As part of my plan to carry out body-weight exercises, I was on the lookout for a pull-up/chin-up bar. However, I’m currently in a rented apartment. There is no good place in my space to install a pull-up bar, especially without damaging door frames or walls. The answer to my problem was the Power Gym door mounted exerciser. It’s designed for people who weigh less than 113kg (250lb) and for standard North American-sized door frames. It has 6 different grip positions allowing for a greater variety of exercises than a standard pull-up bar. It comes with a chart showing 12 different exercises, 7 of which are pull-up type exercise (hanging cruncher, hanging leg raiser, close grip pull-ups, close grip chin ups, jack knife shoulder pumps, wide grip chine-ups, and wide grip pull-ups). You can also use the unit as a push-up aid, but I’m not interested in using the unit that way. I much prefer simple Hindu Pushups.
The unit was easy enough to install, except for the inside grips. I struggled to get these on for at least 30 minutes. Eventually, one of the grips ripped. At that point, I could no longer return the unit to the store if I was unhappy. It was now a damaged good, thus invalidating the return policy of the store where I purchased the Power Gym. The grips are made out of a foamy plastic of some sort. It’s possible that the unit I bought was sitting on the shelf at the store for a very long time and the plastic grips started to lose flexibility. Hence why I couldn’t get them on the inside bars when assembling the Power Gym. Luckily, all the other 4 grips did were already in place when I opened the box.
Other than this problem with the inside grips, the unit works as advertised and allows me to have a pull-up bar in my apartment without having to damage a door frame by installing a screw mounted pull-up bar. Because the unit is removable from the door frame, you can also avoid accidents when you share your space with tall friends or family. Time to do some pull-ups! 
the assembly instructions say to lube the foam handles with olive oil and/or dishsoap before putting them on! too little too late i know, but for the future
Hi Combzilla,
Hmm… I must have missed that. That would probably have helped, but also have made a mess in the process…. oh well!
Thanks for the comment!
Your friend,
M.E.B.
the oil thing doesn’t work. . i lubed both the rod and the foam peices and only got it half way through
it is IMPOSSIBLE.
Hi Mir,
I’m sorry you had as much trouble as I did getting the middle foam pieces on despite using the recommended olive oil and or dish soap. As I mentioned, I failed to do this when I was assembling my unit. I got the foam pieces about half-way through like you, but then tried so hard to get them on further that I ripped the foam pieces & gave up in frustration. You can still use the bar without the middle foam pieces, but it might be rougher on your hands.
One could try replacing the middle foam pieces with foam sports tape — if I get around to doing this, I’ll make a comment about the results.
For those interested in seeing what the product looks like, I found the infomercial on YouTube for the Power Gym Door Mounted Exerciser:
I should note that there are some similar products out there that go by the brand “Iron Gym”, though I’m not sure if they are available in retail stores in Canada. John Sifferman has a nice YouTube review of the Pro Fit Iron Gym Doorway Pull Up Bar (available from Amazon.com
):
I’m not sure if the middle foam pieces come pre-installed with the Iron Gym, but you can see that they are there!
All the best,
Yours truly,
M.E.B.
Hey everyone,
This is a bit late but thats ok.
I worked for many years in a bike shop. We would use hairspray to install grips. Spray the inside of the grip, and the bar.
Hairspray dries sticky, so it will keep the grips in place.
Hope that helps someone!
i actually just used water on the bar and foam grips and worked just fine
i used regular dish soap (dawn) to get the inside grips on and that worked fantastic!
I had trouble with the first grip so for the second one (after checking the directions) I covered a piece of paper towel with dish soap, rolled it in to a clyinder shape and ran it through the interior of the grip. It slid right on after that. Before I read the directions and just started on the first one I was able to get it on by alternating between pushing from the top and pulling from the bottom, it took a while but it worked.
I’ve been using the Power Gym for a couple months now. I do see results. the key is to start with few sets, few reps, 30 secs rest. Each week bring it up a bit. (eg. 3 sets of 3 to start. Then 4 sets of 3, so on and so on.) Before you know it you will be doing 50 chin ups in 7 mins.
Hi, Travis!
I’m glad that you’ve been having success using the Power Gym — what a wonderful feeling I’m sure! I think in the end, I’m a bit too tall for the unit in a typical door frame. As a result, I stopped regularly using it. I’ve recently started going to an exercise park near my house that has pull-up bars of various heights. I have made better progress as a result. I also get the additional benefit of the walk (or run) to and from the exercise park. Luckily, I live in a city with relatively clean air (in comparison to many other cities around the world). I still think the Power Gym and similar products offer a nice solution to having a pull-up bar in your home or apartment, especially if you’re under 6 feet tall and don’t want to install a more traditional pull-up bar because of constraints on your living space.
Wishing Everyone success, health, and happiness!
Your friend,
M.E.B.
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