Gravity Fx Fitness

Tornadoes, snakes and beatdowns are descriptions of some of the rope training we do.  Ropes are a part of the cardio strength training I do with my clients.  Besides getting your heart rate up in a hurry, its a “fun” way to do your workout.

Monday is cardio day at the studio and I have them move from one exercise to the next with little rest in between.  This form of interval workout trains your cardio and muscular systems at the same time for maximum efficiency.

Total body workouts are a great way to build a lean, athletic physique in sessions lasting 40 minutes.  What’s that old Army commercial about getting more done before 7a.m.?  Same type of principle – we get more work done in less time.

Studies show that this type of training can elevate your metabolism for 24 hours or more after the workout.  Work harder and work smarter if you’re not getting the results you want.

These joint friendly workouts are also done by my clients in their 50’s – all but the agility ladder, though some can do this as well.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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To burn fat you need to turn up the heat – dial up the intensity of your workouts!  One of my clients has lost 14 pounds in a month, while spending less time exercising.

Previously, she was walking on a treadmill 5 days a week and 4 months later had lost only 6 pounds.  She’s made more progress by making dietary changes and doing burst-type training.

She is still walking, but now she alternates her pace, going back and forth with periods of higher intensity walking – kinda similar to how your car burns more gas during stop and go driving in the city.

She is doing similar exercise in the studio with dumbbells.  Multi-joint movements that involve multiple muscles to burn more calories, alternating between two exercises with little rest in between.

This causes you to release more of your body’s fat burning hormones naturally.  This gets your metabolism elevated without spending hours exercising.  She can feel the warmth in her muscles as she sweats more, helping the body get rid of toxins that can build up.

I showed her a routine that she can do at home with dumbbells and bodyweight when she isn’t working with me in person.  Its great to get results while exercising less.

Research studies have shown that walking on a treadmill without doing any resistance training doesn’t always lead to much weight loss.  If you’re like most people and short on time, interval strength training and interval cardio are the way to go.

Yeah, triathletes and marathoners are usually pretty lean, but they often spend 10 hours or more per week on their training.  Unless you are training for competition, there are more efficient ways to stay in shape.

Yesterday, I did some interval cardio using the Ropes Gone Wild training ropes.  I did 15 minutes of various diagonal, circular and vertical patterns (beatdowns) with the ropes, elevating my heart rate in a short amount of time, going into oxygen debt.

I had my HR monitor on to see what my body was doing and also to see how many calories I burned.  In the 15 minutes I burned 230 calories according to the monitor, which isn’t all that much…..until you read the rest of the story.

I turned the monitor back on as I did some kettlebell presses, before packing it in for the night, leaving the HR monitor running.  An hour and a half later I stopped it and looked at how many calories I burned.

It said 490 calories in that hour and a half after the interval rope training, for a total of 720 overall!  Got your attention now?!  Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that the number is a little high.  Knock off 100 calories and that’s still a LOT of calories burned in less than half an hour of exercise.

The point should be clear – intense exercise keeps your metabolism elevated after you have stopped exercising.  So if short on time, turn up the flame to burn more total fat.  Its fine to mix in longer walks, bike rides or runs with your interval resistance training.  By the way, the monitor is a Polar F6.

If you’re looking for a simple program you can do at home, you might check out Turbulence Training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Since playing in a men’s basketball league recently, I’ve altered my workouts slightly to be able to compete and avoid injuries.

While my competitive days may be behind me, in my mind I still want to play my best, even if I’m 15-20 years older than many of the guys.  So today I started off with some self-massage with the Tiger Tail rolling massage tool and then some flexband stretching for my lower body.

Last week I had some tightness in my calf and want to avoid any major muscle tears.  I followed this up with more calf stretching with the Prostretch.  Next I did some interval jump rope training – 20 to 30 seconds on and then 20 to 30 seconds off for 5 minutes.

I followed this up with some bodyweight rows with the Bandit’s Loops suspension trainer, alternating with Power Plate pushup holds.  My elbow is still a little sore and this lets me maintain upper body strength without the eccentric contractions of doing the full movement.

While doing this, I picked one leg off the ground for increased core work.  By having one less contact point, it increases the stability demands on your midsection, which saves me from doing crunches and saves time as well.

Then I did some flexband squat-rows for some additional cardio work and then used the flexbands for lateral agility training.  Definitely need that for playing basketball.

I also mixed in some one arm grappler’s throws with the Ropes Gone Wild for more interval cardio work and to hit my obliques.  Doing these with one arm and the 1 ½ inch manilla rope is a great core exercise.

So all total, the warmup and workout lasted almost 45 minutes, making this workout doable by most everyone from a time perspective.  Not everyone over 40 can jump rope, but if you are still playing sports then you need to do exercises that prepare you for the sport, instead of just playing sports to try and stay in shape.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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If you’ve tried the Ropes Gone Wild before, you know they are a great training tool!  The intense workouts are great for us ADD types.  In particular I love doing the grappler’s throws.

They hit the obliques(abs) in a unique way.  They also jack your heart rate up pretty quickly, which is much of the point.  Recently, Anthony of Art of Strength unveiled a new grip training attachment for the ropes.

Since I don’t have it yet, I thought I’d show you the 1 arm version without the grip tool.

Besides working the grip very well, this exercise is good for the shoulder too, in my opinion.  It might be something that could be used in shoulder rehab, in the later stages, with a lighter rope.

If not, it might help prevent some shoulder problems – at least, provide plenty of blood flow.  Give it a try.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Hollywood trainer Gunnar Peterson is using rope training with his celebrity clients to increase the intensity and variety of their workouts.

Ropes Gone Wild are a new tool for high intensity cardio training developed by innovative trainer Anthony DiLuglio.  The ropes are 1 1/2 or 2 inch diameter and typically are 50 foot in length.

Two recent articles in Muscle and Fitness and Muscle and Fitness Hers feature Peterson putting a couple of his clients through some grueling workouts.

He calls this type of training “beatdowns”, as he tells clients to beat the floor with the ropes.  The ropes create undulating patterns (waves) as you go through many different movements – vertical, diagonal, and circular.

Besides adding much needed variety to your typical cardio routine, it jacks your heart rate up in a short amount of time.  So if you’re like me and find treadmills and stationary bikes boring, this is a “fun” alternative.

Of course, by fun I mean an incredibly intense workout that doesn’t have to take much time to elevate your HR and metabolism, burning plenty of calories in the process.

One of the reasons Peterson’s clients seek him out is because of the innovative training methods he uses.  He has a gym full of equipment that allows an endless variety of combinations.

His one hour workouts combine strength, cardio, and flexibility in one session.  You know me, I like time efficient workouts that don’t last too long, except for an occassional bike ride that goes an hour and a half or longer.

Besides being time efficient, rope training works your core and lower body without any pounding on the joints.  If you can’t run because of past or current injuries, you can still get your cardio with the ropes.

Most people can use them at home in their basement or garage, or even take them outdoors, if you wish.  I like to use them with sandbags, kettlebells, and suspension training.  For more info, go to Art of Strength.

Get Moving!

Brian Morgan

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Today’s fat loss workout combined rope training with 1 arm kettlebell swings, alternating from one exercise to the other with limited rest intervals.

I recently started using a heart rate monitor to keep my intensity higher, making sure to keep my HR elevated as much as possible.  This allows me to get more work done in a shorter time and burn more fat.

Last Saturday was my first workout with it and it had me burning about 422 calories in just 23 minutes!  Not too bad.  Of course, I hadn’t fully recovered from the previous week’s workouts and it didn’t take too much to get my heart rate up and burning lots of oxygen.

In the video you will see one of the rope exercises that I really enjoy.  Besides being a total body exercise, it really challenges my core.  Anything that trains your abs and burns plenty of calories at the same time has to be good!

I alternated the rope with doing the kettlebell swings – just a few exercises that hit lots of muscles.  Are you seeing a theme develop in my personal fat loss journey?  Using multi-joint exercises with little rest and high intensity, as measured by HR percentage.

This workout lasted 30 minutes and burned 464 calories according to the monitor, with an average HR of 82%.  So I got my cardio training along with a bit of strength work with the kettlebell, all at the same time.  Wore my Vibram five fingers to train my feet.

I didn’t spend 2 hours in the gym doing a workout that many people find incredibly boring – probably why so many people just give up, because they don’t have enough time.

These type of workouts can be done with sandbags ,kettlebells, ropes or even dumbbells and your own bodyweight.  The trick is to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time, gradually increasing the intensity as you get in better shape.

Oh yeah, because I’m using some resistance my muscles have more shape than if I just walked on a treadmill.  Definitely going to be a little leaner this Summer.  Check out Art of Strength for more rope training.

Get moving!

Brian

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Yesterday was the “official” start of my own personal fat loss journey.  It was also the first workout with my new HR monitor.

After being in decent shape for a 40-something, I’ve decided to reduce my bodyfat level to the lowest its been in over twenty years.  I’m going to do it without going to the gym and I’ll be using tools like sandbags, ropes, resistance bands, and a few kettlebells.

Another interesting note, almost all the workouts will be 30-60 minutes, with an “occasional” bike ride that goes longer than an hour.  I want to make a couple points through my progress – A, it doesn’t take long workouts to lose fat and B, intensity is key to getting the best results.

After some frustrating business and financial situations, I’m not currently working with anyone in person and want to use this transformation to help inspire others to get in shape, as well as get me back in the position of helping people.

So I used my new HR monitor to keep my intensity levels high yesterday.  The workout was short and fairly simple.  The actual training lasted 23 minutes, with a total of about 30 minutes including  warmup and cooldown.

If that seems short, you should know that at one point my heart rate was at 99% of my maximum!  and the average HR for the 23 minutes was about 93%.  The monitor (Polar F6) said that I burned 442 calories in that brief, but intense session.

Now, you definitely don’t want to start out that intense, but I have been exercising regularly and am used to these kinds of sessions.  I switched back and forth between sandbag exercises and rope training, obviously, keeping my rest periods very short.

I did some military presses, walking lunges, and explosive lifts with a medium sandbag and did some grappler’s throws and front waves with the rope.  Several times my heart rate got to 97 or 98% of its max (theoretical).

So in 30 minutes I got my cardio and strength endurance work done at the same time, getting a lot of core work in, too.  Doing full body workouts are the way to go if you have limited time to exercise.  The previous two days I did some walking to enjoy the weather and burn a few calories, though definitely not 442!

So if interested, stay with me as I blog about getting my abs back as Summer fast approaches.

Get moving!

Brian

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Can rope training be a part of rehab for shoulder injuries?  I think so.  Having worked with many shoulder injuries and having my own rotator cuff problems in the past, gives me a little insight on this issue.

If you’ve never heard of rope training before, you probably will see plenty of it soon.  It was just voted Best Cardio Equipment 2009 by Men’s Health magazine.

I recently added it to my own workouts for some upper body cardio and love it.  They are a fun and creative way to train…… and pretty effective, too.  The movements are very rhythmical in nature and involve up and down, side to side, diagonal, and circular movements.

Something that doesn’t irritate my shoulders in any way, gets plenty of blood flowing to the upper body (great pump), as well as helping with coordination and quality of movement – something very important for healthy shoulders.

Several years back, I worked in a physical therapy clinic.  There were plenty of shoulder injuries being treated and they would often use an overhead rope pulley system to increase shoulder range of motion.  Another tool used was the Bodyblade.

It has a handle in the middle with weighted ends.  You grip it with one or both hands and shake it back and forth.  The blade is flexible and the weighted ends cause it to oscillate as it moves.  It requires coordination and rhythm to keep it moving properly…..

which is one of the goals – to increase coordination and stability in the muscles surrounding the joints.  Its frequently used to help rehab shoulder injuries and help restore movement awareness (proprioception), with the many oscillations (vibration) sending lots of feedback to the nervous system.

Many of the “average” (non-athlete) patients had a difficult time with these movements and they may have lacked coordination before their injury.  The rhythmic nature of rope training might be an additional component to increase coordination in these patients.

In trying to restore movement awareness (proprioception), movement quality is extremely valuable and should be considered when evaluating progress.  I think that the ropes could definitely play a part in this, though the size of the ropes may need to be adjusted.

The movement also greatly increases blood flow to the injured area, which can help with the healing process.  Not to be forgotten is the grip work that ropes provide.  Your grip is important for helping with shoulder stability.  Something that is discussed in the Secrets of the Shoulder DVD’s.

The Power Plate is another tool that can help with awareness as the multiple vibrations help stimulate your postural muscles – the ones that are important for proper joint alignment and stability.

Soon I will discuss Indian clubs which are one more awesome tool for mobility and coordination.

Get moving!

Brian

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I decided to get the Prowler sled out and do a little workout on a chilly Saturday afternoon.  I wouldn’t mind a little warmer weather than 30 degrees, but the Sun was shining, so why not spend time outdoors.

I just recently got a 50 foot, 1 and 1/2 inch rope for training and decided to combine the two.  I thought about doing a run-walk, where I would run at a higher pace, take a break by walking and then repeating the process.

But pushing the sled is easier on my joints than the running, so I decided on that instead.  I was also anxious to do some more work with the rope, since I really enjoyed the first session.

I used the vertical handles on the Prowler to focus on my glutes and hamstrings.  After a short break, I attached the rope and did some upper body work to let my legs rest a bit.

Then I grabbed the rope and walked backwards with the sled, really hitting my quads as my upper back got some stability work, while holding the rope handles in at my ribs.

After another short rest its some more rope work and then back to the sled push, repeating this circuit.  On one of the sled pulls I decided to do some back work -  I pulled the sled to me and then stepped back a few feet and pulled the sled to me again, kinda like a seated row, only standing.

Great workout!  In just over 30 minutes I worked virtually every muscle in my body, to some extent.  I don’t spend very much time lifting barbells anymore and don’t seem to miss them.  My body feels pretty good, I have decent energy and my joints are relatively healthy.

One things for sure, that workout will keep my metabolism elevated for several hours afterwards.  Hard to argue with that type of training session, as I hit my upper and lower body, core and worked on my grip all at the same time.

Get moving!

Brian

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