Slanted risers available for club step

[sundari]

Originally Posted by KathyW

The main reason I'd be interested is to make an incline or decline bench to use for Cathe's and Amy's strength workouts. It'd probably be a bit more stable than using regular risers to make a slanted bench.

It would probably be a more stable surface I agree. But you could buy a weight bench at Walmart or Sports Authority for less then the price they are charging for these risers.

[sundari]

Originally Posted by Jane P.

I checked the website again today because I was thinking about ordering them, but the price has been bumped up $10 from what is was last weekend.

Well I guess these won't be going down in price any time soon then.

[ellens2]

Yikes, I'm glad I caved and ordered them the other day. With the coupon, I saved $10 paying 39.99. Mine are scheduled to be delivered on Monday.

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by sundari

It would probably be a more stable surface I agree. But you could buy a weight bench at Walmart or Sports Authority for less then the price they are charging for these risers.

I wouldn't trust the stability of a weight bench that cost that little. And it would take up much more storage room than these do.

I do agree that the price is too high, especially if it increased (and you didn't use a coupon!). I also paid $39.99, using the coupon, and that's at the high end of what I would pay.

[Marie1120]

Originally Posted by ellens2

Yikes, I'm glad I caved and ordered them the other day. With the coupon, I saved $10 paying 39.99. Mine are scheduled to be delivered on Monday.

What coupon?

[ellens2]

Originally Posted by Marie1120

What coupon?

It's posted in the bargain watch.

"20% Off at Spriproducts.com
This code for 20% off at Spriproducts.com was in the November issue of Prevention magazine. PREV071231."

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by ellens2

I'm glad I caved and ordered them the other day. With the coupon, I saved $10 paying 39.99.

Ditto!

Mine arrived yesterday, and I tried them out with two of the workouts that comes with it (there are three).

The first was a cardio workout with Rob Glick teaching (basic moves like travelling knees, v-steps, repeaters, but the tilted surface makes them more challenging--and seems to hit the glutes more than regular step). I think it was intended as a beginner workout, because Rob says he's going to teach us a repeater (though he doesn't slow down to actually take us through it step-by-step, thank goodness!), but I don't think a true beginner to step would necessarily get it. Not an 'advanced' cardio workout be no means, but more of a cardio/lower body workout, and a nice first-half of a workout. And the platform is used in a way that the Transfirmer can't duplicate: horizontally with a slant (rather than vertically).

The second workout I did was a strength workout lead by Kimberley Spreen. She used the platform really well--lying supine on it, with head at the top or at the bottom; lying prone on it (for rear delt flyes--a very nice way to do them, IMO--and preacher curls); kneeling on it in an 'all-fours' position (for lat rows and tricep kickbacks); stepping onto it (for lunges), though the workout itself was a mixed bag.

Kimberley uses only one set of weights (I changed up, because there's no way I'm using the same weight for lat rows and tricep kickbacks! And she doesn't even use both weights together for the lat rows.), and just 1-2 sets of most exercises, with each body part getting 2-3 sets total. Some exercises were pretty easy, while others (decline crunches) were challenging. I didn't feel completely 'worked out' by it, but think I could if I went up on some weights and/or repeated segments.

I'm glad I bought the risers. It's not like having a totally new piece of equipment, like a bench, that I have to make room for, and they definitely add stability to the bench. I've tried doing decline work on my step before, but it's always felt a bit unstable. With these risers, the platform is locked into position and doesn't move at all, so if I want, I can do very stable decline moves.

The third workout is billed as an 'interval' workout, also lead by Kimberley. It has some med ball work and some athletic move intervals (but not many: I fast-forwarded through it and only saw 2, maybe 3).

All in all, I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of these risers, if not the workouts---whenever I need an incline or decline bench, and possibly as a support for 1-arm lat rows. They make a surface that is narrower than a body wedge, so it's possible to use it for exercises that don't work well on the wedge (like lat rows, or flyes); or a surface that's wider than the Transfirmer, so it makes the step platform into a slanted bench (the way Rob uses it in his cardio) for Ramp workouts or Leslie's whatchamacallit (walk blaster?) workouts as well. And you can just turn the platform vertically to make a substitute for the Transfirmer or 'Death Box" incline.

[ellens2]

Yeah, thanks for the review Kathryn. I'm looking forward to getting mine.

[gwendolyn]

Geez, they increased the price of the riser set. It's now 59.95. I think the price is too high. With the 20% discount, I still have to pay around 47 plus S&H.

How much is S&H?

[Denise R]

[QUOTE=KathrynI'm glad I bought the risers. It's not like having a totally new piece of equipment, like a bench, that I have to make room for, and they definitely add stability to the bench. I've tried doing decline work on my step before, but it's always felt a bit unstable. With these risers, the platform is locked into position and doesn't move at all, so if I want, I can do very stable decline moves.QUOTE]

Kathryn, I think you've talked me into these! I was hoping to hear from someone that the indeed LOCKED into place. Thanks for sharing with us!

Denise