Total Gym

RECOVERY: Customer Aaron Silva Achieves the Impossible

Mr. Silva is an inspiration to us all. Below is his story.

Dear Total Gym,

My name is Aaron Silva. I am from the island of Maui. I suffer from a neuromuscular and autoimmune condition all-in-one called Myasthenia Gravis. And this is a testimony about how Total Gym assisted me in taking back my life—which this illness had robbed me of.

About a year ago I was weighing in at about 260lbs before working out with Total Gym. One day I made up my mind and was determined to loose my weight. I also wanted to be able to do something that was unheard of for people who suffer with Myasthenia Gravis, and that was to ride a cross-country style mountain bike up very steep hills along with single track trails.

So, in April of 2008 I started working out on an older Total Gym model that I had already purchased about 1 year before. We never really used it all that much. That model was the Total Gym XL. Within the first week of using the Total Gym XL, I added walking around Napili park into my workout plan. I could hardly complete one lap around the park.

Within the second week I had lapped it twice and then by the third week I was lapping the park 4 laps which is about 1 mile and it seemed that I was getting stronger each time. The park is very hilly so I got a good burn too. In a period of six weeks, along with working out on the Total gym XL, I wasn’t just lapping the park four times, I was doing it within 25 minutes and I managed to drop about 35lbs in 6 weeks.

By the 7th week I started riding my bike for 30 minutes, 3-4 miles every other day. The whole time I worked out on the Total Gym XL my body kept on changing and getting stronger. One day in May 2008 I was checking out the Total Gym web site and I came across the Total Gym 14000. It is one of the smaller, older designs of the upgraded models and it seemed to be what I needed to assist with the fitness goals I had to reach along with the price being just right. So I went for it.

I spoke with a Total Gym representative and he assisted me with my purchase. He was totally awesome and with his help in that purchase he did have a major part in me [reaching my] fitness goals. After I upgraded to the Total Gym 14000 I started to loose more weight. I incorporated more bike riding over the summer of 2008. In the fall of 2008 around the month of October—as I call it ROCKTOBER—I took my bike off road for it’s first mountain run. I was out of breath as I hit the wall on the trails but it felt good. And every time I managed to hit the wall I was getting stronger and stronger.

And now here I am one year later I am weighing in at 158lbs. 102lbs I lost—what a change. I can even ride up very steep hills close to 2000 foot level at the top. And those totally cool single track trails are fun to ride. I am still cranking out strong sets on the Total Gym. And the keg that I once had for a for a mid section has been traded in for in a six-pack. I still have Myasthenia Gravis but at times, I don’t even feel it.

The Total Gym is everything that Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley said it was and more. It assisted me in taking back my life. Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. As we say in Hawaii, Aloha. Oh yeah! Please tell Mike Gold I said Mahalo again for helping me with my Total Gym purchase. And the next trail run Mike is for you DUDE!!!!

-Aaron Aliiloa Silva, Total Gym Customer

Total Gym = Total Workout

This post was written by GRAVITY Instructor Suzanne Sweeney. She has 20 years experience in the fitness industry as a Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Pilates instructor.  She uses a holistic approach, considering health, fitness, nutrition and stress management to design workouts.  You can reach her at zenfit@gmail.com.

Hi there Total Gym enthusiasts! My name is Suzanne Sweeney, certified personal trainer,

Pilates and GRAVITY instructor. I started out my career as a gymnast turned dancer and fitness instructor. I have worked in the fitness industry for nearly 25 years. I currently reside in Auckland and visit my hometown near San Diego, California in the summer months (I fly north for the winter!).

In New Zealand, I teach GRAVITY Pilates and GRAVITY Group strength at our local leisure center. At home I use the Total Gym for myself and to train my clients. I use the Total Gym to help my clients reach their flexibility, strength and fitness goals. I teach with a “fusion” approach to exercise.

If I have a client that might benefit from Pilates or yoga based exercises one day and strength training the next, we can do it all on one machine! One does not have to go to the Pilates studio, then a maze of weight machines and cardio equipment in different rooms.

As a Pilates instructor, I am often working with a lot of clients that work at a desk all day and have very tight shoulders, hips and backs. The Total Gym helps me accommodate any level of flexibility or postural imbalance. As an example you might have tight hamstrings, hips or lower back and sitting on the floor or weight bench is not particularly comfortable. With these tight muscles you would certainly be compromising your posture and inefficiently working your target muscles.

On the Total Gym, you can simply raise the height of the glideboard for seated exercises facing forward. With the feet now lower than the level of the floor we are no longer struggling to sit in a nice upright position and can focus on good exercise technique.

I was first introduce to the Total Gym’s Gravity Training System in 2005 by a friend who was recruiting Pilates instructors to teach this new program called Gravity Pilates Evolved. I had no idea what I was going to experience, but one session and I was hooked. I immediately saw all of the possibilities. It was like having several pieces of Pilates and strength training equipment right in front of me (like a kid in a candy shop).

A couple years later my mom was having a knee replacement. Room space was a limitation so the Total Gym was a perfect solution. I loved the versatility and mobility of it so much that I bought 2 more for myself and my business.

I’m looking forward to hearing from the Total Gym users of the world and sharing some tips and tricks from my end.

Michael Stein Fights Cerebral Palsy

Yet another amazing story that truly inspired us all at Total Gym:

“I’m 65 years old and have a mild case of cerebral palsy. When I was a young man I wanted to become physically fit. However, I couldn’t even do one push up. When I would try to do push ups, I would get pains in my right hand and right arm, which are afflicted with CP. I didn’t lift barbells or dumbbells because the possibility of me dropping them on myself is much greater than it is for someone who is not handicapped.

I also tried doing squats. However, a few hours after doing squats, I would bend down to get something, and my right knee (also afflicted with CP) would jam. It resulted in excruciating pain in my knee. I thought to myself, ‘What am I knocking myself out for, I can’t get physically fit because I’m crippled. I better get used to it.’

Then, about 15 years ago I became obese. I was more than 50 pounds overweight. I couldn’t lose the weight. Then, in December, 1999, I saw the Total Gym infomercial. I called up the toll-free phone number and purchased the Total Gym 3000. I succeeded at working out with the Total Gym because it has six levels of resistance. I started working out putting the glideboard at the first level.

Now, I’m doing an athlete’s workout, performing many exercises with the glideboard at the sixth level and 110 pounds of weight plates attached to the weight bar. I’m no longer overweight. I’m now in the best shape of my life. Thanks for producing the Total Gym, which is the best thing that I’ve ever purchased.”

– Michael Stein, Total Gym Customer

Abs Sculpting on Total Gym

This post was written by Anthony Bonazzo, a GRAVITY-certified instructor and sought after personal trainer. He currently serves as the Fitness Director at an exclusive club in Chicago and is working to open his own fitness company, AB Fitness. You can reach Anthony at bonazzo@hotmail.com.

It is important to train your abs the same way you would train your other muscles. Try a triple set, a super set, a quadruple set, etc. Try to focus on time under tension, different angles, and stimulus to keep your body guessing.

Before & After. Anthony Bonazzo, a GRAVITY-certifeid Instructor, lost 52lbs in six months in 2003 when he decided to pursue a career as a personal trainer.

Many people do one abs exercise, and then rest. Try hitting all areas of your abs in the below sequence and you will see amazing results. Here is an excellent routine I designed on The Total gym that will target just about every area of your abs using the above principles. It will leave you sore for days!

The workout:

Lay on your back on the Total Gym and adjust the metal handles upward so that they are upright in a field goal position. Now go into a set of crunches with each hand holding onto one of the handles and aligned directly over your chest.

When you crunch the board will move but the handles should remain over your chest the whole time moving only slightly. Crunch up, hold and return to the starting position. Try twenty reps.

Then, without resting, hold the handles over your chest, head flat and press your back into the bench and drive both of your knees toward your chest. Straighten your legs out to a locked position hold and repeat. Try twenty reps.

Again, without resting, stay flat and lower your arms to your sides (still with handles in each hand) and begin to do heel touches. Alternating side to side reach one handle toward one heel sliding it along the bench and repeat side to side. After twenty reps immediately crunch up, (bring your legs up in the air to the point where you can keep your back flat) and go right into a set of Pilate’s 100’s. Bring your arms to your sides, about 2 inches off of the bench, and pump up and down for a total of 100 reps.

For the more advanced abs connoisseur, after you’ve completed your 100’s, go right to the end of the Total Gym, put your toes on the edge of the bench, and raise yourself up into a plank position and rock yourself back and forth for a total of 50 reps. When you are done your abs will be on fire! Use this routine until you are able to complete three sets. Add variables to make it more difficult if it gets too easy.

Variables Example:

On your crunches try crunching and drawing one knee in and then extending the same leg out. Repeat on the other side, then do regular crunches. Ten on one leg, 10 on the other, and then 10 with both feet flat. Then for the leg-ins add a stability ball and hold it between your ankles. Substitute the heel touches For Russian twists (I call them windshield wipers). Lay flat on your back and holding one handle in each hand, rotate side to side like a windshield wiper. Then go into your Pilate’s 100s, but before you do your planks, add twenty pike ups, or jackknifes using the end of the Total Gym board.

The possibilities are endless with the Total gym. Experiment, have fun, your nervous system will be on overload, and force new muscle fibers to be recruited to give you a solid and powerful midsection. Thank You Total Gym!