Posts Tagged ‘strength training’

Monday Morning Scoop: Why strength training is a workout for everyone

November 14th, 2011
,,,,,,,,,, - Monday Morning Scoop - strength training

It’s pretty well established that exercising and eating a balanced diet are components of a healthy lifestyle that everyone should follow. To really get the most out of your workouts and improve your physical performance and appearance, strength training is something that everyone should also be incorporating.

For some, strength training is associated with body building and lifting weights to pack on the pounds. What we all may not realize is that strength training is designed to strengthen muscles, which doesn’t necessarily mean bulking up.

Strength training does more than strengthen and tone the body, it also helps to prevent injuries when performing daily tasks–walking up and down stairs, lifting heavy objects, etc. According to the online article “Strength training’s not just for body builders anymore,” it even helps to reduce the risk factors of some diseases, such as osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes.

“You can improve your overall health just by watching your weight and taking walks in the neighborhood. But if you want to improve your fitness — look better, maximize health, have more energy, prevent injuries — you need to do more,” said Jeffrey Potteiger, dean of graduate studies at Grand Valley State University who has spent 24 years doing research on strength training, in the aforementioned online article.

A great and easy way to incorporate strength training techniques is by throwing on a Hyper Vest PRO. The Hyper Vest PRO weight vest adds resistance to whatever you’re doing, working out, running, biking, rock-climbing, you get the picture. The weight vest evenly distributes weight across your core, and its patented design ensures you can do any exercise in the vest without enduring uncomfortable rubbing or chaffing.

The SandBell is another awesome strength training tool. The active resistance of the sand inside the bell is great for working grip and arm strength, and the active movement of the sand challenges core stability.

Incorporating strength training into your daily workout is easier than ever with Hyperwear! Also, you can be sure to never run out of circuit and exercise ideas with our weekly Hyper Training Lab videos by Hyperwear Director of Training and Education, Diane Vives MS, CSCS.

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Hyper Training Lab #8: Conditioning Circuit with Upper-Body Movements w. Diane Vives

September 27th, 2011
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, - Body movements - Diane Vives - Hyper Training Lab - SandBell - Tuesday Training Lab - athlete training - balance - burn calories - core - endurance - endurance exercise - exercise - grip strength - push ups - stability - strength training - training

In this week’s Hyper Training Lab, Diane focuses on creating a metabolically challenging circuit that concentrates on upper-body movements. These exercises are a fantastic way to amp up your conditioning routine, as well as improve on upper-body strength endurance.

Upper-Body Blast:

  1. Dive bomber: Start in pike position, pull chest through to low position to challenge shoulders and create a great extension through the lower body
  2. Upper-body  step-ups: Start at the top, executing great range of motion, and as you step up work to stabilize and get single arm involvement
  3. Slide shuffle: This exercises involves the challenge of doing an upper-body shuffle on the slide, works the stabilizer muscles and strength of the upper-body
  4. SandBell punches: Focuses on grip strength and getting a controlled, punching strike with each movement

Make every rep count and follow good form.  It’s your move!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv5U9Ut15gY[/youtube]

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Hyper Training Lab #5: Examples of super-sets for athletes w. Diane Vives

August 30th, 2011
,,,,,, - Britny Fowler - Hyper Training Lab - HyperWear - athlete training - exercise - functional fitness - strength training - workout
In this week’s Hyper Training Lab we are shifting more toward the athlete or the athletic-minded fitness enthusiast.   With the versatility of the Hyper Wear gear we can target several purpose-driven movements.
The focus this week is creating a super-set that integrates a traditional strength training movement with a non-traditional movement that emphasizes stability strength and power.
Super-Set #1
  1. Traditional Front Squat with Barbell
  2. One-Arm Snatch with SteelBell
This one-arm movement is easier to learn or progress than the two-handed grip based on the natural freedom of movement and ability to naturally adjust the shoulder joint, overhead for the catch.
Super-Set #2
  1. Bent-over Row with Kettlebells
  2. Walk-over Prone Row with SandBell
This movement is a great example of how to get a great combination of both stability and strength for the support arm and strength in the pulling movement of the rowing arm.  Both key for athletes and especially females looking to improve upper body strength.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeBdbqHWvjY[/youtube]
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Strength Training Improves Endurance

May 31st, 2011
,,,,,,, - Hot Topic Tuesday - Hyper Vest PRO - SandBell - SteelBell - endurance - exercise - fitness - sandbag - strength training - workout

It’s that time of year again, the sun is cooking the earth like a Thanksgiving turkey, gas seems to be evaporating from our engines and while sitting on the deck at Hula Hut, I suddenly have the urge to cannonball into Lake Austin. But hey, with the 100-degree heat comes all the fun summer 5K’s, 10K’s, marathons and half-marathons. So whether you’re training for a race, or trying to get in shape for summer, studies show that two strength-training sessions per week can improve your endurance.

“A strong body improves your biomechanics, which enables you to train harder and more effectively without increased injury or risk,” says Matt Dixon, M. Sc., a San Francisco running coach. It makes sense that, if you want to train harder, your muscles are going to have to be strong enough to support the extra miles you’ll be pounding on the pavement. Another perk of strength training is the injuries you’ll avoid as your miles add up. Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, a Men’s Health Fitness Advisor and author of Turbulence Training for Fat Loss, conducted his own informal experiment of strength-training’s impact and concluded, “the more strength and muscle you have, the less likely you are to get chronic overuse injury.” He went on to say that being thinner may allow runners to attack hills faster, but will also leave them prone to more injuries.

What’s the safest, most effective and definitely most fun way to incorporate strength training workouts? By using our SandBell sandbags, SteelBell weights and Hyper Vest PRO weight vest, OF COURSE! The Hyper Wear blog archive contains hundreds of tips, videos and workout plans, and is a great resource to come up with your own muscle-building routines. Check out the video below for some SandBell exercises, take a look at previous blogs, or search Hyper Wear on YouTube for even more videos and demonstrations!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94KncdoUm3k[/youtube]

Regardless of the exercises you choose to do, strength training is an essential workout component that should not be overlooked, especially for runners. So pick up a SandBell and let those muscles feel the burn!

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Death of the Squat!

November 9th, 2009
,, - Bill Meyer - HyperWear - Mike Boyle - SandBell - squats

Everyone in the Strength Training Coaches’ Circuit knows Mike Boyle. Mike has produced several textbooks on functional training as well as power training, and has served as a fantastic leader in the athletic strength training arena for all of us coaches that continually try to bring “function” into our sessions. Mike defines functional training as “training with purpose” and recently he has released a new opinion on the conventional barbell squat that is rocking a lot of trainers to the core right now. If you haven’t read about it or seen the video he posted on Perform Better, watch it here.

Mike’s point is that the conventional squat is more of a lower-back, restricted exercise instead of a maximal-strength, lower-body exercise. Now, is squatting bad for the body? No. Does it match the demands of several athletic movements that athletes perform on a daily basis? Absolutely. So it has function, but what I’m saying, and what I believe Mike is saying is that a heavy barbell squat might not exactly be as functional for the lower body as some of us may have once thought. So we’ve agreed that we can’t rely on the squat as a lower-body, maximum-strength exercise; however, it is still an important movement pattern that assists in sports performance for millions of athletes across the world.

Here at Hyper Wear, we’ve been attempting to cross the two ideals perfectly and continue to use the squat pattern, but just in an even more functional way than the traditional exercise. Check out my videos to see more about performing squat patterns with SandBells that encompass strength, power, endurance, and flexibility, all with one simple piece of equipment.

And always, Never Stand Still!

Best regards,

Bill Meyer, SCE, USAW
Director of Coaching, CATZ Austin
“Where Athletes Train!”
SPARQ Certified Instructor
Director of Texas, Tudor Bompa Institute

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