Vienna Miller asked:

Buying a treadmill? You’ll probably want to research before you buy – including reading treadmill consumer reviews.

Consumer reviews are very popular on the Internet at places like epinions and Amazon. And they can give you an overall idea of the Read more

Nick Tumminello asked:


After my article Stick Your Neck Out was published; I surprisingly caught some flack from the “hardcore” types just because I showed a stability ball being used in a few of the exercise applications.

Since I’m not emotionally attached to any one piece of equipment or style of training, I was not upset in the least about this. However, it did make me realize how misunderstood the Swiss ball is within the “hardcore strength” community.

So, in light of this realization, I’m stepping up to set the record straight once and for all about Swiss balls and how they should and shouldn’t be utilized in and effective strength program.

Don’t **** the Player, **** the Game

My friend and colleague Coach Rob Simonelli brought up an interesting point when he and I were discussing this article and why serious weight lifters dislike Swiss balls. Rob said “What serious lifters don’t understand is that it’s not so much that they dislike Swiss balls, it’s that they dislike what Swiss Balls represent”.

He was absolutely right. ******** weightlifters have made Swiss balls guilty by association just because there are a bunch of “functional trainers” out there doing some seriously ridiculous stuff on them.

This doesn’t mean that Swiss balls can’t be use for stuff that actually has value.

To all you Swiss ball haters out there, I want you to ask yourself one question; “Am I blaming the tool or the practitioner?”

I think you will realize that myself and Rob and are correct in saying that, the Swiss ball, like everything else in the gym is just a tool. One that can be used or abused depending on whose hands it’s in. Just because there are people out there abusing a certain tool doesn’t mean we should throw it out of the tool box all together. If that were the case, we wouldn’t use any equipment at all judging by what I’ve seen done with barbells and dumbbells these days.

Now let’s get one thing clear, the title of this article is not called “Swiss Ball Exercises that You Need to Do Everyday or Else Your Will Go to Pot”. The exercises shown in this article are in no way a necessity, they are just other options to challenge your body in a positive manner and compliment your “core” lifts.

In other words, they are just tools in the tool box.

You just have to know when to use the tools you’ve got.

When Instability and Strength is Actually Good

Recently, I got to attend one of my friend Eric Cressey’s classes on training the overhead athlete. During his workshop, Eric made a great point that I feel is relevant to this article. He said that although it has been found that unstable surface training for the lower body has been found to be ineffective and in some cases even counterproductive for healthy individuals, instability training for the upper body may actually be beneficial. Eric went on to explain that it all has to do with the fact that the lower body predominantly functions in a close chained (both feet in contact with the ground) manner that does not normally involve the ground moving underneath it. However, the upper body functions in more of an open chained (no ground or solid surface contact) manner with things more likely to move and change position.

This makes a lot of sense if you think of a football lineman blocking a pass rusher. The lineman’s feet are dealing with a flat and stable ground while his upper body is all over place dealing with another body moving in every which way trying to get around him.

Now that I have hopefully changed your mind about the Swiss ball, I’m going to provide you a list of exercises using the Swiss ball that we have found to be beneficial to our clients, athletes and physique competitors.

a href=”http://www.performanceu.net/article05.html”>Click here to view pictures and videos of all the exercises described below.

The Exercises

Y,T,W, L Shoulder Circuit w/Swiss Ball

The reason why we preffer to use the Swiss ball while performing our Y,T,W, L shoulder circuits has nothing to do with the shoulders themselves but has everything to do with the trunk. In that, when athletes perform the Y,T,W, Lcircuits on a flat surface like the floor or a bench, they usually start to extend from their lower back in a superman like position. This is normally due to the fact that they, like many athletes, lack ample shoulder flexion. Therfore, they attempt to kick in the lumbar extensors to help raise the arms.

If you reffer to my article How Not to Warm Up, you will see why this type of movement is undesirable. We all tend to slouch and sit too much, in doing so we create length and weakness in the thoracic area. So, the real goal here is to somehow create extension at the thoracic spine, not the lumbar spine. This can be successfully accomplished by performing the Y,T,W shoulder circuit on a Swiss ball.

With the swiss ball and some correct positioning, the extension comes from the thoracic spine

We position our athletes so that the apex of their thoracic curve during flexion over the ball is over top the apex of the ball itself. We also have them flex at the hip joint which further decreases extension at the lumbar spine. This enables us to get more bang for our buck.

We build endurance in all the muscles invovled in extending the thoracic spine while simutaneously reaping the benefits of the Y,T,W, L shoulder circuit.

The Swiss Ball Dumbbell Chest Press

The swiss ball chest press allows us to build flexibilty in hip flexors, strength endurance in the anterior neck muscles and glutes while simultaneously building upper body pushing strength.

The swiss ball chest press is the only exercise that we use a swiss ball in combination with weights. However, because it involves an unstable surface, we only use it while performing repetitive effort lifts and never use it while performing dynamic or max effort lifts.

Many people will agrue about the instability of the ball interferring with strength output. When I meet coaches that are of that mindset, I tell them two things;

1. If the feet are positioned shoulder width or wider, the instability is pretty much canceled out.

2. We agree that instabilty interferes with max strength output. This is why we ONLY use this exercise with submaximal loads as in a hypertrophy phase or repetitive effort phase.

In my mind, if you want allot of bang for your buck the Swiss ball chest press is a great choice.

Swiss Ball Perturbations

This is one of the most popular exercises we use at Performance University amoung our high level athlets and recreational clients alike.. Swiss perturbations are a fun and very effective way to develop rock solid core stability. The goal of the person holding the ball is to maintain optimal alignment and own the position thay began in. With each diffrent strike of the ball, the torso as to make a slight adjustment to maintain control of its position. Thi is what Rehab spractioners call rythmic stabilization. We call it a damn good exercise.

The unpredicatable nature of this exercise makes it more functional than most other “core stabilization” exercises.

This exercise can be progressed by the partner striking the ball with slightly more force or the holder standing with the feet closer together or in a stagered stance.

Swiss Ball Roll Out

The swiss ball roll out is one of our favorite exerciss for training the anterior trunk muscles. We like it because it devloped torso strength and pelvic control without putting the spine in a flexed position as it would be in a crunch or sit up type exercise. Mike Boyle produced a great article called Anterior Core Training that thoroughly desribes the theory and methodolgy behind movements like the swiss ball roll out. In that same article, Boyle also diplayed many progressions to the swiss ball roll out involving tools like the ab dolley and arko wheels. However, if you don’t have all of those tools/toys available to you, here are some simple progression strategies you can use.

The beginers version of the Swiss ball roll out starts with the elbows bent and forearms resting on the ball.

This exercise can then be progressed by raising the torso and straightening the arms. This lengthens the lever arm and increases the demand on the anterior core. Shown below.

On both of these roll out variations be sure to extend both your arms and legs while maintaining a fairly neutral spine. Only go out as far as you can without losing optimal spinal alignment.

The Reverse Ball Roll Out

As of late we have been using another variation of the roll out which we call reverse roll outs. To perform the reverse roll out, hold on to a stable object such as a weight bench. While maintaining alignment, extend your lower body until reaching a superman type position. Return to the starting position and repeat.

The height of surface your holding onto should be approx. even to the height of the ball. In the picture above, Tim is holding on to a bar that is slightly higher than the ball underneath his legs. You can see how this is causing him to sag slightly at his low back. We were in the process of moving our gym during this photo shoot and we had to work with what we had left in the gym.

Swiss Ball Toe Plank

This is another great anterior core exercise. We usually perform holds for anywhere from 10-20 seconds. Proper form for this exercise is pretty much self explanatory.

Swiss Ball Knee Tucks

If you have fairly decent “core strength”, Swiss ball knee tucks aren’t really that difficult. This is why we don’t use this exercise with the intention of building strength. We use this exercise to build awareness of what the rehab world calls” hip/back disassociation”.

All this really means is, how well you can move at your hips without moving at your lumbar spine. There are a lot of ways to accomplish this which are beyond the scope of this article. However, in the context of the Swiss ball knee tuck exercise, we want our athletes to be able to flex at their hip without flexing at their low back. If they can accomplish this, it shows that they posses good hip/back disassociation.

Athletes with poor hip back disassociation will always compensate for a lack of hip mobility by increasing mobility at the lumbar spine. Which according to the latest research is designed for stability, not mobility? My article How NOT to Warm Up covers that science in great detail.

The science aside, just keep this little saying in mind, “what your hips lack can hurt your back”.

So, yeah…do your knee tucks.

1 Leg Swiss Ball Knee Tuck

This version of the knee tuck is much more difficult than the previous because there is an added rotary component. Although there is no visual rotation, the athlete has to work to prevent gravity form pulling them into rotation on the side of the lifted leg. This is what my good friend JC Santana calls “training the invisible. This is an important point to keep in mind anytime you go from a bi-lateral position to a unilateral position.

1 Arm Holds

This is another one that’s pretty self explanatory. Simply maintain optimal spinal alignment while keeping your arm locked out. We use holds ranging from 5-15sec.

This one is just plain tough!

Swiss ball Straight Leg Bridge

We always make sure to encourage our athletes to create the lift using from their hamstrings and glutes, not from their low back. Athletes with an increased lordosis (low back curve) will find this more difficult and therefore tend to need more coaching on movements like this.

Yes, I know you can also do this on a bench but our athletes seem to like it better with the ball. So, as they say, “the customer is always right”.

Plus, you can’t do some of the progressions I’m about to show you on a bench.

Straight Leg Bridges (w/Long Lever)

We learned this progression from Coach JC Santana. It’s a great way to integrate in the calf’s and increase the overall difficulty on your posterior muscles.

Be sure to keep the heels off the ball.

1 Leg Hip Bridges (w/straight leg)

These are not only a great progression to the 2 leg bridges but they serve as a nice compliment to the 1 leg knee tucks.

These work on improving hip/back disassociation in extension. We want to see the extension coming from the hips and glutes and not from the low back. We encourage our athletes to keep the lifted knee stable during this exercise. If the knee moves, it means that the pelvis is moving and therefore stability is lost.

Swiss Ball Bent Leg Bridges

The bent leg bridges are more glute dominant bridge than the straight leg version. That said, your hamstring have to work isometrically to hold the ball in place while the hips rise and fall.

We normally just alternate straight and bent leg bridges each workout.

Swiss Ball Bent Leg Bridge (1 Leg)

The rules on the one leg version are the same as above. Just be sure to prevent any sort of pelvic rotation due to the reduced base of support.

Swiss Ball Leg Curls

Once you can successfully perform both the straight and bent leg exercises. We simply combine the two moves to make the leg curl. This you really can’t do with a bench. You can do this with a slide board if you have access to one.

Once your hips lift up, they don’t come down until the set is complete. Be sure to lift your hips higher up as the legs curl in. This will create a straight line between the knee, hip, and torso.

Aside from glute ham raises is the only exercise that allows us to train hip extension and knee flexion simultaneously. Those two motions are always coupled together during any locomotive type action.

Running involves the combined action hip extension and knee flexion of the rear leg as it prepares to pull through

1 Leg Ball Curl

This progression from the two leg curl, when done correctly, will challenge even the most advanced athlete.

Swiss Ball Complex

Once each one these exercises are mastered separately, we like to combine them into a Swiss ball complex. We use this complex as part of an active dynamic warm up, as a warm down or as active rest on recovery days.

We start with roll outs for 10-20 reps

Then to push ups for 10-20 for reps

Followed up with the Y,T,W,L shoulder circuit for 10-15reps each letter

Then move to knee tucks for 10-20 reps

We finish with a toes on ball plank hold for 10-30 seconds

This entire complex is normally performed for 1-3 sets and 0-60 seconds rest between sets. Three rounds of this at 20 reps each exercise with no break is just plain tough.

This complex is very popular with our clients and athletes because it has a smooth flow from between exercises, it’s easy to remember and it gets a lot of quality work done in little time. Aside from that, it’s kind of fun.

a href=”http://www.performanceu.net/article05.html”>Click here to view pictures and videos of all the exercises described above.

Final Comments

Well, there you have it, the definitive list of Swiss ball exercises that don’t ****.

If it’s not on this list and it involves a Swiss ball then…well, you get the point.

The exercises on this list have been a part of our performance and physique programs for many years. They have been used at some point by just about everyone who has walked through our doors.

I can’t honestly tell you that these Swiss ball are solely responsible for our clients and athletes consistently getting bigger stronger and faster.

But I can tell you that they sure as hell haven’t hurt.

T J Madigan asked:


Washboard abs in just 10 minutes a day? Oh yeah, sure, and pigs fly in November. Just for the record, most of that is just marketing hype. Dont get swept up in all the hype, and instead, consider the following few things when deciding to buy an ab exercise equipment:

#1. Using Abs exercise equipment does not burn fat.

Its sad, but true. And also quite a common misconception that people often have. Not surprising really, considering the avalanche of ab exercise equipment that is all over the market these days. But if you want to be a discriminating buyer, then dont let advertisers claims fool you into actually believing that ab exercise equipment can actually burn fat. One word: NO. An ab exercise equipment is more of a toning or strengthening device.

#2. Only diet can help you shed those extra fats in your tummy.

Watch the commercials for ab exercise equipment closely. They usually say it in fine print at some point during the advertisement. If you really want to get rid of those fats that covers your abdominal area, then an ab exercise equipment is not the answer you are looking for. Nothing beats a healthy, low-fat, reduced-calorie diet. The exercise equipment only comes in after your fats are out of the picture, helping sculpt your ab muscles to washboard shape.

#3. There is no such thing as spot reducing.

When you exercise a particular body part, the exercise will not cause you to lose fat in that area. What it only does is tone the underlying muscle. The fat remains and if you want to get rid of it, you need more than just exercise, e.g., you need to diet, too.

#4. Roller type of ab exercise equipment are not the only answers to neck strain during exercises.

This is considered as a big selling point of ab exercise equipment, specifically the roller types, such as an exercise ball. While it is true that they do indeed reduce neck strain, it is also true that this does not necessarily mean that they are more effective than good old crunches. If done properly, crunches will not cause neck strain and are just as effective at toning your stomach muscles.

#5. Crunches are not ineffective as muscle toning exercises.

Here is the right way of doing it:

* Lie down with your knees bent and your back flat on the floor.

* Place your hands behind your head. DONT lace your fingers. Keep your elbows back.

* Now, raise your chest and shoulders several inches from the ground while gently supporting your head. DONT grab your nape and DONT apply force in your hands to help you raise yourself up. This is what causes neck strain in crunches improperly practiced.

* Exhale as you come up. Inhale as you release.

Jayesh Bagde asked:


Every gym requires essential gym equipments keeping in mind the different exercises and requirements of the clients.

Some of the most essential gym equipments are:

Dumbbells are the first equipment that should be present in a gym – a weight train equipment wherein performing the variety of exercises develops muscles. This versatile equipment can provide the ultimate body workout. It is used for chest and forearms exercises. An ideal dumbbell should have standard shape, size, and grip. It should lay steady in the hands of the user. There are two available dumbbell types in the market: hex and adjustable. Hex dumbbells are for beginners as they are simpler and cheaper in cost. It is made of iron coated baked enamel. The adjustable type is more expensive, time consuming, yet space saving.

Barbell set helps perform heavy exercises particularly because user will be lifting heavy weights using this equipment to improve chest endurance. This equipment is made of steel with carved patterns and plates are steel discs attached at the ends of the barbell. There are 3 types of barbell set: Olympic barbell, standard and Olympic bar. The Olympic barbell is the ideal set of barbell. It consists of 45 pounds weight, 7ft in height with 150-pound plates. The standard barbell is 20 pounds in weight and 5-7 ft in height. The Olympic bar is 35 pounds in weight and 5-6 ft in height. Plates are designed with 25-45 pounds weight. Ideally males carry 20 kilograms and females about 15 kilograms. Exercise professionals say that barbell squat is the king of all bodybuilding exercises.

Exercise bench is the third equipment. It consists of an exercise bench, which should be stable and sturdy. Varieties of benches include flat, inclined, and declined. Other features include leg extension or leg curl attachments. It is used with bench press and other free weight lifting exercises.

Squat rack allows user to perform heavier exercises when he or she has mastered the dumbbells. It is also known as power cage, squat cage, or power rack. It consists of four vertical posts, a movable bar, and side catchers. It helps user perform partial bench press, squats, and dead lift exercises freely.

Dip Station is gym equipment consisting of a solid metal frame, a base and two rubber coated grip dip bars. It helps develop shoulders, thicker delts, and stronger triceps.

Calf raise machines are also known as Smith machines. It consists of a barbell, which moves upward and downward on steel runners with weight rack base to help stabilize the exercise. It helps perform high jumps. There are two types of calf raise machine: standing and seated. Standing calf raise machine should be stable, vertical and plate loadable. Seated calf raise machine allows performance of calf raise exercises while sitting down.

Exercise ball is also known as Swiss ball. It is made of elastic soft PVC with a 35-85 cm in diameter. It is ideally used for physical therapy and exercises.

Treadmill is equipment, which consists of a belt system user, allows running or walking so the top of the belt moves to the rear and allowing user to run on same speed. Some treadmills are motor driven and others are manual. Motor driven treadmills are more expensive yet durable. Manual treadmills are simple and cheaper. Some are created foldable and omni directional function.

Elliptical machines are also known as cross trainers. It is a machine used to stimulate walking and running for a cardiovascular workout.

Rubber bands are used to increase energy level and provide resistance. Ideally, workout rubber band should be strong and loose.

Exercise bikes or stationary bikes are equipment with pedals, saddle, and handlebars created like bicycle but used for exercise. Some are recumbent and others are upright. It is used for general fitness.

Mats are used to keep the user clean while performing floor and stretching exercises. It is usually made of large foams.

Cable crossover machines consist of frames with pulleys located on top and bottom with attached weight stacks to supply resistance. It allows user to perform lat pull downs and triceps press down exercises.

Steppers and stair climbers are machines that are real stairs adaptation. It comes with a stepper type, which are two-foot plates and handrails. Another variation is the rolling staircase, which is a collaboration of the treadmill and staircase.

Spinners are bikes that were designed to allow user visualize cycling up and down.

Medicine balls are rubber, leather, and synthetic made. Some are designed with handles. It helps perform different exercises to increase muscle strength.

Exercise bar includes the push up bar, pull up bar and chin up bar. These are versatile bars, which add variation to the exercises performed. Push up bars are used for the arms, chest and back while chin up and pull up are used for the arms and back. All 3 bars are useful for abs exercise.

Step Benches are used for cardiovascular training. It is adjustable, lightweight, easy to store, non-slip surface with step and bench adjustable.

Rowing machines or the indoor rower is similar to watercraft rowing. Some machines come with an ergometer, a device to determine the amount of work performed.

Leg press machine is equipment to perform leg exercises. Pushing a weight thru the legs performs it. It has two types: the diagonal or vertical ‘sled’ type and ‘cable’ type leg press, or ‘seated leg press’. The diagonal or vertical type involves pushing plates upward. The seated leg press also known as multigyms involves pushing plates forward.

A hyperextension machine is equipment used to develop back and define hamstring muscles. A good hyperextension machine is one, which is fully adjustable with built in non-slip footplate and thick pad.

Bowflex machine is Nautilus, Inc created strength training exercise equipment. It is made of combined polymer rods to produce tension. In 2004, 420,000 units were recalled due to mechanical problems and so in 2006 a new model was introduced in the market.

Jump rope is equipment used to burn calories. It is simple and cost efficient. It is made of materials like beaded, vinyl, leather, and cloth. An ideal jump rope should be of the right length. Different varieties of jump rope include single rope, long rope and double Dutch ropes. Market offers jump ropes with talking digital calorie counting and digital speed counting.

Mirror serves as motivational and progressive reflection of the user’s output while performing the exercises. It helps monitor and provide feedback for the user.

Weight Trees and Dumbbell Racks are used as organizers for the plates used in the barbells and dumbbells. It helps user refrain from bending down while performing exercises.

The Treadmill Sensei asked:


Ohiyo!

As the Treadmill Sensei and knower of all things fitness related, a lot of readers email me here at the DOJO and ask, “Oh, great Sensei, where should I purchase my new treadmill or elliptical? Should I buy it at a local store or online? Which is better?”

While I don’t really like recommending specific stores or websites to purchase from, I can break down the pros and cons of placing an internet order versus going in to a local store and buying the unit from a brick and mortar location. I’m not going to get in to “how to choose” in this post because I’ve already done that in my “Treadmill Buyer’s Guide” and “Elliptical Buyer’s Guide” articles. Check them out if you haven’t already done so.

The single best way to start researching a treadmill, and the easiest, is to load up your favorite search engine and start poking around. The internet has more information on it than any sales rep at a brick and mortar store…more than any 10 sales reps combined into a super sales rep. Start with review sites like this one (the Treadmill Sensei, www.treadmillsensei.com). Take a look at multiple sites because a lot of them out there have personal agendas in regards to which treadmill or elliptical they are “prescribing.” I’d suggest checking with at least 3 sources.

Once you’ve got a decent handle on a few ellipticals or treadmills that meet your needs, I suggest trying to find a local store to go and try them out. This is a large purchase for most people and it is for a piece of equipment that you’re going to spend a lot of time sweating on. Make sure the unit feels good to you.

Once you’re completely convinced you’ve found the perfect treadmill for yourself or the perfect elliptical for your den, get back online and start doing some price comparison. There are a lot of places online that will give you some fantastic prices on equipment. You’ll also generally get free shipping and won’t have to pay sales tax. Shopping online can save you hundreds dollars on the “hidden costs” that will pop up when purchasing at a local fitness store.

Let’s go over some of the pros and cons for online stores versus local shops.

Local Stores — The Pros:

1) The best thing about a local store is that you’ll be able to try out the actual equipment you’ve been researching online. You can do a run on a treadmill or take a quick workout on that elliptical you’ve had your eyes on.

2) The other positive is that you’ll be able to walk out the door with the equipment right there. You see it, you like it, you buy it and you take it home. Instant gratification is a wonderful thing.

Local Stores — The Cons:

1) You may get instant gratification, but more than likely it’ll cost you. Even if the actual cost of the elliptical or treadmill is good at a local shop, don’t forget you’re going to be hit with taxes which can add up to a hundred dollars or more on a lot of the treadmills and ellipticals. You might save that $25 or $50 on the price of your dream treadmill but that gets eaten up by $80 in sales taxes!

2) From there, you’d better have a big truck or SUV to cart that unit home because once you buy it you’ll have to deliver it yourself! Or, for anywhere from $50-$200, that local store can deliver it for you.

3) Now, the biggest Con about brick and mortar stores in product knowledge. Unfortunately, in my experience, most brick and mortar sales cashiers have very little actual product knowledge. In fact, if you go to your local seller of sporting goods/fitness equipment you’ll find it very hard to even get someone to help you! Most of the reps you’ll encounter are going to be young kids who get paid a minimum wage for a minimum amount of work…which is a shame because that will be a turnoff for most people interested in actually buying a treadmill or elliptical.

4) The last major problem you’ll find at a local store is: pushy salesmen. There’s nothing I **** worse than a sales person who treats me like an idiot and pushes hard on whatever product will get them the best commission. I dislike the “used car” style sales people you’ll find at a lot of fitness specialty stores. There is a big company here in the LA area that is known for their hard-selling salesmen who bully customers in to some truly bad equipment. If a salesmen gets pushy with you just walk out and don’t go back. There are lots of other places to buy a treadmill or elliptical where you won’t have to put up with that sort of attitude.

Internet Stores — The Pros:

1) You’ll find the widest selection of product around. The big fitness sites will have hundred or thousands of products available for you to take a look at and compare.

2) With that extensive product selection you’ll also find a lot more product knowledge. If you’ve got a question or problem, you can generally call up or email an online rep and find them to be incredibly well-informed on everything they carry.

3) You will also find better pricing, free delivery in most cases and most of the time you won’t have to pay taxes. When you add it all up you’ll find yourself saving a lot of time and money when ordering online.

Internet Stores — The Cons:

1) No instant gratification — you will be waiting around 2-3 weeks to receive your order. Most of the units will be shipped out via a freight company which take 7-10 business days to travel across the country.

2) The big con for internet stores is that you don’t get to touch or test out their equipment. You’re having to deal with facts and opinions. Luckily, there are tons of sites out there and you’ll be able to get a good idea of what is a well-built machine and which ones are duds (Icon Fitness).

All-in-all, buying online is a lot easier and less painful. The brick and mortar shops have their place (say, for buying a floor model at a ridiculously low price), but for buying a new treadmill or elliptical I’d say check out online stores for a great deal and larger selection.

That’s it for today. Take care!

-The Treadmill Sensei