Total Gym

Tom's Weekly Tip – Back to the Basics on Total Gym

Sometimes it’s good to go back to the basics. Whether it’s simplifying your life with less work or social commitments, or getting back to the basics of budgeting and saving to build your nest egg for the future.

With exercise, we get so used to doing our workout routines on a regular basis that we tend to forget how we got to this point. With repetition, you can also lose proper form as you get used to doing exercises over and over again.

There are so many capabilities and uses for your Total Gym that we thought you’d like to take a trip down memory lane to the first time you put your “booty on the board” and started movin’. You may even remember exercises that you forgot you could do!

Here’s GRAVITYMasterTrainer Rob Glick to take you back to the basics on Total Gym. This video has received over 30,000 views on our Total Gym YouTube Channel!

What are your favorite “back to the basics” exercises on Total Gym? Share your comments below.

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday – Core Golf Fitness

JayDee Cutting III, MBA, is a GRAVITYMasterTrainer

My passion in life is fitness, but golf is a close second. I picked up the game at the ripe old age of two!  I started lifting weights for sports performance at age 12, but it took the last 17 years living my passion as a fitness professional to figure out the most important component to improve my golf mechanics – flexibility!

For a lot of us fitness fanatics who love to put our bodies through energizing, blood pumping, heart pounding workouts, stretching is like flossing: we know it is good for us and we should do it consistently, but it’s often forgotten. My opinion about why we don’t stretch enough is the lack of instant gratification, which our society can’t seem to live without. With resistance training, we feel the pump, the effort exerted and we have that sadistic soreness the next day, which tells us we actually worked something. With cardio, we feel the heart instantly pump harder, our breathing picks up and we start sweating within minutes. With stretching, well – it’s just not sexy! But maybe if you and your clients are armed with reasons why it will improve your golf swing, you’ll give it a shot and make it a regular part of your workouts.

Look at the pros. Some are strong and it’s apparent they work out; but the majority is of normal strength. And then there are plenty of guys and gals who can hit the ball 300+ yards who, if not for their golf spikes, might be blown away by a heavy gust of wind! However, they ALL are extremely flexible and have good timing – two components that are highly correlated and essential for solid golf swing mechanics.

Case in point:  Tiger Woods. He has put on 30 pounds of muscles since he left Stanford; however, his previous swing coach, Butch Harmon, stated, “… [Tiger Woods] hit it farther when he was wiry…” In addition, Tiger’s physical therapist, Keith Kleven divulged that Tiger’s golf and workout sessions begin with 40 minutes of stretching and core work. Kleven has also been recommending Pilates to golfers since 1975, before the mind/body practice became mainstream in the fitness world. Good Pilates repertoire usually consists of an equal amount of lengthening and strengthening the muscles, and of course, core work.

So, if you love golf but still like to strength train like I do, just remember the flexibility component. Be sure to use a lengthy rest time between sets to stretch the muscle you just worked. I like to use Total Gym GTS for this purpose. Here are a few stretches I like to do:

As soon as I complete a chest exercise, I stand up and use my own bodyweight to passively open up the chest, breathe and relax.

Or after a pull-up set, I use the Total Gym and the weight of my body to open up the lats.

And finally, I LOVE the leg pulleys for opening up the hamstrings and hips (and as you can see, I can slip in some abs while stretching!). If you don’t own leg pulleys, buy them! It’s an investment your hamstrings, hips AND your golf swing will LOVE.

And for best results on the course, make sure you take some time to stretch your hips, shoulders and spine. You’ll get more distance, improve your accuracy and prevent injury.

Hit em’ straight!

Feel free to contact JayDee at CuttingEdgeWellness@san.rr.com or check out www.NiceDogYoga.com. JayDee’s CoreGolf Fitness DVD, produced by Total Gym’s own Brian Rose, is due out this August.

Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip- Progression of Pull-up

This is the final video in my rehab series. I recruited GRAVITYMasterTrainer Nicole to help show the progression of pull-ups on Total Gym PowerTower. Watch to learn how to progress with your “plyometric pull-ups” unique to Total Gym only.

I wanted to briefly recap my rehab for my left ankle, which started with exercises on Total Gym, as you’ve seen, including lots of stretching of the ankle and calf for that ever-shrinking left calf. Today, I incorporated vibration training on Total Gym Zen Pro, one of the new Vibration Training Platforms. First thing I noticed was the added ankle flexibility while squating on the platform. It was a nice feeling doing calf raises while on the Zen Pro and I felt a nice loose sensation in my lower body. More to come on my vibration training…

Enjoy the video and your weekend!
Tom C

Always consult your doctor or rehabilitation specialist before performing Total Gym exercises if you are injured or recovering from an injury.

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Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Pull-up

Who can do pull-ups??

One of the best upper body exercises is the pull -up, but not many people are able to do them using their full body weight.

Total Gym allows you to unload your body weight using the incline plane so you can do higher-repetitions of pull-ups that you can’t do on a static pull-up bar in the weight room.  Do these exercises with your Three-Grip Pull-Up Bar attachment for your Total Gym 14000 or 26000 (for Total Gym XLS accessories click here), or your Total Gym GTS or PowerTower model with folding LAT bars.

Check it out!

Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Progression of Row/Biceps Sequence

Now the ability for you the user to modify the resistance WHILE you are working out! We call it the Total Gym PowerTower. Those of you who are used doing the natural movements on Total Gym and then stop to make a manual change to the resistance level on the tower will love this!!! And for the trainers who love to keep your clients moving with the ability to modify their resistance can do it with a flick of the switch. AWESOME!  Tune in.

Tom

Always consult your doctor or rehabilitation specialist before performing Total Gym exercises if you are injured or recovering from an injury.

Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Row and Biceps Sequence

I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July with friends and family. If you’re like me , you may be feeling the “food hangover” from too many BBQ’s this weekend.

Here’s our latest Total Gym exercise sequence targeting the upper body. Maybe this will give you some motivation to get your butt on the board – or “B.O.B.” as we like to call it – and start burning off the hamburgers, hot dogs and desserts that come along with a long holiday weekend!

What do you think of this workout? Leave us a comment.

Always consult your doctor or rehabilitation specialist before performing Total Gym exercises if you are injured or recovering from an injury.

Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Progression of Lateral Sequence

Happy Monday everyone! Tommy C here with some more challenging lateral exercises on Total Gym. I can’t kneel on the glideboard after my recent ankle surgery so Nicole’s here to help me out.

P.S. After you watch the video, take a peek at our new Total Gym “Countdown to Summer” promotion (to the right of this post). We’ve got a great deal for those of you looking to buy a new Total Gym or upgrade your current model.

Always consult your doctor or rehabilitation specialist before performing Total Gym exercises if you are injured or recovering from an injury.

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Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Progression of Lateral Sequence

2010 June 28

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tags: Functional Training, Incline Resistance, Rehab, Total Gym Exercises

by Tom Campanaro

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Introducing New Nutrition Contributor – Tara Coleman: 4th of July Diet Tips

2010 June 25

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by Tara Coleman

Hello! I’m Tara Coleman and I’m excited to start blogging for Total Gym. I am a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego specializing in sports nutrition, healthy weight loss and increasing energy.

Hot dogs, potato salad, nacho chips, red-white-and-blue colored deserts…for many of us the 4^th of July is not only a celebration of our national independence but also our personal independence from healthy eating!  I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be…and I don’t mean you have to stay at home doing sit-ups and eating broccoli.  If you follow these simple tips you can have some fun, enjoy the food and not spend all of July paying for it:

1. Don’t Skip the Gym – I know we are all anxious to get to the beach but be sure to make time to exercise in first thing in the morning. This will burn a few extra calories and you are more likely to crave healthier foods.
2. Eat Before You Go - Always make sure to eat a little something before you head out for 4^th of July festivities.  If you are starving when you get there you are much more likely to over eat.
3. Step Away From the Food Table – Your physical location (i.e., bellied up to the chip bowl) is the biggest culprit when it comes to mindless eating.  It’s one thing to indulge in one of your favorite foods, but most of the extra holiday calories come from food we hardly enjoy and barely remember.  We simply eat it because it’s there.  Prepare a small plate of your favorite foods and then head to the other side of the party.  This holds true for the bar as well.  This trick may not only save your waistline but also a little face!
4. Don’t be Afraid of Seconds – When you prepare your first plate take about half as much food as you think you want.  Enjoy this plate, wait a couple of minutes, and if you are still hungry go back for seconds.  This will allow some time for your body to determine if it is really still hungry and allow you to remain a member of the Clean Plate Club!
5. It’s Just One Day – I know 4th of July falls on Sunday this year, but that should not be a justification to kick off over-indulgence on Friday and keep it going strong through Monday!  A little extra on a single day is something your body can handle but a four day binge is going to be much tougher to recover from.  So pick one of the days of the long weekend to treat yourself and stick to your normal routine the rest of the days.  I promise that heading into this summer lean, strong and healthy is going to feel so much better than that third helping of potato salad!

Happy 4th of July!

Tara Coleman is a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego, CA. She’ll be guest blogging twice a month with “Tara’s Friday Bite.” Subscribe to receive our RSS Feed and/or Email Updates (see CONNECT WITH US) so you’re always in the loop on Tara’s posts! Leave us your comments with ideas for future topics or email Tara directly at tara@taracoleman.com.

Tara Coleman, Clinical Nutritionist www.taracoleman.com

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Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: Benefits of Rebounding

2010 June 23

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by Cassie

All of us probably have some fond memory of bouncing on a trampoline when we were kids. Little did you know, you were actually rebounding – a fun way to burn calories even as an adult! Believe it or not, bouncing up and and down offers a safe, low-impact workout for any age and fitness level.

Benefits of rebounding have been shown to include:

• Stronger musculoskeletal system due to increased G-force (gravitational load)
• Faster metabolism
• Improved digestion
• Increased blood flow

Today’s mini-trampolines offer a portable, quick and efficient way to get in shape. Take for example our PlyoRebounder. We’ve joined forces with Todd Durkin, ACE Personal Trainer of the Year and trainer to leading NFL and MLB athletes, to show how PlyoRebounder offers dynamic, high-energy “plyo-training” for users of every ability. Add medicine balls (up to 20 pounds) to work on slow and quick response plyometrics and upper and lower body agility training. Or hop on top and start jogging or bouncing to get a cardio workout with a stability handle for balance, just in case.

Video explains PlyoRebounder the best. Check it out:

Interested in PlyoRebounder? Contact our sales team at 800.541.4900.

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Total Gym Exercises: Tom’s Weekly Tip – Seated Lateral Sequence

2010 June 21

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tags: Fitness, Incline Resistance, Recovery, Rehab, Total Gym Exercises

by Tom Campanaro

Good Monday to you all. I’m continuing on my rehab journey with seated lateral exercises to target the upper body and core muscles. Try sitting sideways to perform chest flies, bicep curls and more!

Always consult your doctor or rehabilitation specialist before performing Total Gym exercises if you are injured or recovering from an injury.