Total Gym

Former Biggest Loser Contestant Visits Total Gym

Tracey Yukich is one of the most memorable contestants on NBC’s hit show “The Biggest Loser.” With a spunky attitude and southern drawl, Tracey, who appeared on Season 8, is known for achieving one of the most surprising post-show transformations as a contestant on Biggest Loser. Once a size 22 and 250 pounds, Tracey has slimmed down to a healthy 140 pounds thanks to a combination of GRAVITY Training on Total Gym, running, swimming and a newly-adopted vegetarian diet.

After leaving the Biggest Loser Ranch just a few weeks before her season ended, Tracey returned home to continue shedding the pounds. She discovered GRAVITY on Total Gym at Cooper Institute in the Dallas area and lost an additional 72 pounds. Today, she still trains on Total Gym at Cooper and also uses Total Gym GTS at home – and does she look great! Not to mention, she just ran her fourth marathon in April!

On Wednesday, Tracey paid a special visit to the Total Gym headquarters in San Diego. Myself and Senior Vice President of Marketing Joy Campanaro hosted Tracey for her two-day trip, where she made appearances at two local GRAVITY health clubs – Pure Fitness in Carlsbad and The Training Club in Del Mar. There she participated in GRAVITY workouts and spoke to members about her Biggest Loser experience. She also had a chance to check out the new Total Gym incline bodyweight trainer product line and meet our staff – with a few avid fans among us!

Truth be told, Tracey was unfairly portrayed as a villain on her season when, in fact, the opposite is true. Tracey is a determined woman, no doubt, but she has a heart of gold and as we discovered, she’s a true motivator, inspiring thousands of people with speaking gigs booked across the country.

Tracey Yukich with Total Gym's Joy Campanaro and Cassie Piercey (far right)

Next week we’ll kick off a four-part series of exclusive video interviews with Tracey. She’ll discuss the “aha” moment that compelled her to try out for the Biggest Loser, talk about her near death experience during the first competition on Biggest Loser and fill us in on how she’s staying fit today.

Read more about Tracey Yukich’s appearance in San Diego on the San Diego Magazine blog here.

Stay tuned for more from Tracey next week!

Total Gym Weekly Workout: Helping You Lunge

Lunges on the Total Gym can be a little tricky if you are new to the sliding glideboard. GRAVITY Master Trainer Rob Glick gives us some pointers to help with balance while lunging. If you are more advanced, test your posture to target different muscles. For more challenges, watch Rob and Nicole:

Resolutions ’11 – Helping You Lunge

Q111_Resolutions11 – (TT) Helping You Lunge

Total Gym Weekly Workout: GRAVITY Star Jeremy Jones

Happy New Year everyone! Let’s get right back into our GRAVITY Star Total Gym exercise series.

This week Jeremy Jones from Funktional Fitness joins us in presenting his Core Challenge.

Jeremy Jones

Make today and every day in 2011 a great day!

Total Gym Weekly Workout: GRAVITY Stars!

Wow! 2011 will be here in just a few more days. Are you making resolutions for the New Year? Share them with us in the Comments section!

If you’re like the rest of us, losing weight will be a resolution at the top, or near the top of your list!  That’s great and we at Total Gym want to help you achieve your goals.  But more importantly we want Health to be your focus, not an ideal pant size.  Just a small increase in your daily exercise routine can make a huge difference over the course of the year.

This week Ginger Gunderson from Kings Mountain, NC, brings you our next GRAVITYStar video.  Ginger created a challenging core rotation and leg routine.  Add these Total Gym exercises to your repertoire and you are sure to see results.

Ginger Gunderson

Happy Holidays from Total Gym!

As this year comes to an end, I’d like to take you all back in time with me to review the highlights of 2010 – from new product launches, to our GRAVITY Program’s continued growth in health clubs and physical therapy clinics around the world and finally, a global Summit in Italy. Seasons greetings to you and yours this holiday season!

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: Trainer Tip

Hello and Happy Holidays Total Gym gang!

Short blog today as I know we are all busy with holiday stuff. But I want to plant a Total Gym seed that I will follow up with in my next article.

As I mentioned in my “Core Golf Fitness” post this summer, I highly recommend the Leg Pulley Accessory for your Total Gym, even if you do not teach Pilates. You – or for fitness pros – your clients will LOVE it for the passive hamstring stretch alone, believe me! Another great reason is for the cable extensions that come with the leg pulleys. There are some creative and fun exercises you can do if you add some extensions to the regular cable pulley system.

I promised a short blog so I will challenge you to try it out and comment on this post – or email your video to TotalGymBlog@totalgym.com with a new exercise that you’ve tried with the leg pulleys. I was truly inspired by all the creativity displayed by GRAVITY trainers at the IDEA World Fitness convention with the “Be a GRAVITY Star” contest! You’ve been seeing some of the videos here each Monday. I will share some pictures and descriptions of my favorite exercises next time, so stay tuned.

I hope Santa is good to you all! Have gratitude every day – the best recipe for happiness!

Learn new Pilates moves, including Leg Pulley exercises, with this “GRAVITY Pilates :: Fresh Breath 3” DVD clip. Order the DVD at www.GravityClubhouse.com – it’s free to join!

Need Leg Pulleys for your Total Gym? See the links below to purchase a Leg Pulley System and other accessories for your Total Gym model:

Click here for Total Gym XLS, 2000 and 3000 Leg Pull Accessory
Click here for Total Gym GTS, PowerTower or 26000 Leg Pulley System

JayDee Cutting is a GRAVITY Master Trainer, certified personal trainer, Pilates instructor and founder of www.NiceDogYoga.com.

Total Gym Weekly Workout: GRAVITY Stars!

We are back this week with more from our GRAVITY Trainers. This week’s video comes from Lisa Herrington with her “Quick Fit with Lisa” workout. Lisa is a GRAVITY certified personal trainer and co-creator of “Miss Fit” boot camp in Davis, CA. She excels at leading her boot camps and personal training sessions with enthusiasm, which keeps her clients coming back for more!

Lisa Harrington

Thanks to our Certified fitness professionals that created these great workout tips.  Look for the GRAVITY workout on Total Gym in fitness facilities nationwide.