I began playing roller hockey when I was 10 out in front of my house in the street. A group of kids my age would play every Saturday from the time we got up until it was too dark to see what we were doing. The game became such a regular occurrence that kid’s parents began to play. My dad even donned the rollerblades a time or two and would join in. It got so competitive that mini feuds would break out and neighbors were less than friendly as a result. I loved every minute of it. When I was 12 I graduated to playing in actual roller rinks and did so for the next 5 years. By the time I was 16 my team had made it to the junior Olympics and we even had sponsors. But roller hockey is for dorks.

My freshman year at UT I had a good friend that played for the UT men’s club Ice Hockey team. He would practice regularly at Chapparral Ice on I-35. He randomly asked me to join one night and it changed everything. He let me borrow a pair of skates and supplemented me with any gear I was missing. I could barely stay up the first hour but eventually got the  hang of it. From then on hockey was once again all I could think about. Christmas break that year I returned to Dallas for a month off from school and played just about every single day at the local Starscenter. My girlfriend at the time got so jealous of my preference of hockey over her that she dumped me. To this day I still think I made the right choice. For the next several years any time I was in Dallas I would bust out the gear and play drop-in hockey. I did so until around my senior year until I just didn’t have the time to play any longer.

My hockey gene lay dormant for the next several years until November 2009. I took my then girlfriend to a Texas Stars game www.texasstarshockey.com.

Being around hockey again made me realize how much I really missed playing. When I was home for Christmas later that year I pulled my gear out of mothballs in my mom’s garage and began to play again. I started by going to stick and puck sessions, which is where you can work on skating, shooting etc.. but not actually play.  It was a great way for me to get my skates back under me. One day I was in the locker room after a session when a group of guys were getting ready to play. One of em asked me if I’d like to join sometime. They informed me that they were in a program called “Hockey Lite”, which is a weekly, organized, pre-paid drop in session. They break it down by skill level so you can be competitive and play with those of similar abilities. I bought a new helmet, new socks, a new stick and on my 28th birthday played my first session. It was VERY intimidating that first skate back after such a long break but by the end I was at least hanging with some of the regulars. Since then I’ve been in every hockey lite session for 2 solid years, rarely ever missing a skate. In fact, if I take more than a week off I don’t feel like myself.  Here’s a video and some random shots from Hockey Lite:

Hockey Lite

Hockey lite has become such a regular part of my life that I can’t imagine not doing it. I have a great group of friends that I’ve come to know through hockey and they’ve become a regular part of my life. There’s such an interesting mix of personalities in this group. More than half are migratory snowbirds from Canada, Michigan, Boston, etc..and the rest are native Texans like myself. Most are over the age of 35 and have kids, however there are a few younger, single guys like yours truly.  We always go out to eat and have a few beers afterwards and the conversation is always about the game we just played. Its such an awesome way to play the sport you love and make new friends while doing so. There’s always friendly smack-talk yet for the most part everyone is very positive.  I’ve been playing consistently for several years now, so much so that I’ve started playing in the organized leagues. Which brings me to the Hyper Vest PRO and the SandBells.

Since my time as an employee at Hyperwear my fitness has already improved tremendously. Our daily workouts have improved my core strength, flexibility and overall fitness level. The 10 lb Large Hyper Vest PRO: http://www.hyperwear.com/buy/weight-vest/10-lb-large-hyper-vest-pro.html has become a part of my regular fitness regiment. I try to incorporate it into as many exercises as possible and even wear it around the office sometimes. I recently took my hockey playing to the next level and signed up for the Adult Men’s League at the Cedar Park Center. This is a major step up from the once a week drop-in game I’ve been playing, as such I knew I needed to really get in shape if I wanted to be competitive. I joke with the guys that getting paid to workout at FitMob! events is pretty great. Hyperwear products have already put me on the right path towards a higher plane of fitness, and it’s only going to get better. After last night’s FitMob! event I decided to keep rolling with the vest and give it a shot at an actual hockey game. To prove I’m not B.S.’ing I had a buddy snap a few photos:

Even warming up in the vest is a challenge. The compression and extra weight really forced me to breathe deeply and focus on my strides as I skated. Your average player wears up to 20 lbs of gear so that extra 10 really made a huge difference. I skated several laps, took some shots and stretched and was ready to play. The first shift was fairly normal as my adrenaline was already pumping so I didn’t notice too much of a difference, however by the time I had settled down and began my second shift the weight of the vest was very apparent. I barely made it off the ice that shift. I decided that I had enough extra gear already and ditched the vest in the locker room. The next shift I FLEW down the ice like Sidney Crosby. Just half an hour skating in my Hyper Vest PRO and I could tell a huge difference. I was skating faster, had more energy and just overall felt like I had a step on everyone. I know keeping up with my Hyperwear training will only lead to more gains. Take it from me: If you want to get fit and perform better at any sport, go get some Hyperwear gear.

Chris Remington

As a new employee with Hyperwear I had spent the first few days on the job soaking up information and procedures, learning about our product and getting to know my new co-workers. I wondered why everyone was always dressed in workout clothes. I had never felt over-dressed in jeans.  It soon dawned on me that Hyperwear takes fitness very seriously. I’d find out the hard way. Last thursday I joined the Hyperwear Fit Mob crew on town lake for my first workout. I have a sample Hyper Vest PRO: http://www.hyperwear.com/discover/hyper-vest-pro.html/with 5 lbs in it at the moment so I strapped it on and headed out for a 3 mile jog with the group. My first thought was “hey I play ice hockey, I can knock out 60 miles on the road bike like nothing, why should this be any different?” After half a mile of running in the Hyper Vest and tossing sandbells like footballs I was gassed. The rest of the group kept going and my pace slowed to a crawl. But I kept going. Being the new guy I didn’t want to give the impression I was slacking so I pushed it. My legs were screaming and my chest heaved. But again I kept going. By the time I reached the end my legs felt like jello and I was fairly dizzy. It dawned on me that there really is something to the weight vest as that was one of the tougher 3 mile jogs I’d ever done. I met up with the group and we began the second half of the Fit Mob session: a sandbell workout.

The sandbell portion of Fit Mob consisted of dynamic full body motion exercises and some partnered tossing/slamming ones. It was a killer workout to say the least. The sandbell is so versitale you can do practically anything with it.  We kept the pace high for half an  hour and finished strong. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards we snapped a group photo:

As I drove home I could barely use my legs to change gears in the Jeep. I woke up the next morning and practically fell out of bed as I could hardly move. In fact, my legs were sore for 4 days afterwards. Somehow it felt good. Needless to say I’m excited for the next Fit Mob session and look forward to all the punishment my body can handle because I know this: Fit Mob will make you stronger.

Check out http://www.hyperwear.com/community/events.html/ or https://www.facebook.com/hyperwear to find out when the next workout will be held.

Chris Remington

Welcome back to the Hyper Training Lab with Diane Vives MS, CSCS! This week, Diane brings you a great leg circuit to challenge the energy systems by focusing on conditioning. This circuit uses four exercises with little to no rest in between each exercise in order to take advantage of generating more volume in a short amount of time.  For progression, you can start with half the number of reps and master each exercise first with 30-90 seconds rest in between. Then, your goal is to work up to the given number of repetitions and immediately transition to each exercise without resting.

Leg Circuit Exercises:

1. 24 hip swings with SteelBell or SandBell
2. 24 alternating lunges with SteelBell/SandBell exchange
3. 24 power steps with SandBell, option to substitute split jumps
4. 12 squat jumps

Now go out and give this circuit a try, and remember to work up to eliminating the rest in between each exercise if necessary.

It’s your move! Click HERE to watch this week’s Hyper Training Lab video.

Lateral Lower Body Blast:

1. Lateral Speed Squat: Start in wide position, making sure to sit back in proper position, and lunge from left to right without picking up the feet.
2. Lateral Lunge with Reach: With this lunge you introduce a step, be sure to load the SandBell on the outside and pay attention to the grip-strength muscles being activated.
3. Lateral Box Shuffle: It’s important with this exercise to really push off the outside leg. The SandBell load helps emphasize the change in direction when transitioning over the box step.
4. Skaters with SandBell Reach: Make sure to push off each foot and to take the SandBell toward each shoe to load on your basis of support.

Build from 12 repetitions per exercise for 2-3 sets, once a week for beginners, and more advanced exercisers can begin at 24 repetitions per exercise for 3-4 sets, once a week.

This circuit is a great challenge to keep in your arsenal of training tools. Incorporate these exercises, and ones similar to it, to make sure you’re strengthening those lateral movement muscles. Go out, give this a try and let us know what you think!

To view this week’s Hyper Training Lab video with Diane Vives, click here!

Super-set Example #1

1. Pull-ups
2. Full body slam with SandBell

Super-set Example #2

1. Side lunge with dumbbell
2. Skaters with SandBell reach

Both of these super-sets can be executed with repetition ranges that apply to strength and power endurance by using lower resistance and higher volume. They can also focus on higher intensity/lower repetition ranges with less volume to target the true complex super-set that translates to higher power in performance.

Whether you’re a football player, or an in-preseason women’s basketball athlete, these are examples of how to really target the increasing need for strength and power in your program.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRGsgbqdzz4[/youtube]

Super-Set 1:  Strength to Stability

1. Dead Lift
2. Step over lunge with one-hand SandBell carry

Super-Set 2:  Strength to Stability

1. Bench Press
2. Rolling push ups with the Hyper Vest PRO

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9ZIe3t7y5I[/youtube]

Now go out, give these super-sets a try, and let us know what you think!

Well, for those of you wondering just what are 2011s top fitness trends according to fitness industry leaders, look no further than here!

Jessica Belasco, blogger for mysanantonio.com discloses the findings from IDEA Health and Fitness Association’s Fitness Program and Equipment Trends Report in her blog “Boomers influence fitness trends.” The report, whose findings come from a survey sent out to top fitness program directors and facility managers, gets the scoop on what’s making waves in the health and fitness world.

According to the report, the top five programming trends in 2011 are balance training, functional resistance training, mind-body programs (i.e. yoga and tai chi), body-weight leverage training and personal training shared by two clients.

The underlying theme of “functional training” that guides these top five trends reflects the needs of baby boomers who are looking to improve their quality of life, reduce injuries and stay active as they age, says IDEA’s Executive Director Kathie Davis.

And as for 2011s top fitness equipment, body-weight leverage equipment, like the TRX suspension trainers, foam rollers, kettlebells and stability balls were among the top five.

What’s the best thing about this report? Our Hyper Wear products can be used in each and every top five programming trend. The SandBell, SteelBell and Hyper Vest PRO have shown to be successfully incorporated into nearly every type of workout. Wear the PRO vest while doing yoga, running, resistance training, etc., and use the SandBells or SteelBells in place of traditional weights to make your workouts even MORE challenging, dynamic and safe.

Our prediction for 2012 and beyond is that Hyper Wear is here to stay. No matter what fads and trends come and go, your can rest assured that using and abusing our products will get you fit and keep you fit, no matter what fitness ideology you’re following at the moment.

As a reminder the four categories of movement in the circuit are:

1. Level Changes – lower body dominant movements, dropping and raising the center of mass
2. Push/Pull – upper body dominant movements
3. Rotary Stability/Rotation – focusing on core strength
4. Locomotion and Standing- athletic movements that increase coordinative skill

This third circuit is for total body conditioning and increasing the demands of the energy systems.  The details, so you can do your own circuit at home or in your facility are as follows:

• Always begin with a proper dynamic warm-up
• For conditioning, perform 45 to 60 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest in between each station
• Four-exercise circuit
• Three to four rounds or circuits with 60-90 seconds of rest in between rounds for the entire workout

And finally, what you’ve been waiting for…the exercise list:

1. Clean
   • Explosive variation based on Olympic lift.
   • First Progression: One SteelBell/SandBell
   • Second Progression: 2 SteelBells/SandBells to create dynamic challenge.
   • Strong,neutral wrist position.
   • Grip into SteelBell
   • Movement generated from the strength of the hips
2. SteelBell Flips with Push Ups
   • Great for Shoulder stability.
   • Shift weight back and forth on single arm.
   • Dynamic movementfor upper body and great challenge for core strength
   • First Progression: SteelBell Flips
   • Second Progression: SteelBell Flips and Push Ups
3. Star Pattern
   • Athletic position with braced core
   • Covering many movements in one pattern with star pattern
   • Involves great shoulder to opposite hip rotational patterns
4. Lateral Shuffle with Lateral Lunge
   • Frontal plane movement.
   • Lateral shuffle over SandBell, immediately to lateral lunge
   • Lateral lunge emphasizes strength needed for changes of direction.
   • Push off outside foot.
   • Higher in metabolic demand than a balance movement for increasing overall work load of circuit
   • First Progression: Only body weight, no SandBell
   • Second Progression: Perform with resistance of SandBell

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know how this circuit was for you!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6DfqMPMKck[/youtube]

Don’t get me wrong, I will see it, but the trouble is three-fold:

1.  I don’t want to sit amongst the throngs of die-hards that will attend this weekend.

2.  I didn’t see the last one (part one to this part two).  I know – horror of horrors!  But I hate the suspense!  I couldn’t bear seeing the first half and then having to wait for the second.  So, first I have to watch that one.  In fact, while I’m at it, I think I need to watch all of them again in a row so I remember the flow of the story…

3.  I don’t want to slip into the deep depression feared for many Muggles according to this article:

Grief counseling for Muggles mourning final ‘Harry Potter’ film

But have no fear!!  Hyper Wear has a solution!

Do you know what’s great for dealing with depression and grief?

Exercise!  That’s right!  It gets the endorphins flowing that give you happy feelings and it helps you look great so that when you look in the mirror you love what you see and when you get the one-eyebrow-raised-half-smile-with-the-head-nod at the gym, you know it was well-deserved.

We have a whole channel on You Tube with tons of videos with ideas for exercises to do!

So, for all you sad Muggles out there mourning the end of an era, chin up!  We’ve got just the thing!

An article on Livestrong.com, “Benefits of a Weight Vest,” by Andy Chasse discusses how and why weight vests are so effective, and provides some research to back it up. For example, a study conducted at Texas Tech University consisting of two groups of athletes, one training with and one training without a weight vest, revealed that after six weeks both groups improved in various tactical areas, but the one training with the vest improved substantially more.

Weight vests are a great tool to amp up workouts and challenge muscles so they don’t get used to repetitive movements. When you’re pressed for time and can’t come up with new exercises to keep the body guessing, just throw on a vest.

“This unconventional exercise method allows us to throw our systems off whenever necessary,” says Chasse.

Still not convinced? Well then consider the findings of another study in Chasse’s article—a study published in the “European Journal of Applied Physiology” found that of 12 distance athletes, the group running with a weight vest “emerged victorious with improvements in both their VO2 max (a measure of the body’s ability to consume oxygen) and lactate threshold (the exercise intensity at which lactate begins to accumulate in the blood), two crucial factors affecting endurance exercise.”

US Olympic Decathlete, Trey Hardee trained with the Hyper Vest PRO prior to his 2009 season. In a testimonial to Hyper Wear, Hardee had the following to say about the Hyper Vest PRO.

“I have never seen or used a weight vest like the Hyper Vest PRO. It stays tight, comfortable and cool on my body enabling me to increase my bodyweight while training. It makes adding resistance to my workouts effortless…”

So believe the hype! The Hyper Vest PRO is the real deal when it comes to seeing results and improvement. Visit hyperwear.com to purchase your own vest and see why so many people are boasting the great benefits weight vest training has to offer!

The most popular bending exercise on the planet is probably the Deadlift and its multiple variations. In this week’s video I show you a spin on the traditional exercise by playing a vertical version of “Move the Mountain,” a traditionally horizontal activity.

No matter the age of the student/athlete, Hyper Wear can provide you with the right size of SandBell or SteelBell to make this activity fun, safe, and effective!

Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAv3vPM5L8k[/youtube]

Never Stand Still!

Bill Meyer, SCE, USAW
Head Hyper Wear Coach

Pull-ups are a fantastic strength exercise throughout the upper body.  Unfortunately, not all athletes or students can achieve a great amount of them, or even one for that matter!  So set them up for success by practicing the drill from this video!

As a child, I can’t remember anything else on the playground more challenging but more fun than swinging from the monkey bars.  Zip up your Hyper Vest PRO for an added challenge and give the pull-ups and chin-ups a rest for a while!

For additional support, add in an appropriate level of superband to aid in the movement, and climb til you can’t climb no more!

Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhZ7f3glAp8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Never Stand Still!

Bill Meyer, SCE, USAW
Head Hyper Wear Coach

This week I’m taking a different approach to the traditional push-up. I can’t think of another exercise that our young children despise more than the push-up, and why wouldn’t they? They’re in such a new developmental stage where their bodies are growing, their head is usually bigger proportionately than the rest of their body, and there we are, the teacher making them get on the ground and crank out push-ups over and over again with each passing day.

Why not create a game out of it? Try the Plank Position Dot Toss game in this video, and bonus points go out to everyone out there that has SandBells to use instead of dots! This game doesn’t have to be the end-all-be-all…create ways to integrate the students or athletes to work together, encourage each other, and work out their minds all at the same time!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq0aqMDqv9A[/youtube]

Never Stand Still!

Bill Meyer, SCE, USAW
Head Hyper Wear Coach

Here at Hyper Wear, we like them.

They included our SandBell and SteelBells in some of the training they did last weekend.  The circuits looked really fun, but really intense.  Check it out for yourself (be sure to watch out for our own Denver sporting the Hyper Vest PRO around minute 2:05…way to represent, Denver!):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRYTeUdHuvY&feature=share[/youtube]

Check these guys out and if you get to train with them, tell ‘em howdy from Hyper Wear!

Our athletes / trainers for the shoot included Diane Vives, Hyper Wear’s Director of Training; Daryell Harmon, Avery Moore, and Joe Lopez of Police Training Group out of Dallas, TX; and Sayif Saud of Octagon Fitness, also out of Dallas, TX.  It was truly humbling to be in a room with so many amazing athletes from such varied backgrounds, but all with the desire to present SandBells and SteelBells to the combat athlete world.

Behind the cameras were Dennis Weaver and Timothy Chew.  Sound was run by John McDaniel (who had a lot of ambient noise to deal with from the ice machine in the warehouse behind us to the birds pecking on the roof to the police sirens at various points to large trucks rumbling by).  And Nikita Lance graced us with her wonderful slate abilities!

Cosmo, Diane, and Dennis put the whole shoot together and between the three of them did an amazing job of setting up shots, coaching the trainers for what would look best on camera, and handling wrenches that got thrown in at the last minute.

And there was of course the wonderful folks at H.E.A.T. Bootcamp who were so kind and accommodating to let us use their space!  Founder and creator, Cody Butler, met with some of our crew to show them around the space and help figure out logistics.  On Wednesday, he was around all day, always checking on us to make sure we had what we needed.  They even moved their sessions outside so we could have full use of the facility.  And Marshall Ryan Priest let us in to set up Tuesday evening and showed us the ropes.

Our fabulous interns, Jordan Pratt and Carol Martins, helped me do any odd jobs that needed doing.  Dirk Buikema stopped by with Video Release Forms and Joe Atocha and Ben Buikema held down the fort back here at the office.  And I shouldn’t leave out Denver Fredenburg who gave a big thumbs up to the whole deal!!  I even want to thank the kind and helpful folks at Rudy’s and Subway who took our food orders and carried the big boxes to the car for me (even when I was parked a block away!).

It was a lot of work, but we all agreed that it was well worth it!  We can’t wait to get the DVD done and out there – it’s gonna rock the Combat Athlete’s world!

Whether you’re a strength coach, personal trainer, bootcamp instructor, physical education instructor, or just a fitness enthusiast, this video series is for you. No matter the athlete or student, there is always room for play (or there should be).  You would be surprised at the reaction of your athletes when you allow for an activity or a game instead of the traditional lifts, presses, and throws. I would be willing to bet that the relationship between athlete and coach/instructor would greatly improve if there was an involvement of play in the workout program from time to time.

Hyper Wear’s products allow for safe, effective, play-based fitness and can be used for serious training, as well as serious fun.  The SandBells and SteelBells allow for resistance training, while the Hyper Vest PRO takes any activity, exercise, or game to a higher level with added resistance in a safe manner.

Bottom line: Never forget to have FUN with your training!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrdv-ydD1nA[/youtube]

Never Stand Still!

Bill Meyer, SCE, USAW
Head Hyper Wear Coach

Anyway, Melinda called bright and early Monday morning.  Just before the weekend, she was told she had Osteopenia and was given some options.  Her doctor said she could take the recommended drugs or try an alternative.  Melinda did not like the sound of the side effects of the drugs, so she went the alternative route.  She needed to do weight bearing exercise and walking her little 115-pound, 5′3″ self around was not enough weight to bear!  Her doctor then recommended that she load up a backpack with soup cans and carry it around as much as possible throughout the day.

Melinda’s response: “Soup cans?  Really?  I think we can do a little better than that!”

So she did some research online and found our Hyper Vest PRO.  I don’t want to put words in her mouth, but I think Melinda felt it was perfect for what she needed.  She could wear it pretty much all day, hidden under her clothes if she so desired.  A backpack full of soup cans is a little harder to wear discreetly!  She also liked that it wouldn’t hinder her normal activities.  In addition, we both felt like something that fits snugly on your entire core is of far greater benefit than something that, by its very design, pulls on your back and shoulders.

The applications for the Hyper Vest PRO are so vast, it sometimes makes me try to think of things it would not be good for simply because that list is so much shorter!

So, if you have Osteopenia or Osteoporosis, talk to your doctor about the benefits of wearing a weighted vest and then give us a call…I’d love to chat with you about it!!