|
TF Original:
Back and Bi Blaster |
I think there are many of
us that have wanted to come up with a new invention at one time or
another, or have had ideas and just not followed through on them.
I'm kind of in between right now and I'm looking for your feedback
regarding one of those ideas.
The
other day I want to Home Depot (the birthplace of most of my
do-it-yourself equipment) and picked up a 4" garage door pulley.
A little bit of
rope with some PVC pipe for handles and I got myself a prototype.
It's a very simple apparatus, but one that I have not seen before, nor
have I seen similar equipment that duplicates the same motion.
So here's how it works... there's basically two different exercises
that I have used this for at this time. The first one is an
alternating lateral pull-down.
You basically lift your feet off the floor and alternate
one arm down, one arm up... I barely get 8 reps to each side and
definitely feel the back and bi workout. You could also leave your
feet on the ground and lean back if your full bodyweight is too
challenging for your level of fitness.
By using the adjustable
lashing strap, I also lower the pulley to do the same motion in an
inverted plank position to work more of the middle back (row).
The pulley portion can be
hung directly from a clip and eye-hook set-up, but I like using a
lashing strap so that you can adjust the height, as well as hang it
from any cross-bar or tree branch.
So that's the deal.
Like I said, it's a simple, yet effective apparatus that I have found
to be quite a challenging upper body exercise to work your latissimus
dorsi (back) and biceps brachii (arms).
Right now I'm at the point
where I'd like to see what kind of interest there would be for this
cheap and simple tool. My request for you is this... if you find
this idea interesting, shoot me an email and let me know your
thoughts.
If you are REALLY
interested in it, and are somewhat handy, it is really a simple
construction plan if you want to make your own. However,
if you
don't want to be bothered doing the assembly portion of this thing,
I'll send you one that's ready to hang. Cost is $10 plus
s/h (I'll get some numbers on the s/h shortly). I'm looking
for some testimonials so that I can determine the interest level.
Let me know what you think.
Give Pete Feedback
|
|
Weight Loss and
Fat Cells |
Even though you
lost 10 or 20 pounds of fat those fat cells aren't gone.
While you might have shrunk the cells, you didn't get rid of
them. They lie dormant and will expand again if you
overeat or stop exercising! Researchers in Stockholm,
Sweden found that people keep the same number of fat cells
throughout life and that fat cell number is fixed during
childhood. More important, the body destroys and grows
new fat cells continuously. Every year the body turns
over about 10 percent of the fat cells. Also, while you
can't get rid of fat cells, you can create new ones. Fat
cells fill with fat to a certain level and trigger the
development of new fat cells that also stay with you.
Drug companies should work on drugs that prevent fat cell
generation rather than fight the losing battle of preventing
fat accumulation in existing cells. (Nature, published
online May 8, 2008)
|
|
 |
|
|
Elite
Bodyweight Exercise of the Month! |
|
Plyometric
Broad Jump
Summary:
The standing broad jump was an all time favorite when we did
those fitness tests a bazillion years ago in gym class.
Believe it or not, it's still considered a very good exercise
and is used in sport specific training to improve athletic
performance. The nature of the
plyometric broad jump
requires that you immediately go from jump to jump with little
or no rest between repetitions. This can be done in a
straight line if you have the floor space, or by alternating
directions as depicted above. This is a great exercise
for increasing leg and hip power and explosiveness.
Target:
legs and butt (quadriceps and gluteals)
Count:
2 count
Description: Starting
from a standing position, squat down with your arms also down
near your calves. While throwing your arms up, explode
forward and up, driving your legs and jumping forward as far
as you can go. As you land, coil down into the starting
position again (turning towards the opposite direction if
required) and immediately go into your next repetition.
|
|
Sports Massage |
|
Whether you're a
weekend warrior, a professional athlete or an active
individual who works hard to stay fit, sports massage can do
far more than provide a feeling of pleasure or relief for the
overworked body... it can rejuvenate body, mind and spirit.
In addition to the
chance to let muscles relax, a 60 to 90 minute session can
also help to identify irregularities that could turn into
problems if not treated or allowed to recover.
Sports massage is
also known to speed recovery from hard workouts. It is
common to notice changes in muscle recovery time from days to
hours due to the beneficial effects of sports massage.
Athletes around
the world and at all levels of ability and accomplishment now
rely on massage as an indispensible part of their
training programs. Studies have shown that sports
massage techniques, when used regularly as part of a
regimented training program, increase the blood flow that is
vital to recovery, improve the range of motion and strength of
injured muscles and accelerate gains in muscle strength.
So what is the
difference between regular massage and sports massage?
Basically, non-sports massage is more superficial and does not
target specific muscle groups that are used in sports
activity.
In sports massage,
the techniques are designed to benefit muscles by warming and
softening tissue, realigning muscle fibers, helping to heal
scar tissue and flushing toxins from specific muscles. A
regular massage may relax you and make you feel great, but it
won't specifically benefit the muscles or body parts that
you've stressed in your workout. Regular sports massage
can:
-
Help identify
tender areas before they develop ino injuries
-
Enhance overall
body awareness
-
Stretch and relax
muscles
-
Relieve muscle
pain and spasms
-
Free muscle
adhesions and soften scar tissue caused by injury
-
Improve range of
motion
-
Restore suppleness
and elasticity
-
Improve
circulation of blood and lymph fluids
-
Flush out toxins
that cause muscle stiffness and soreness
-
Speed recovery
from muscular exertion
-
Relax the mind and
body
|
|
It's
Go Time! |
|
Two down, two to go as far as
the dangerous holidays go! Time to take a break from
all the
tryptophan and start (or continue) the "trips to the gym" ; )
There's no doubt that the holiday gatherings will have an
impact on your diet, but there's no reason that you can't
spare 15 minutes to an hour of time each day to keep up your
workouts! No excuses... if you can't make it to the
gym, there are a countless number of things that you can do
in your basement, your family room, or at grandma's house.
As I've stated before, it's not
unusual for people to slip a little during the holiday
gatherings... just don't use the holidays as an excuse to
get totally out of control! Limit your cheating to
"the gatherings", and try to practice SMART eating the rest
of the time. Sure you can go hog wild with the eating
if you want to, but that's just the more ground you will
have to make up when you decide to "start" being good again.
The choice is yours!
Darn... time flies when
you're having fun. I can't believe that this is the
last issue of the third year of my eNewsletter! As I
begin the fourth year of "The Day After Yesterday" next month,
with over 300 people on my distribution, I'd like to thank those of
you that have proof-read my work, provided me feedback, or
written articles for me! Keep the responses and
questions coming!
Have a safe, happy, and
healthy holiday season and I'll see you next year!
For prior issues of this
newsletter go to
www.todayfitness.net/news.
Good Luck!
Pete
Mazzeo, CPT
pmazzeo@todayfitness.net
"Where attention goes, energy flows"
youtube video of the month -->
Sandbag Training
No joke sandbag training workout that demonstrates
variations of exercises and position.
| |
