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Gabriel "Sky" Arnold purc hased a "Pro Fit Iron Gym Pullup Bar" and wrote up a great product review, giving it a final score of 4/5. This is a doorframe pull up bar that has no screws or bolts, so it's perfect for a dorm or apartment style living conditions. You can purchase one from amazon here. Read More for Gabe's great review!
Description: “Strengthen your back, biceps, and other upper body muscles in the comfort of your living room or dorm with the Iron Gym workout bar. Designed to fit conveniently in most doorway frames or sit on the floor for pushups, dips, and sit-ups, the Iron Gym is an ideal choice for people who want to get fit without buying expensive, space-intensive weight sets. When installed in the doorway, the device lets you perform pull-ups and chin-ups, with three grip positions - narrow, neutral, and wide - for working the inner and outer back. Once you're done with your back workout, you can quickly move the Iron Gym to the floor, where you can perform pushups while facing down, tricep dips while facing the other way, or sit-ups using the Iron Gym for foot stability. The Iron Gym - whose durable steel frame installs quickly without tools or fasteners - holds up to 300 pounds and is designed to fit residential doorways 24 to 32 inches wide, with doorway trim or molding up to 3.5 inches wide.”
(As taken from asseenontvguys.com)
-First Impressions and Experiences: Immediately upon receiving this as an early Christmas I set to work assembling it. It came with all the required pieces and tools and the instructions were fool-proof simple. Even my mechanically handicapped hands managed to put it together in under ten minutes. When it was completed I was surprised by its lightweight (can’t be more than five pounds) and wondered how durable it was going to be. The main bar was actually two pipes that fitted and bolted together so I worried about its strength. And since I tried this in my dorm first time it took me a couple tries to make it lock in just right. (My doorways lack a proper frame)
But having used it regularly for two weeks now I can say most of my fears were unfounded. The main bar is plenty strong enough though it does tend to sag slightly in the center when using the closer spaced grips. Not enough to worry about though. The spongy grips feel good in my hands and are a nice break from cold steel. It really does snap in as fast as you see in the commercials and pops out just as quickly. For pull-ups, chin-ups, and all kinds of basic hanging exercises it’s fantastic. Dips are essentially useless because you get such little range of motion, push-ups are okay but you can only do a few variations. As a sit-up foot holder it works well but that’s about all it can do, hold feet.
-Affordability: At $30, this is a pretty cheap bit of equipment to buy. Even a penny pincher could see his or her way to purchasing this within a month of saving. And since you can avoid shipping costs by buying it in most major stores, it’s a win-win. (5/5)
-Durability: Despite its lightweight it seems to be fairly sturdy. The end grips rub against the doorframe and can cause some streaking or paint removal if you get too rough with it. It’s rated up to 300 lbs. so it’s pretty strong but you won’t be doing any muscle-ups or laches on this thing. The closeness of the doorframe and the perpendicular handgrips prevent you from getting your body much higher than neck height over the bar. And if you try to swing on it the bar could come loose or the added swinging weight could snap it in half. It was designed for your basic, non-explosive bodyweight exercises. As long as you take care of it and do what it was designed for without going overboard you’ll get many years of use out it. (4/5)
-Style: Black and metal with an odd curved shape that resembles old-school ab rollers. It won’t win any design contests but it gets the job done. And that’s all you need it for right? Besides it slides out instantly so you can hide it when friends show up. (2/5)
-Effectiveness: Unless you’re of very short stature you’ll have to bend your knees or move your legs out of the way to use it right. At 5’11” a 90-degree knee bend gives me plenty of clearance. (see pics) I can do quite a variety of pull-up variations with this thing and it works your muscles exactly the way a pull-up should. All the other possible uses for it are just fluff; you’re really here for the pull-ups, and it accomplishes that beautifully. (4/5)
-Final Comments: I haven’t been using the Iron Gym for long but I can see myself lugging it around for many years to come. It fits most anywhere and it does what it says. I can’t ask for much more. It comes with an option to purchase ab straps for just the cost of shipping but I can fashion my own from two belts. It loses a point for possible durability issues but for $30 I can replace it fairly easily.
-Final Score: (4/5)
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