This morning I'd like to take you on a tour of my jungle - the dungeon of weight-lifting and cardio equipment in my house! It all starts in our upper Master Bedroom - while the room is spacious (the entire top level) and has our offices, bed, and library, there is also a nice little corner for the dip station so that I can do pull-ups and dips and push-ups and leg raises to my heart's content throughout the day (oh, you can click on the images to make them larger):



It may seem to be a strange mix - putting such a looming piece of fitness equipment in our master bedroom ... but we had to find space where it was available. It actually turned out to be convenient for us to also place the recumbent bike in the family room. This allows us to perform our cardio while watching FitTV or thumping out some loud dance beats:



The real fun starts in our basement. This is where we have the two racks of dumbbells in pairs from 1 lb to 100 lbs (with PlateMates - magnets that weigh 1.25 lbs each):



Of course, dumbbells are not much fun without a bench to use them on. The picture of the bench is included with the amazing Parabody system - this beauty was tough to squeeze inside (not the 1/4" clearance at the top) but was well worth the effort. It has a bench with snake hooks that serve as automatic spotters, low pulley, high pulley, and Smith machine as well. Here it is:



Next to this beauty is what used to be my nemesis that I'd battle with daily until I learned to embrace the rigors of cardio and push myself to new limits each time. It is the fun treadmill, that often likes to raise upon an incline while I'm pounding out the miles running full speed and not getting anywhere:



Of course, after a tough workout, one must first sooth the muscles:



And then relax for a bit:



Okay, that's the tour for this morning!

Jeremy Likness