’t figured out how to get some mileage out of that.  So, basically, in my opinion, you are looking for an upper-body exercise machine with the element of balancing.  I think that’s enough to justify the purchase.

Enjoy.

ps: TIME FOR A RECALL:   second unit broke after minimal use: was doing triceps with less than max weight, plastic cord capper busted same way as on a prior unit.  I now pronounce this product a promising concept that requires further tuning.