On Sunday, November 2, 2003 at 1:13:19 PM UTC-8, Bubba Jo Bubba wrote:

I recently bought a Weider "Pro Power Stack" multi station gym at
Sears. Thought I would share my impressions of it.

This unit is built by Icon (Weider) exclusively for Sears. Model # 831.159832. You won't find it anywhere else, at least not new.
Here is a link to the page at Sears describing it:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=FIT&pid=00615983000

This is a straight-line multi gym. It appears to have been designed
as a corner unit, with the 90-deg angle taken out. It has 2 benches,
2 weight stacks, and has a total of 8 stations. The descriptions on
the Sears page are not quite right. The unit claims to go up to 550
lbs. on the leg press, Sears says 450. Sears lists 6 stations, it has
8. When it's completely assembled, you need an area 82 in, by 84 in
to comfortably use it. It is 77 inches tall. Sears gives the list
price as $499.00, but it seems to go on sale every 6 weeks (or sooner)
for $399.00.

The 8 stations are; A low pulley, Leg extension/curl, preacher curl,
AB crunch, Pec/Butterfly, Chest press (horizontal), leg press, and a
high (Lat) pulley. The preacher curl and leg press plates are
adjustable and removable. It comes with a lat bar, a handled strap,
and a few clips and short chains for hanging and adjusting the bar and
strap. It does not come with an ankle strap. The benches are well
padded and comfortable.

Sears got $50.00 to deliver it. I thought that wasn't too bad. It's
quite big and heavy. Not sure if it would fit a mini van with the
seats out of the way. No way would it have gone in my SUV. And it
was too heavy for the roof rack. Sears offered to assemble it for
$200.00. I declined. I assembled it myself. I am an engineer, and
my motto is (more or less) "read the instructions, take your time, and
get it right the first time." I took a few breaks, and it took me 8
hours to assemble it, with no help. The instructions for assembly
were pretty good. They were written in Canada, so there weren't any hilarious and unreadable sentences like when you get something built
in China. That said, there were some minor hitches. If anyone needs
to know about them, let me know, and I'll make a separate post.

As you look at it, the left half of the machine has a bench, a weight
stack, and 5 stations. The stations are the low pulley, leg
extension, preacher curl, AB crunch and butterfly/pec deck. Because
of the pulley configuration, every exercise has different top, and incremental weights that work with it. For example: top weight for
AB crunch is 117 lbs., top for legs extension is 138 lbs., using the
same stack. This stack is independent of the other stack. The right
half of the machine has a bench, a weight stack, and 3 stations. The stations are Horizontal chest press, leg press, and a high (LAT)
pulley. The nice thing about this half of the machine is that the
right stack can be connected to the left stack and you can use both
stacks from the right side. Weider lists the top weight for the LAT
pulley as 280 lbs., 400 lbs. For the chest press, and 550 lbs. for the
leg press. Remember though, you can attach the right to the left and
lift both stacks from the right. Even if you leave the right and left attached, the left stations only lift the left, they won't lift the
right stack.

Pros:
Inexpensive, sturdy, easy to use, plenty of weight.

Cons:
Weight plates are 12 pounds, and because of the pulley configuration,
one plate sometimes adds 15 or 20 lbs. of resistance. Leg press
station is not real sturdy (although I don't see this as dangerous).
Weider supplied very little information as to USING the machine. Just
a wall chart with some generic exercises, none of which are shown
being done on this machine.

My observations:
I have no way to measure the resistance, but my son and I both agree
that Weider exaggerated the resistance. 180 lbs. feels more like 160,
but I have no way to measure it for sure. I use ankle weights of 5
lbs. (put on the weight stack) to go up in smaller increments than the
12-lb. Weight plates. I sometimes also increase my sets/reps instead
of going up. I bought the book "Men's health Home Workout Bible" to
give me a MUCH better understanding of just what to do with the
machine. (That book is worth its' weight in GOLD.) The pins that
slide in and out to adjust weights (like any multi station machine)
make life easy during your workout. The benches do not adjust. I'm
5ft 11in, and find them to be the perfect height. A little shorter or
taller looks fine to me, but just how much either way, I can't tell
for sure.

Why did I buy this?
I was diagnosed with Diabetes, and learned that vigorous, strenuous
exercise is the best medicine. I had a membership at the YMCA.
Working out at the Y was a drag because they oversold memberships. It
took too much time to work out there. I decided to buy a machine
using the money I was spending every month at the Y.

What's my conclusion?
This is a low-end machine. Since I bought it, I had occasion to use a
higher end Schwin machine. The Schwin was of course nicer. For the
price I DO NOT feel like I was "taken" or ripped off. This machine is
worth what you pay for it, and it is built well enough that it's not
going to fall apart. I chose this over the Weider and Schwin "Bow"
machines. I'm glad I did.

Would I buy it again?
Tough to answer. I wonder if I could have gotten a better machine
USED for this price. Probably so. If I had it to do all over,
knowing what I know now, I'd shop around looking for a better multi
station gym used. If I couldn't find one, I wouldn't hesitate to buy
this one again.

Hope this helps.

HOW DO YOU CONNECT THE RIGHT SIDE TO THE LEFT SIDE?

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