Total Gym

New Total Gym Equipment – Basic Demonstration

Total Gym GRAVITY Master Trainers Rob Glick and Nicole Decker give a brief demonstration of the new Total Gym incline bodyweight trainers – Total Gym Sport, Total Gym GTS and Total Gym PowerTower.

Learn the various exercises that you can perform on a Total Gym, whether you are looking to improve your own health, a personal trainer working with clients of all fitness levels, a physical therapist or athletic trainer utilizing Total Gym for rehabilitation, conditioning or sports performance training.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Total Gym can accommodate individuals and clients of every fitness level and athletic ability. For more information, visit http://totalgym.com/products/ or call 800-541-4900 to speak with a representative for additional details.

Total Gym … moving YOU since 1974!

The Total Gym Workout Date: It’s More FUNctional Than You Thought

Today’s post comes from guest contributor Dr. Michael Mantell, a clinical and fitness psychologist in San Diego. Dr. Mantell regularly writes for San Diego Magazine and has appeared on “Oprah,” “Nightline,” “Larry King,” and “Good Morning America.” Dr. Mantell is a Total Gym user and sits on the Sports Medicine staff at The Sporting Club – a Total Gym GRAVITY facility in San Diego.

A couple of years ago, a series of studies came out that showed that couples who work out together increase their chances of sticking to their exercise program more than 90%! This can’t be ignored and it got me thinking about couples I treat for relationship problems. Maybe they ought to go from a therapy session to their gym, and they’ll not only stick to their exercise program, but also stick together.

The friendliest total body workout that offers couples a chance to exercise together in the privacy of their own home is certainly the Total Gym. It offers couples the opportunity to spend quality time with each other, the chance to discuss mutual goals and fitness levels, build a shared commitment to well-being and health, create mutual motivation, develop a deeper bond with each other, and when done right, it provides couples with opportunities to celebrate each other’s successes in a non-competitive way.

For many couples that do belong to a gym, he goes his way and she goes her way. The Total Gym is an up-close, even intimate, work out in which instead of exercising apart, husbands and wives are right next to each other doing the same exercises at different bodyweight levels, each achieving the same type of gains.

Matters of the heart beyond fitness benefits are only some of the rewards you can look forward to with a Total Gym couple’s exercise date. Remember, there are studies that show that men and women who exercise regularly report better and more frequent sex with their partners—so how much more enjoyable can exercising with each other be on a machine that promotes the right kind of movement for all activities of daily living, personal and otherwise?

It’s been well known that FUNctional exercise is good for the body, soul and mind. Now, we can add, it’s also good for our relationships. Why not use the Total Gym to fuel and fortify not only your physical fitness, but your physical and emotional relationship as well?

Here are five Total Gym “workout date” ideas:

1. Learn how to stretch each other. Gently helping each other with a pull or push can ease each other’s muscles before and after your workout.
2. Build total trust with each other simply by serving as each other’s spotter. And there’s nothing like saying “thanks” to help a relationship.
3. Eye contact and communicating while exercising offer chances for intimacy building that can extend to other activities that are, well, a bit more intimate.
4. Celebrate each other’s achievements and successes. Working out on Total Gym is not about competing, but succeeding. You’ll both work at your own level and speed, and of course, bodyweight, so you both win!
5. Want to give each other a real gift of love? Create 20-30 minutes several times a week to help each other lose weight, burn calories, build muscle and core stability, tone up, build body strength and change body composition.

There is nothing like this love-building, home-based, full-body exercise machine that I can recommend with such confidence for couples who want to build their bodies and their relationships.

Michael Mantell earned his Ph.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania after completing his M.S. degree in clinical psychology at the Hahnemann Medical College, where he wrote his thesis on the psychology of obesity. He has served as Chief Psychologist of Children’s Hospital and Health Center of San Diego, and created and led the nationally recognized Psychological Services and Employee Assistance/Wellness program for the San Diego Police Department.

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

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday – Extending Your Reach

As promised in my December blog, here are two exercises for your Total Gym exercise repertoire that utilize the Leg Pulley System cable attachments (for Total Gym XLS model click here).

• Kneeling Forward Chest Press
• Kneeling Forward Overhead Triceps Extension

If you did not read last month’s blog, you astute trainers and exercisers are probably wondering how my favorite client (my wife Elba) can perform these exercises without the cable pulleys topping out?  This is a great application of the cable extensions that come with the leg pulleys.  By using them to extend the length of the arm pulleys, you can be creative and add to your exercise library.

I love the proprioception challenge required in the Kneeling Forward position.  In addition, it requires functional recruitment of the core stabilization muscles to create an anchor for balance and stability.  The difference between having a “strong core” and knowing how to use the core functionally is a concept I try to teach all my clients, especially my golfers.  But be very cautious as this is a challenging position and requires good balance, body control and body awareness.  Be sure to practice at a lower level on your Total Gym as it is a little tricky getting into and out of the position safely.

I look forward to seeing what exercises you create when applying the extension cables to the arm pulleys! Leave us a comment below to share your new exercises.

Happiness and health in 2011!

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

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.

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: Peak Performance Training

You’ve gotta train hard to play hard!

Todd Durkin, M.A., C.S.C.S., owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, offers functional training tips that he uses to condition his NFL athletes on Total Gym PowerTower. Todd utilizes these exercises when training his top athletes: Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees, former NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, and athletes such as Aaron Rodgers, Kellen Winslow, Shawne Merriman, and more. Take your home workouts up a notch!

What Total Gym exercises do you want to see more of? Sport-specific exercises, stretching workouts or maybe a few Pilates moves? Drop us a line in the Comments section below.

Total Gym “Black Friday” FLASH Sale!!

You’ve been waiting all year for a deal like this! Get commercial quality Total Gym equipment at a stellar price. But you only have 12 hours this Friday, November 26 to snag these deals!

We’ve got a surplus of gently-used Total Gym GTS Commercial Models and new Total Gym Dual-Ring PlyoRebounders ready for the taking. This equipment has only been slightly used at tradeshows or photoshoots.

Total Gym GTS + Exercise Guide = FLASH Sale priced at $2,395!

Get the new dual-ring Total Gym PlyoRebounder for total body plyometric training + Workout DVD featuring Todd Durkin = FLASH Sale priced at $595!

Supplies are limited. Prices available during FLASH Sale times only – 6 AM EST to 6 PM PST. Add to cart buttons will be live during sale times only on November 26.

Happy shopping and seasons greetings from Total Gym!