Gravity Fx Fitness

This was a question I got recently from a 15 year old who had tagged along for his aunt’s training session. She was training with another 50 something friend and another man in my studio on a Saturday.

He is currently doing typical barbell lifts such as the bench press and squat and didn’t quite understand my training methods, which make use of sandbags, suspension trainers like the TRX, resistance bands, ropes and dumbbells.

I have a barbell tucked in a corner, which I use with some clients as a leverage press, but other than that, no barbell lifts.  At one point he asked her if they bench.  We do some dumbbell bench presses on a flat bench or on a stability ball, but my preference is some kind of pushup variation or presses using a flex band, in a standing position, which trains core stability.

Many people tend to think of barbells and dumbbells when “lifting weights” or some weight machine, like a lat pulldown.  When you realize that the point is to challenge your muscles with some type of resistance, than that resistance can take the form of your own bodyweight, sand, flex bands, or whatever.

He talked about doing weight training and I mentioned using heavy sandbags and how they can feel much heavier than a barbell.  He then picked a 140 pound sandbag off the floor using the parallel handles and found out what I was talking about.

A little later he asked me directly, “do you lift weights?”  Presumably, because I look like I do some resistance training (hopefully).  I told him I used to do all my training with barbells and dumbbells but now stick to what you see in my studio and think the results are about the same, with fewer injuries.

Obviously, if you are training for some type of strength competition that involves lifting weights, you need to train that way, but if you are just training for general fitness, general strength and fat loss, the previously mentioned tools work just fine, at least my clients think so.

When using sandbags, suspension trainers, bands and ropes, there are an almost unlimited number of exercise combinations that can be used.  Besides getting great results, this also prevents boredom from setting in.  Lack of time and boredom are the two biggest excuses people have for not exercising, so this is another reason for these methods.

Here are some of my 50 something clients who have lean, muscular bodies and can do all the physical activities they want with no problems.  They are happy with the results they get and it doesn’t hurt when someone in a store asks them how they got their arms in that kind of shape.

When they tell them about my studio it makes me feel good as well.  Proper nutrition goes a long way, also, but resistance training does a body good no matter what your age or gender you are.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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My fat loss workout burned 457 calories in 30 minutes. What did I do?  Glad you asked.

I only had 30 minutes for my training today so I combined some sandbag exercises with rope training and the X-iser.  I wore my HR monitor to see how many calories I torched.

After Monday’s all sandbag workout I mixed in some other moves for a little variety.  I did burpees combined with sandbag high pulls, alternating between the 30 second (approximately) sprints on the X-iser.

Resting for 30 seconds, I did some of my favorite rope throws – one and two arm grappler’s throws and alternating uppercuts, which is somewhat similar to cross country skiing, only more intense.

I tried to alternate between upper and lower body exercises, in order to keep my intensity high.

I did some various lunges and split squats as part of my warmup.  I also threw in a set of one arm rows on the suspension trainer and a set of ab wheel rollouts to the front and sides (diagonal).

The 30 minutes went by pretty quickly and I stopped my HR monitor to check the damage…..457 calories burned in 30 minutes even.  Of course, your heart rate stays elevated for a while after this type of workout, since you went into oxygen debt with all the short bursts of exercise.

I’ll take those numbers any day of the week.  In a magazine advertisement for the Bowflex Treadclimber they mention 321 calories burned in 30 minutes versus 150 for a treadmill at the same speed but no elevation.

Not bad numbers but not as good as my workout – and with my intense interval training, my metabolism would stay elevated longer after the workout. Plus, I worked my upper body and midsection, too.

More bang for your buck if you ask me.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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You don’t need some exercise gimmick on TV to have great abs and crunches are just too ineffective for most people.  If you want to strengthen your abs and low back while burning more fat in the process, you can’t beat the combination of sandbags, suspension trainers, and resistance bands!

Coach Josh Henkin has some unique sandbag exercises that hit your “core” from every conceivable angle, while improving your work and sport performance at the same time.

These will also help prevent back pain and make your every day movements more efficient.  Remember, if you want to burn that layer of fat off your abdominals, you need to work your major muscles intensely and clean up your diet.

Just training your abs alone won’t burn many calories or do much to increase your metabolism.

For more info on sandbag training, click here.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Sandbag training is a great way to increase your core stability and your athleticism.  Every exercise puts some demands on your abs and low back, strengthening them in the process.

I recently started doing sandbag squats to increase my leg strength and I’ve been doing pushups with a 30 pound sandbag on my back, for upper body strength.

These two exercises really work your abs and low back.

But you can also do rotational exercises for your midsection, along with explosive movements that increase your power and athleticism.

Here’s one of Josh Henkins’ videos that you might enjoy.

Sandbag Fitness Systems

Get moving!

Brian

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The step up with a sandbag is a great exercise for golf fitness!  This one movement can help with hip strength and flexibility, which is one of the keys to hitting it farther, along with building core stability-

having the sandbag on one shoulder requires you to work hard to keep your torso from swaying one side or the other.  It helps with stability in your lumbar spine – an area often injured in golf.

You can do step ups with dumbbells, but its not quite as effective for golf as the sandbags.  Same thing goes for a barbell.  I used to use a 185 pound barbell for step ups, but I didn’t feel it in my abs and back, as much as I do with the bags.

That shifting sand makes for a great core workout.  Choose a sturdy platform for this exercise and if you have poor flexibility, make sure the step height is adjusted to fit your needs.

Many of the gyms where I have trained didn’t have many or any platforms for this exercise, so I had to use a weight bench.  The extra padding can increase your instability, so if this is your only choice, keep the resistance low until you get used to the movement.

Make sure to push through your heel to get your glutes doing much of the work.  Golfers need flexibility in your hips, but also strength, as these muscles create a lot of force during the golf swing.

These muscles are also important for providing stability to your pelvis, helping to protect your lower back from injury.  Most of the rotation in your swing comes from the hips, thoracic spine, and shoulder - NOT your low back!

There are plenty of other sandbag exercises for golf, which focus on your core and help build power into your swing.

Those of you with hip replacements have to watch how far you stretch your hip, so clear this exercise with your doctor or therapist, first.

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Do runners need to do any core training?  Will it make you a more efficient runner?  Most definitely.

This topic of training for the core has gotten a lot of publicity in recent years, with good reason.  Proper stability in this area is necessary for preventing low back pain as well as increasing performance.

Everyone seems to have a different definition of the core and how to train it, but it is much more than your abs and just doing plenty of crunches and situps.  It also includes your low back and the muscles of hips.

One key area that runners need to focus on is your glutes!  These muscles stabilize your hips which obviously will add to your running efficiency.  If your hip joint is not stable your body won’t properly absorb shock or generate adequate muscle force.

I was at a seminar a few years back and a physical therapist was reporting about an injured triathlete who came to see him.  During the evaluation he asked the man “where is your (butt)?”  Apparently, he had no glute development and that was part of the problem.

By spending a lot of time training his glutes the man greatly increased his age group ranking while spending less time running and such.  If you want to reduce the risk of IT band injuries and other lower leg issues, you need some focus on stability.

Single leg bridges are a simple way to train your glutes.  Keep your knee bent about 90 degrees and push through your heel.  Pause at the top for a second or two and slowly lower.  Make sure you move through your hip, the low back is just “along for the ride,” holding still.

Single leg exercises like step ups and multi-direction lunges are excellent.  Start with your own bodyweight and then add dumbbells or sandbags for extra resistance.  Lunges and squats with sandbags are a great way to train your abs and low back, also.

Most crunches and sit-up variations will have minimal positive impact and could increase your risk for back pain.  Bridges and planks in different positions will provide more stability.  For more resistance, push/pull exercises with resistance bands will challenge your core, as will sandbag exercises.

Get moving!

Brian

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Are you training for anything specific?  Someone asked me this yesterday as they saw me dragging some of my equipment to the abandoned tennis court where I like to get some outdoor workouts.

“I’m just an old guy trying to stay young,”  I replied.  Specifically, I want to feel youthful, energetic, and strong for as long as I live – and the way that I do that is by working intensely with full body movements.

This keeps my lean muscle tissue at a decent level and thus, my metabolism elevated.  I also focus on flexibility and mobility work to keep my joints healthy and minimize the risk of injury.

There are no guarantees in life but you can be sure if you don’t “work at living,” as Jack LaLanne says, you will probably feel old and rundown no matter what your chronological age.  I’ve had my share of injuries from playing sports and lifting weights with poor posture, but I got to admit, I feel no different physically than I did 15 years ago, and I’m in my 40’s.

So what did I do yesterday to “train for a lifetime?”  I did some more rope work, after some stretching and warmup with the resistance bands.  I also did some stair climbing with the sandbags and some kettlebell swings.

I’ve also been doing plenty of upper body stability work to help keep my chronic shoulder injuries from acting up…. and its working!  Bottom line – there are some things out of your control, but if you don’t work at staying young, you give up your say in the matter.

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