PhysicallyFIT

PhillyFIT I 13

Nothing makes me happy quite like scoring a great fitness find.As an instructor I’m always on the lookout for fresh and effectiveways to challenge my participants and am thrilled when I comeacross a winner! Over the years I’ve learned to trust my instinctsabout what is a fad and what has the possibility of making a sig-nificant impact on the fitness industry.

My instincts kicked in most recently last year, when I laid eyes ona simple hollow rubber tube with cut-outs for handles. It was anaccidental online run-in that had me immediately drawn to thevisions of people carrying, tossing, flipping, swinging, and drag-ging these cylindrical wonders. It looked freeing, fun, gritty, andexhausting, all at the same time. The movements I was watchingweren’t necessarily new. I’ve tossed medicine balls, swungKettlebells, carried and dragged sandbags, but I’ve never beenable to do all of them with one piece of equipment. This wassomething special and I just had to have one.

But, alas, it turned out the ViPR (and acronym for Vitality,Performance, Reconditioning) had just launched in the U.S. atEquinox clubs and was not yet available to everyone. I wouldhave to wait, albeit impatiently. In the interim I registered for oneof the first trainer workshops available, placed my order, andcounted down the weeks until the freight truck pulled up out front.

When they finally arrived, I found myself immersed in a multi-colored playground of functional fitness toys ranging from 4kg to20kg, experimenting and enjoying the seemingly endless array ofmovement patterns. My heart rate monitor measured an insaneamount of calories, my limbs were shaking, and I already antici-pated the angry payback my muscles would bring in the morning.It was a blast! It wasn’t long, though, before I began to seebeyond the fun-and-games of it all, and started to appreciate thesound principle behind the design. Invented by Michol Dalcourt,the ViPR embraces the concept of Whole Body Integration (WBI)– the idea that the whole body is greater than the sum of its parts;

an understanding that the body is inherently designed to spreadforces throughout the system. When the entire framework sharesthe load, stress is mitigated, and peak performance can beachieved.

Dalcourt adapted the WBI approach to training early in his career.During his time in Canada as an athletic trainer for NHL players,it became evident that the boys who grew up working the farmswere the strongest athletes. Drawing from his own childhoodexperiences on a farm, he thought about the nature of the chores.Each purposeful task required the full body to work in varyingranges of motion, speeds, loads, and were multi-directional. Heknew that if these “functional” movements, and more importantly,the concept of WBI, could translate to the gym, his players wouldbenefit. The ViPR eventually became the tool for the job.

You need not be a professional athlete to relate to the WBIapproach. Think about the way we typically exercise our bodiesin the gym, and then think about the ways in which we typicallyinjure ourselves. We tend to train our muscle groups in isolation,usually in a singular plane treating them as separate parts.However, we generally aren’t operating that way in real life whenwe get hurt. Chances are injuries happen while we’re reaching toplace our luggage into an overhead compartment, or lunging tocatch the leash of our puppy as it darts away. These are threedimensional “real life” tasks that require you to lift, twist, shift,crouch, and reach, sometimes all at the same time! So why don’twe train in 3-D more often? If we prepared the body for thesetask-oriented movements, we could help prevent those quirkyinjuries that sometimes happen during our everyday activities?

The road to WBI isn’t paved with only the ViPR, for sure. Thereare many tools already in your gym or home that can aid in func-tional training, and I wouldn’t give up any of them. In fact, as thefitness industry evolves to a more functional based focus, therewill surely be numerous new programs and tools following suit.

The Evolution of

Free Weights&FitnessBy Kristin Dowell

March/April I 267-767-4205 I www.phillyfit.com

The versatility of the ViPR, however, will most likely give it stay-ing power and make it a force with which to be reckoned.

For example, before even picking it up you have several choicesfor the grip: one or two handed, neutral, wide, offset, shovel hold,on end, or cylinder grip. Or you can choose a front or side carryhold. If you’re feeling feisty, you can even launch it from theground with your feet! Each hold option sets the stage for a dif-ferent recruitment of muscles, and that’s before you’ve even begunthe exercise. Once you begin, the shape allows for the freedom ofyour whole body to smoothly lift, twist and shift through space.The construction is brilliant as well; the rubber is durable enoughfor outdoor use, yet soft enough that studio floors will remainunscathed (although, from personal experience, stay clear of over-head light fixtures!)

We all know exercise trends come and go. It’s the natural, healthycycle of the business and it keeps us from getting bored. It isalways exciting to try something new, but it’s even better when itmakes you think about the purpose behind your training. Myintroduction to the ViPR was a reminder of the amazing integra-tion of the components of the human body, and the importance ofa well balanced conditioning program that honors it.

Kristin Dowell is the owner of Program Fit, Inc. and the star of the recently released DVD “Hi/LoRecharge.” She is a certified group fitness instructor and personal trainer, a Star 3 Spinning®Instructor, TRX® and ViPR trainer, has a certificate in perinatal fitness, and teaches several LesMills and Silver Sneakers® programs. While her passion lies with dance and choreography, her com-pany has found its greatest success facilitating outdoor boot camps since 2000. More info can befound at programfit.com.

14 I PhillyFIT March/April I 267-767-4205 I www.phillyfit.com

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