Sweat: The new wave of 'functional' fitness equipment

Scott Shafer
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  1/08/2009 2:47 pm

If you haven't set foot in a gym for the past few years, you might be puzzled by some of the contraptions you'd find there.

Sure, the weights are still there, as are the familiar strength training and cardio machines, but now there is a plethora of new equipment designed to improve one's balance and replicate real-life movements such as shoveling snow, carrying groceries or, of course, playing a favorite sport.

"All of it is coming back. It's like the '60s and '70s again, where we'd work out with anything we could get our hands on," explained Gene Hogoboom, a fitness director at The Princeton Club on the west side of Madison. "People are adding new things and looking to make exercising more challenging."

Joining the existing colored resistance bands and stability balls are a slew of new products that help people train their whole bodies rather than just individual muscles. This type of training is called a variety of things -- such as "functional" or "integrated" -- and it has been embraced in Madison.

Below is a small sample of these products to try out in 2009.

Vew-Do Balance Board

Info: www.vewdo.com

How it works: Riders plant their feet on a wooden deck that sits on top of a rolling cylinder.

Who uses it? Skiers, snowboarders, extreme sports aficionados, NFL cheerleaders, for both sport-specific strengthening and developing general core strength.

Cost: $99.95 and up

The skinny: Joe Marks, a performance specialist at Core Athletic in Middleton, trains many of his clients on equipment designed to improve dynamic balance and stabilization. That includes the Vew-Do Balance Board, which was introduced in the 1990s as an improvement on the original concept that made its debut in the 1950s.

According to Marks, the unstable nature of the device means the tiny stabilizer muscles throughout the body must work to help the person atop the board retain his or her balance.

He said clients use them to rehabilitate bum ankles, improve single leg balance and improve their skiing or snowboarding.

SPRI Slanted Riser

Info: www.spriproducts.com

How it works: Transforms the "step" riser into a dynamic training tool.

Who uses it? Advertised for strength, cardio and interval training, the Slanted Riser can be used for weightlifting or aerobic fitness.

Cost: $59.99 each

The skinny: Alison McWilliams, co-owner of Siren Fitness in Madison, returned from a fitness equipment convention in October with SPRI's Slanted Riser, designed to work with the ubiquitous Original Fitness Step that you know from the aerobic class fad of the 1990s.

Fitness experts have found many other uses for these steps and the addition of slanted risers allows McWilliams to lead her clients through exercises that challenge the body to adapt to different grades, just like a winter run in Wisconsin.

BOSU Balance Trainer

Info: www.bosu.com

How it works: The air-filled bubble, which essentially is half a stability ball on a stable base, can be used for exercises as diverse as sit-ups and single-leg squats, to focus on building stabilizer muscles.

Who uses it?

Testimonials from a multitude of sources are available on the company Web site -- from the Chicago White Sox to pro volleyball players.

Cost: $99.99 for the "Classic" version

The skinny: BOSU has expanded to produce a variety of exercise training tools, but its most popular offering remains the balance trainer, which is in use in classes at Siren Fitness, Princeton Club and the Lussier Family West YMCA.

Patrick Ellestad, the assistant health and fitness director at the YMCA, said the BOSU device -- which was invented in 1999 -- is helpful in improving balance but can also be used for almost any exercise to provide a safe but unstable surface that is therefore more challenging.

Incidentally, the acronym BOSU is derived from the phrase "Both Sides Utilized," which refers to its ability to be flipped over to provide a flat surface on an unstable platform.

TRX Suspension Trainer

Info: www.fitnessanywhere.com

How it works: A system of rubber ropes uses body weight as resistance while building strength, flexibility, core stability and balance.

Who uses it? Great for home use or travelers because of its compact size and versatility.

Cost: $149.99 and up

The skinny: According to Sara Johnson, the personal training director and mind/body director at Harbor Athletic Club, the rope system created by TRX challenges clients to use their entire body.

Scott Shafer
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  1/08/2009 2:47 pm