I spent many years feeling like many people do; scrawny, inferior, and out of shape.
There came a point in my life when I thought I’d just have to accept the fact that I would never be able to build muscle and have the body I want.
I’d want to go to the gym, but it’s intimidating, there are people everywhere, sometimes it’s even dirty and disgusting. I figured building a nice body just wasn’t in the cards for me.
One day I visited a family member whom I haven’t seen in awhile, and I noticed right away, they got built in a short amount of time. He showed me the power tower workout he’s been doing, and I was immediately interested.
What Is Power Tower?
I used the term “power tower,” and you’re probably thinking it sounds like that TV show that comes on at 3 am on basic cable. The power tower is an exercise device that allows you to use your own body weight as the resistance, so it makes the workouts super simple.
Many exercise machines require resistance bands or free weights, but the power tower takes a different approach. Instead of spending money on expensive barbells and resistance devices, you can use what you’ve already got, and that’s your weight.
A power tower workout helps you leverage your mass to do any kind of workout you can think of and on any body part.
One great example that might come to mind as I’m talking about this is a pull-up. This is only one option in the many workouts you can do with the power tower, but it’s something that uses your body weight as resistance.
Power Tower Benefits
When deciding to buy a home workout device, you might ask yourself some of the following questions:
- Do I really need this?
- Couldn’t I just go to the gym?
- Will I use it or just waste my money?
- Where am I going to put it?
These are common questions everyone wonders when they’re deciding if it’s a smart choice to take their workouts home with them.
Whether you’re someone who goes to the gym frequently or you’re more like me, and you avoid it like the plague, there are many benefits to the power tower.
Smart Design
The most important thing you want to think about when working out at home is your own safety. You’re not going to have someone around to guide you and offer assistance if you’re not doing something right.
Luckily, the power tower makes it easy because all of the bars and grips are ergonomically designed to make sense of the workout. The bars are the right distance apart, providing plenty of flexibility for people of different heights and weights.
You don’t have to worry about compromising your muscles and joints due to poor design or uncomfortable placement.
All-in-One Workouts
Another factor to consider is the amount of equipment you need to buy when you’re trying to work out from home. If you’re anything like me, you don’t have a ton of space, and the last thing you want to do is clutter up your living room with a bunch of barbells and benches.
The power tower allows you to work out every muscle using one machine. You can work out everything from your traps to your calves, which allows for an inclusive training process that doesn’t require a ton of knowledge or experience to get into.
Compact Design
Each power tower will vary, but many of them offer folding and break down methods that make them easy to store. You could even keep one in your bedroom closet and pull it out when you’re ready to work out each day.
As I said, a major concern that many people have is finding the space to store something like this and keep in mind. A huge part of your workout and how successful you’ll be is comfort and accessibility. When I first started, the reason I never exercised was because I couldn’t find a comfortable place to do it.
If you need to put your power tower in a cold dark basement, do you think you’ll find the time each day to go down there and sweat it out? Probably not.
But, if you can slide the power tower out of a closet, set it up in two minutes, and get a workout in a while watching your morning news, now that sounds like a recipe for success.
Affordability
The average power tower might cost you six months of a gym membership, and you’re also saving money on gas and other expenses you may run into by going to the gym every day.
You’re saving money, making exercise more accessible, and doing everything you can to get in shape. Plus, since you’re working out in your own home, you don’t need to worry about showering at the gym and dealing with the dreaded locker room walks.
Useful for All Skill Levels
I think my favorite feature of the power tower is the fact that anyone at any level of expertise can jump right in to exercise and bodybuilding using the power tower.
There are workouts for everyone regardless of what you’re looking to accomplish, and there is a low barrier of entry because it doesn’t require any previous education.
All you’re doing is using your body weight as leverage in your workouts; it’s simple.
Power Tower Workout Stations
With your power tower comes four primary workout stations. In this section, I want to break down each one briefly, and then in the next portion of the article, we’ll discuss what types of workouts you can do at each station.
Pull-Up Station
As I discussed earlier, one of the most common workouts you can do with your power tower is a pull-up. Many stations will come with two options for pull-ups.
There is a close grip bar that helps you get the assistance of your biceps and chest muscles. Many people consider wide grip pull-ups more difficult because as you spread your arms apart, you rely more on your back muscles.
Dip Station
The dip station is the two bars that run horizontally from the main frame of the power tower. Dips require you to rest your forearms on the padded bars while lowering your entire body until your shoulders are parallel with your biceps (or close).
From there, you’ll use your arms to push your body back up to its original position. Many power towers will have a bench to rest your knees on or assist you in getting back up.
Vertical Leg/Knee Raise Station
Each power tower will have a vertical leg raise section. Some will use slings that you’ll put your arms through, and it will require you to raise your legs until they are at a 90-degree angle with your torso.
In some cases, you will use the same bars you used for the dip station for this workout as well. You can use either, and it shouldn’t impact your workout.
Push Up Station
Finally, we have everyone’s favorite upper body workout. Your power tower should come with two bars at the base of the frame that allows you to grab on and use as braces for your push-ups.
There are a few different variations of push-ups you can do with your power tower, and we’ll discuss them in more detail down below.
Power Tower Exercises
Now let’s take the stations we’ve discussed above and break it down into more detail. We’ll cover exact workouts you can use to get the body you’ve always dreamed of. I have performed all of these exercises, and they’ve helped me tremendously.
Pull-Ups
Grab onto the pull-up bar and pull your body up until your chin is equal to or above the bar. Repeat this process for a number of reps and sets as your workout routine dictates.
With pull-ups, you can choose either a close grip or wide grip to determine the difficulty and what muscles you exercise.
Chin-Ups
The main difference between pull-ups and chin-ups is the position of your hands. With chin-ups, you will flip your hands around, so your palms are facing you when you grab the bar.
This exercise focuses more on your biceps instead of your shoulders and back.
Push-Ups
Grabbing the base bar, you can do a push-up by lowering your body until your chin is equal to or lower than the bar. Make sure to keep your back straight when doing this exercise and your knees off the floor.
Chest Dip
The chest dip requires you to use the dip bars and tip your body slightly forward when you perform the dip. This act takes the pressure off your triceps and moves it to your chest.
Triceps Dip
The Triceps dip requires you to rest your forearms on the dip bars and lower your body until your biceps are almost even with your neck.
You’ll then push yourself back up, so your arms are at a 90-degree angle. This exercise takes all the pressure off your biceps and forearms and puts it entirely on your triceps.
Vertical Leg/Knee Raise
The vertical leg raise is an ab workout that requires you to stand with your back against the power tower facing out.
Rest your forearms on the dip bars like we previously discussed, but instead of lowering your body, you will raise your legs until they are straight in front of your body, and you create a 90-degree angle with your body.
Hanging Knee/Leg Raise
The main difference with this exercise is that you keep your knees bent and hang your arms from the pull-up station. Lift your bent knees, and this exercise works out your lower abs. This might be hard to understand, so here is a video that explains what you need to do.
Single-Leg Squat
The single leg squat involves you putting your foot between the two bars at the base of the frame and squatting down with the other leg until your knee almost touches the floor. This exercise works your lower body, including thighs and calves.
Building Muscle at Home with Power Tower
Now that you understand some of the muscles, you can exercise with the power tower and some of its benefits. Let’s break some of those limiting beliefs that might make you think that this isn’t the workout for you.
Do Power Towers Build Muscle?
The power tower absolutely helps you build muscle. All of the workouts I’ve outlined above help build muscle in the following areas.
- Traps
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Lats
- Abdominals
- Chest
- Obliques
- Back
- Shoulders
- Thighs
- Calves
- Glutes
Power Tower for Bodyweight Workout
One of the best parts of bodyweight workouts is that you can implement compound exercises that are known to help improve the body’s composition.
When you’re combining a wide variety of exercises, including strength and cardio, it helps to increase muscle mass, eliminate fat, and increase cardiovascular health.
Power Tower for Calisthenics
Calisthenics are a form of exercise that doesn’t involve the intervention of any sort of machine or device to help with muscle building, and that’s what we’re doing with the power tower.
This machine only acts as something for you to hold onto or use as leverage while you use your body weight as the resistance.
A great example of calisthenics are lunges, squats, and dips. You can do all of these with the power tower, and it merely assists in the process by making your exercise smarter, safer, and more effective.
Full Body Power Tower Workout for Beginners to Build Muscle
Now it’s time for the fun stuff. You’ve learned everything you can about the power tower, so now let’s get into a few specific workouts you can do to help build muscle up and down your body.
Let’s break each section down by muscle so you can understand how to work each body part and how it will impact your appearance as you move through the process.
Chest/Shoulders
- Wide Grip Pull-Ups – 4 sets of 10 with 90 seconds in between each set
- Chest Dips – 3 sets of 15 with 90 seconds in between each set
- Push-Ups – On odd days do 200 push-ups in as few sets as possible. On even days do 200 push-ups throughout the day in small sets. Repeat this process for 10 days then take three days off and do not perform any upper body workouts during this time
NOTE: This workout follows a Navy Seal Military Training push up program. It’s important to understand what you don’t want to overwork your muscles in one area, so you wouldn’t want to do all three of these exercises in one day.
If you plan on doing the push-up workout, you’ll want to pair that with some of the other options we’re about to discuss.
Biceps/Triceps
- Close Grip Chin Ups – 4 sets of 10 with 90 seconds in between each set
- Tricep Dips – 3 sets of 15 with 90 seconds in between each set
NOTE: Make sure to remember that chin-ups are different from pull-ups. With a pull-up, you keep your palms facing away from you. With a chin-up, your palms will face towards you, so the workout will rely mostly on your biceps, which is what you want for these workouts.
Abdominals
- Vertical Leg Raise – 3 sets of 20 with 90 seconds in between each set
- Hanging Knee Raise – 3 sets of 20 with 90 seconds in between each set
- Crunches/Sit Ups – 3 sets of 10 with 30 seconds in between each set
NOTE: You can do crunches and sit-ups with your power tower as well. Towards the back of the frame, there should be a low hanging bar, and you can use this to hold your feet down as you do the crunch or sit up.
Legs
- Single-Leg Squat – 3 sets of 10 with 30 seconds in between each set
- Bicycles – 3 sets of 30 seconds
NOTE: For bicycles, put yourself in the same position as you are when you do the vertical leg raise. Instead of lifting your legs up to a 90-degree angle, you will pretend like you’re riding a bike with your legs in the air. This exercise will work out your legs and abs.
Summary
I’ve been in your position, and I stayed there for many years.
You don’t have to feel like exercising and building muscle is a never ending battle against the current. The power tower brings world-class exercises into your home and presents them in a way that is simple for anyone to jump right in and get started.
You can work out any muscle from the comfort of your own home, which makes it easier, more accessible, and more productive.