Total Gym

Total Gym Weekly Workout: Pilates Infused Training

The slow and intentional movement of Pilates  can look deceptively easy.  Give this Pilates infused GRAVITY sequence a go and feel the strength required to complete this workout!   This is great for quads, hamstrings and your core.

GRAVITYPick_Pilates Infused Training

Thanks to Linda Freeman this week for our Weekly Exercise video.  For more videos like this visit us at www.GravityClubhouse.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: The Benefits of GRAVITY Felt ‘Round the World

Let’s talk about GRAVITY training on Total Gym. You know from experience that Total Gym requires you to lift your body weight against gravity to perform total-body exercises. You are literally fighting gravity to fight the effects of gravity (e.g., the saggy parts) at the same time!!

GRAVITY 101. GRAVITY is a small group cardio and strength training workout offered in fitness facilities and taught by a certified fitness professional on a commercial version of the Total Gym (similar to the one you use at home). GRAVITY Personal Training and Pilates classes are also offered on Total Gym.

GRAVITY is available in health clubs in over 200 U.S. cities and 23 countries. The benefits for Total Gym users:

• You are already familiar with the equipment, so you skip the “new workout learning curve;”
• You’ll see great results from working out in a motivating group environment with instruction from a trained fitness pro;
• You’ll get new ideas for your at-home Total Gym workouts; and
• Your first GRAVITY class is usually free. The cost for GRAVITY sessions thereafter varies by fitness facility.

The FIRST 5 PEOPLE TO SEND US A PHOTO OF THEMSELVES IN A GRAVITY CLASS WILL RECEIVE A GIFT! Email your photo to totalgymblog@efisportsmedicine.com.

Want to find a GRAVITY workout near you? Visit our efi Network and search by your state.

Check out recent GRAVITY press coverage from the U.S. and United Kingdom!

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: The Benefits of GRAVITY Felt 'Round the World

Let’s talk about GRAVITY training on Total Gym. You know from experience that Total Gym requires you to lift your body weight against gravity to perform total-body exercises. You are literally fighting gravity to fight the effects of gravity (e.g., the saggy parts) at the same time!!

GRAVITY 101. GRAVITY is a small group cardio and strength training workout offered in fitness facilities and taught by a certified fitness professional on a commercial version of the Total Gym (similar to the one you use at home). GRAVITY Personal Training and Pilates classes are also offered on Total Gym.

GRAVITY is available in health clubs in over 200 U.S. cities and 23 countries. The benefits for Total Gym users:

• You are already familiar with the equipment, so you skip the “new workout learning curve;”
• You’ll see great results from working out in a motivating group environment with instruction from a trained fitness pro;
• You’ll get new ideas for your at-home Total Gym workouts; and
• Your first GRAVITY class is usually free. The cost for GRAVITY sessions thereafter varies by fitness facility.

The FIRST 5 PEOPLE TO SEND US A PHOTO OF THEMSELVES IN A GRAVITY CLASS WILL RECEIVE A GIFT! Email your photo to totalgymblog@efisportsmedicine.com.

Want to find a GRAVITY workout near you? Visit our efi Network and search by your state.

Check out recent GRAVITY press coverage from the U.S. and United Kingdom!

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: The Mind/Body Connection on Total Gym

I have loved lifting weights to get stronger, look and feel better and enhance my athletic performance since the age of 12. But it wasn’t until I delved deep into my Pilates training that I truly got the most from my resistance training routines – and helped my clients get the most from theirs. You don’t have to be formally trained in Pilates to understand the rewarding principles of focus and concentration.

Here’s an example I use to get my clients into the mind-body realm on Total Gym GTS. Let’s call my client Nathan, and today we’re working on his pushing muscles, starting with the chest. I’ll have him first experience an internal contraction of his chest muscles by simply pressing his hands together vigorously.

• Nathan’s goal is to hit his level of fatigue between 8 and 12 reps.
• He is doing a seated forward chest press on the GTS at level 6 to achieve his goal. He has done one set properly and is stretching his chest while recovering between sets.
• For the next set, I’ll take the GTS down to level 5 and Nathan’s goal is to get the same results with intense focus on the mind-body connection.
• I’ll have Nathan close his eyes and as his arms go back on the eccentric phase, I’ll have him visualize the pectoral muscle lengthening with control. I’ll ask him to feel his core stabilizing his torso like an anchor, allowing his strong chest muscles to do their work.
• Before he starts the concentric phase, Nathan will engage his core a little more and start his exhalation – breathing is very important in Pilates.
• As he continues this phase, he will activate his core throughout his exhalation and then at the peak contraction of his pecs he will internally squeeze the chest muscles and hold about a second, then release.

This kind of mind-body discipline is at the heart of Joseph Pilate’s philosophy of training the body. As a guy, I surely don’t mind the ratio, but it is disappointing that 95% or more of my Pilates class students and clients are women. Joseph Pilates was a body builder himself and he developed his wonderful Pilates discipline working with men. Studies have shown that when male body builders dropped their weight to about 80% of what they could actually lift and focused intently on the mind-body connection, they achieved better muscle development. Unfortunately for us guys, the gals seem to be the smart ones  when it comes to mind-body discipline.

Resistance training is like anything else in life:  If you stay present and focused during each set, you will get a better return on your workout. Use the versatility and ease of changing the level of your Total Gym to challenge you and your clients’ mental focus to achieve a new level of results. Practice the simple, yet hard to live-by, principle of “living in the present” to make your workout a moving meditation with proper focus.

Namaste’

JayDee Cutting is a GRAVITY Master Trainer, certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor. Feel free to contact JayDee at CuttingEdgeWellness@san.rr.com or check out www.NiceDogYoga.com. JayDee’s CoreGolf Fitness DVD is due out this fall.

Fitness Wisdom Wednesday: Making the Mind/Body Connection

I consider this blog an “exercise confessional” of sorts. A place to air my exercise and diet confessions that surely others out there in the Internet world share with me.

Today on this “Fitness Wisdom Wednesday,” I must confess that I am addicted to the endorphin high of endurance exercise; mainly a long run, bike ride or swim. This endorphin high supersedes any other form of exercise that is supposed to be good for me, such as mind/body practices like Pilates or yoga – that in my opinion, were too slow for my current cardio-centric exercise routine.

Pilates is a mind/body exercise that can help trim and tone the body

Mind/body exercise is physical exercise that utilizes four principles: breathing, precision, control and concentration. Often in the whirlwind of my busy life, making the time to focus my mind on my body went out the window. I wanted to get a good sweat and calorie burn with the limited time that I had in the day. But now with tendinitis in both my knees, due from my intense exercise regimen, I thought it may finally be the time to slow down and do my body some good.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of our GRAVITY (remember, GRAVITY is our health club workout on Total Gym) Master Trainers, JayDee, at an international fitness convention in San Diego this March, who just so happened to be a Pilates instructor. It was then that I decided to stop resisting mind/body exercise and start taking private Pilates sessions with JayDee.

JayDee teaches Pilates in his home on the Total Gym GTS (the commercial version of Total Gym), which acts like a Pilates reformer with the added ability to blend mat, reformer and Cadillac exercises on one machine. And because JayDee can change my incline resistance on the GTS, I can do more advanced exercises earlier in my Pilates training.

Thanks to JayDee, I can now appreciate feeling both energized and relaxed (yes, it’s possible) after our one-hour Pilates sessions – that by no means are a cake walk I assure you! I’m so busy focusing on my breath and contracting my muscles throughout various exercises that our weekly sessions fly by.

Here are some of the benefits of mind/body exercise like Pilates:

• Improved range of motion, core strength, flexibility, circulation and posture
• Decreased anxiety
• Enhanced sleep
• Reduced recovery time
• Stronger immune system and enhanced ability to heal
• Increased sense of control and well-being

It’s hard for cardio-high seekers like me to understand how a workout that doesn’t leave a sweat stain on your shirt could make you feel so energized and empowered? Trust me, it’s a feeling unlike anything you’ll every experience. You’ll feel stronger, invigorated, happier and less anxious.

I can officially say I’m addicted to a new exercise “high” from my Pilates sessions. If you are like me – or the occasional exercise enthusiast looking to incorporate mind/body exercise into your routine – take the time to add a Pilates or yoga session into your weekly workouts. Trust me, your body and mind will thank you!

Here’s to a healthy and “mindful” rest of the week!

GRAVITY Around the World

Tom talks about how GRAVITY Master Trainers will be providing you with great exercise tips from GravityClubhouse.com.