Elite Health & Fitness Article II-Practical Magic

  Elite is helping our writer increase his physical capacity. Evan Burgess looks at the Pieces of Equipment that will transform your day to day life too...

A personal training session at Elite may be one of constant surprises. The gym utilises space to store an array of goodies (or torture equipment) for the benefit of any program. The names of some of the equipment can be more or less intimidating. The equipment with the more elaborate names however, are designed to build day to day strength that imitates motions found in life, rather than so called “target” training of a particular muscle. The prowler, the grappler, the sled and power bags are all quality items of equipment that offer practical strength training as well as targeting specific muscle groups.

The Prowler

The Prowler being dragged

The prowler is useful for both pushing and pulling movements. The pushing element of the equipment is useful for people such as Rugby players in a scrum. Attaching a rope to the prowler allows a subject to develop strength related to rope climbing. The prowler has two posts on it that allow weight discs to be added. This allows for an almost unlimited amount of strength to be developed for the same exercises. The exercise is simple, but executing it becomes immensely difficult under circuit conditions. What starts off easy soon turns into a mind over matter exercise of stamina, rather than just raw strength. This is excellent for conditioning, and on Elite’s plush astro turf track, everyone will learn the delights of this piece of kit.

The Grappler

The grappler is a great tool for building back strength. A bar with two grip handles attached on the top, this device allows one to develop the strength needed to pull someone or something up from the ground. This is useful for hands on jobs like being a paramedic, a fire man or a soldier. Due to the nature of the contraption, good form must be maintained to achieve satisfactory balance. 

The Sled

The sled like the prowler, is a rather simple

Pushing the prowler

apparatus. It has a clear benefit to running speed and can help build strength without so much need for recovery time. A lot of muscle size is built due to the decline or eccentric part of an exercise. As the sled doesn’t have this, muscle may not be built as large, but at the same time the pain two days after isn’t so extreme. This is useful for endurance athletes and still builds total body strength.

Power Bags

Power bags are weighted bags with an array of handles on them. This allows a multitude of dynamic motions to be carried out. Either simply lifting and carrying, or even throwing, the power bag can be used individually or in a duo. The fatigue of throwing or carrying a power bag will develop great stamina and resilience.

Find out more about Elite at the following links:

http://elitefit.co.uk

www.facebook.com/Elitehealth.fitness