Twice yearly Lee and I take stock of the studio and put in an order for new equipment. We love maintaining the best possible tools for our clients to use during their sessions and independent workouts. Variety is one of the more important elements we bring to our sessions and having new and ‘varied’ equipment keeps us (and you!) at our best.
Our December/January purchase included:
Balance Pad – A version of an unstable surface. Allows individual to increase balance through foot, ankle and lower leg strength and proprioception skills. Just standing on the balance pad with one leg is great exercise, then we add simple to complex movements to increase difficulty.
ViPR – Essentially a weighted rubber tube with various hand holds cut into it. Used for a variety of loaded movement exercises, we have one that is 22 pounds, now we have added a larger 35 pound version.
Sandbag – Again, adding to our repertoire for loaded movement training, sandbags offer great versatility for squats, lunges, carries and throws. The new bag increases our weight limits from 30 pounds to 80 pounds and allows us to do a wider range of exercises with a wider range of clients.
Schwinn Airdyne Bike – Looks silly, feels ridiculously hard! Seriously, this is a must try. Is a great piece to use for warm ups since it’s easy to set up and uses both upper and lower body. Then there’s interval sets, try 30 seconds on / 30 seconds off for 5 minutes: Hit hardest effort you can for 30 seconds (the harder you work, the harder it resists) and let me know what you think.
Equalizer – These have been a really cool piece for us. We use them for a variety of push ups, rows and dips and it delivers an amazing hamstring stretch to boot. Adding a second allows us to program more activities with them and get more clients going at once.
Stretching Table – My father-in-law and I also took up a little project and built a stretching table located in the back of the turf area. The stretching table is a great place to get off the floor for stretching, foam rolling, and ab work but also gives us a great place to do facilitated stretching sessions with clients. The height allows easy access for people with mobility issues who have trouble getting up on a PT table or down on a mat. The width allows for two people and lets us get some good leverage to move bodies around. And, it’s just a fine piece of American craftsmanship!
