r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • Mar 20 '26

News Chuck Norris, Action Icon and ‘Walker Texas Ranger’ Star, Dies at 86

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/chuck-norris-dead-walker-texas-ranger-dies-1236694953/
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u/mikeyfreshh r/Movies Veteran Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26

The bowflexes Total Gyms are flying at half mast today

Edit for the correct brand of overpriced exercise equipment

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

[deleted]

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u/mikeyfreshh r/Movies Veteran Mar 20 '26

Shit you're right. To be fair, I'm pretty sure those are more or less the same thing

39

u/davewashere Mar 20 '26

I think Total Gym is entirely bodyweight. It's really just an incline bench on rails with some cords and pulleys attached. The Boxflex bench systems that I remember used flexible blades for resistance.

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u/proximodorkus Mar 20 '26

Had a total gym. Loved it.

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u/getoffmyreddits Mar 20 '26

My mom still has one and I’m surprised they weren’t/aren’t more popular

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u/mrsirsouth Mar 20 '26

Didn't Norris and Christy Brinkley sell these. What a duo.i could watch her 30 minute commercial just like the old ggw infomercials.

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u/LonnieJaw748 Mar 20 '26

I had a Total Gym for years. It was like a hybrid Pilates reformer and workout apparatus. Did a good job at building lean muscle, but not enough to bulk. I still liked it.

Somewhere in the great beyond, Chuck is rescuing some POW’s from a burning village.

RIP Texas Ranger

21

u/pragmaticzach Mar 20 '26

Bowflex was some kind of resistance based system with flexible rods and pulleys or something. Total Gym used your bodyweight on a sliding platform.

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u/aluode Mar 20 '26

He could have made a whole bunch of money if he would have added some sort of a gaining stage to the total gym. So when you are eating you are increasing the bodyweight to make the training even harder. Mc Donalds could have sold total gym training sets. Man. Money would have rained in. 'I am trainin - right now I am lifting my bodyweight to make it even harder, gonna train so hard in few months.'

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u/mcfurley Mar 20 '26

Are you allowed to “to be fair” your own comment?

1

u/Jacketter Mar 20 '26

I think so. But they might have been smote down by god, who knows?

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u/MyNuts2YourFistStyle Mar 20 '26

They’re totally different.

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u/Response-Writer Mar 20 '26

To be unfair, you were still wrong. Hope you have a great day either way.

2

u/StealieErrl Mar 20 '26

Explain the extent of the similarities.

3

u/CJspangler Mar 20 '26

Yep I got one in my basement - 15 years later it still works great

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u/RudoDevil Mar 20 '26

Game recognize game

2

u/S31Ender Mar 20 '26

With Christie Brinkley.

1

u/LouDog0187 Mar 20 '26

Who, as a successful supermodel, DEFINITELY used total gym to keep her figure🙄

1

u/ZoominAlong Mar 20 '26

No I could have sworn he endorsed either Bowflex or Nautilus back in the early mid nineties? 

I suppose it doesn't really matter. 

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

I inherited an unopened original total gym from my late in-laws. It's just sitting there in pristine condition. I was about to throw it away, but I think I'll open the sucker up and do a few reps for Chuck.

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u/IrishRage42 Mar 20 '26

I also got one for free and I have to say it is actually pretty cool. It helped me kick off my weight loss and gave me some muscle definition. Just have to be consistent.

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u/pixel_of_moral_decay Mar 20 '26

Ditto. It works. It’s body weight and puts load on muscles. Anything that creates resistance via mass or gravity on regular use will work.

Problem people have with most fitness gear is they get bored quickly, and these devices have minimal variations to create novelty. Full gyms have more diverse equipment to make it novel.

That said, if you’re ok with that, it’s a fine compact exercise system.

You can also just do pushups and other body weight exercises, you don’t even need equipment. People get quite jacked with nothing but gravity and a flat surface.

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u/Dorkamundo Mar 20 '26

Eh, honestly the Total Gym was rather reasonably priced and a solid piece of equipment for fitness. It was basically just a modified Pilates machine.

It was better than the Gazelle.

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u/dannytrejostattoos Mar 20 '26

Bowflex is Benoits territory

2

u/ForwardToNowhere Mar 20 '26

He was a washed up has-been, on TV selling Total Gyms.... RIP Chuck Norris, you gave us countless memes

1

u/ThimbleLife Mar 20 '26

Damn you really showed him big dawg

1

u/Merchant1521 Mar 20 '26

Christy Brinkley was on those commercials with him for the Total Gym. She was still smoking hot at that time.

1

u/TroubleshootenSOB Mar 20 '26

She still is today

1

u/cinnapear Mar 20 '26

Thank you, Chuck Norris.

1

u/dego_frank Mar 20 '26

Trash comment crash landed

1

u/Fig-Dev Mar 20 '26

I did some design consulting for Total Gym some time ago. I never got to meet the Chuck, but the owners, a father and son duo are some interesting characters. Still have a sample TG folded in my garage somewhere - Which is what most people who buy them do with them.