gotbeer
Fri, Jul-18-03, 13:01
Worth the weight: FreeMotion is hard-core fun
07/18/2003
By KARON KARTER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
link to article (http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/071803dnlivnufreemotion.28adf.html)
You know the obvious: Weight training is good for you. While getting bone-building benefits, you're fueling your metabolism, polishing your posture and keeping your body strong.
So why haven't you hit the weights? Perhaps because somewhere between tight work schedules, company reports and carpools, you sneak in exercise whenever and wherever you can. Slipping into a spin class or taking a jog is so much easier than waiting your turn to pump iron.
If you can't find the time or the inspiration to fight the weight room crowds, here's the solution: a group weight-training class. Not any old pumping iron class, but a FreeMotion weight-training class with sleek machines.
Immediately upon checking in, one thing becomes obvious: Weight training is no longer a man's world, as women rule in this class.
"I love the class atmosphere versus working out alone," says Natalie Church, 30, of Dallas. "A lot of my girlfriends attend. It is just fun. I've seen results with FreeMotion. And now I'm looking forward to getting my body back after the birth of my baby girl."
Dallas resident Debra Schudde, 32, agrees. "I've done conventional weights and like FreeMotion better because it imitates the same movements I use in real life: bending, reaching, pulling and stretching."
FreeMotion's attraction is that the 60-minute class is geared toward all levels of exercises. And in those 60 minutes, you'll strengthen just about every muscle. Yet before this workout can begin, you'll have to get acquainted with a massive apparatus called the "tower."
Our instructor, Donna Fisher, 32, took a few minutes to explain how to set the weights, attach the straps and secure the brake so the "tower" doesn't run away from you.
After that, much of what we did in a FreeMotion weight class is similar to the exercises done in a weight room – curls, squats and lunges – but with a twist, literally. As we went from exercise to exercise, we focused on spinal rotation and strengthening the body as a whole – moves that any serious golfer or tennis player would recognize.
All of these exercises were done from a standing position. For that reason, multiple muscles were used, including the core muscles keeping the body steady. For instance, standing bicep curls: After completing a few reps, we added a series of squats to those bicep curls and then finished with a more difficult combination of bicep curls and one-legged squats.
"The biggest difference between a FreeMotion class and conventional weight training is that my students constantly move during the entire class, working all major muscle groups in flexion, extension and rotation, while using the same piece of equipment," says Ms. Fisher.
Fitness instructors have been plugging "functional fitness," meaning fitness that simultaneously strengthens the core – the muscles of the abdomen, back, hips and pelvis – and just about every other muscle in the body. Experts are saying that if you ignore the core, you're setting yourself up for problems.
David Jorgens, director of personal training at the Premier Club, says: "FreeMotion is the perfect cross between free weights and stationary equipment. FreeMotion provides enough resistance to achieve greater results in strength of the larger muscles, creates a challenge for stabilizing muscles surrounding the joints used in motion, and strengthens the core muscles that stabilize the spine. This creates safety and efficiency of movement in everyday life and in all sports."
Think about it: The core, in conjunction with multiple muscle groups, helps you perform many chores during the day – from cradling a baby while assembling a baby stroller to lugging your briefcase while searching for a ringing cellphone. Most of this strength begins with the core because it supports the entire musculature.
Walking is an example. As you step, the muscles in your back, abdomen, hips, pelvis and legs propel you forward. These muscles, when aligned correctly, help buffer the impact on the joints.
If, say, the muscles in your hip are weak, then you may walk with the pelvis tucked underneath you, which puts extra pressure on your lower back. A strong core:
• Keeps your hips and pelvis in place, reducing strain on the lower back.
• Supports the spine.
• Lessens strain on the delicate shoulder joints, decreasing the workload on injury-prone shoulders.
• Improves posture and keeps the spine healthy, which may help beat the back blues one day.
Best of all, you'll have a tighter, trimmer midsection.
The philosophy of FreeMotion training is based on simulating our basic movement patterns, and focuses on building strength, stability, balance and flexibility through natural movements such as pushing, pulling, twisting, lunging and squatting.
Everett Aaberg, director of personal training for the International Athletic Club Management, says, "The unique feature about FreeMotion is that it allows my students to apply progressive resistance forces to their bodies at every angle possible. This empowers them to train virtually any muscle, in all planes of motion, in a standing position."
Traditional weight machines tend to focus on one muscle group at a time. Let's take that standing bicep curl again: After eight reps of standing bicep curls, you may add a hamstring curl. Not only will you strengthen the working hamstring, but the supporting leg, the core muscles and bicep muscles. On a traditional weight machine, you often use a bench to support the body while doing that same hamstring curl.
When the class is over, you will feel as if you've thoroughly worked those out-of-sight, out-of-mind muscles.
"FreeMotion," says Scotty Esquibel, group exercise director at the Cooper Aerobics Center, "is the most exciting innovation to come around in years. My students love it."
Karon Karter is a Dallas freelance writer and the author of
Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pilates Method (Alpha Books, $16.95).
WHERE TO GO
These Dallas facilities offer FreeMotion classes:
Cooper Fitness Center, 12100 Preston Road, 972-233-4832
Premier Athletic Club, 5910 N. Central Expressway, 214-891-6600
07/18/2003
By KARON KARTER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
link to article (http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/071803dnlivnufreemotion.28adf.html)
You know the obvious: Weight training is good for you. While getting bone-building benefits, you're fueling your metabolism, polishing your posture and keeping your body strong.
So why haven't you hit the weights? Perhaps because somewhere between tight work schedules, company reports and carpools, you sneak in exercise whenever and wherever you can. Slipping into a spin class or taking a jog is so much easier than waiting your turn to pump iron.
If you can't find the time or the inspiration to fight the weight room crowds, here's the solution: a group weight-training class. Not any old pumping iron class, but a FreeMotion weight-training class with sleek machines.
Immediately upon checking in, one thing becomes obvious: Weight training is no longer a man's world, as women rule in this class.
"I love the class atmosphere versus working out alone," says Natalie Church, 30, of Dallas. "A lot of my girlfriends attend. It is just fun. I've seen results with FreeMotion. And now I'm looking forward to getting my body back after the birth of my baby girl."
Dallas resident Debra Schudde, 32, agrees. "I've done conventional weights and like FreeMotion better because it imitates the same movements I use in real life: bending, reaching, pulling and stretching."
FreeMotion's attraction is that the 60-minute class is geared toward all levels of exercises. And in those 60 minutes, you'll strengthen just about every muscle. Yet before this workout can begin, you'll have to get acquainted with a massive apparatus called the "tower."
Our instructor, Donna Fisher, 32, took a few minutes to explain how to set the weights, attach the straps and secure the brake so the "tower" doesn't run away from you.
After that, much of what we did in a FreeMotion weight class is similar to the exercises done in a weight room – curls, squats and lunges – but with a twist, literally. As we went from exercise to exercise, we focused on spinal rotation and strengthening the body as a whole – moves that any serious golfer or tennis player would recognize.
All of these exercises were done from a standing position. For that reason, multiple muscles were used, including the core muscles keeping the body steady. For instance, standing bicep curls: After completing a few reps, we added a series of squats to those bicep curls and then finished with a more difficult combination of bicep curls and one-legged squats.
"The biggest difference between a FreeMotion class and conventional weight training is that my students constantly move during the entire class, working all major muscle groups in flexion, extension and rotation, while using the same piece of equipment," says Ms. Fisher.
Fitness instructors have been plugging "functional fitness," meaning fitness that simultaneously strengthens the core – the muscles of the abdomen, back, hips and pelvis – and just about every other muscle in the body. Experts are saying that if you ignore the core, you're setting yourself up for problems.
David Jorgens, director of personal training at the Premier Club, says: "FreeMotion is the perfect cross between free weights and stationary equipment. FreeMotion provides enough resistance to achieve greater results in strength of the larger muscles, creates a challenge for stabilizing muscles surrounding the joints used in motion, and strengthens the core muscles that stabilize the spine. This creates safety and efficiency of movement in everyday life and in all sports."
Think about it: The core, in conjunction with multiple muscle groups, helps you perform many chores during the day – from cradling a baby while assembling a baby stroller to lugging your briefcase while searching for a ringing cellphone. Most of this strength begins with the core because it supports the entire musculature.
Walking is an example. As you step, the muscles in your back, abdomen, hips, pelvis and legs propel you forward. These muscles, when aligned correctly, help buffer the impact on the joints.
If, say, the muscles in your hip are weak, then you may walk with the pelvis tucked underneath you, which puts extra pressure on your lower back. A strong core:
• Keeps your hips and pelvis in place, reducing strain on the lower back.
• Supports the spine.
• Lessens strain on the delicate shoulder joints, decreasing the workload on injury-prone shoulders.
• Improves posture and keeps the spine healthy, which may help beat the back blues one day.
Best of all, you'll have a tighter, trimmer midsection.
The philosophy of FreeMotion training is based on simulating our basic movement patterns, and focuses on building strength, stability, balance and flexibility through natural movements such as pushing, pulling, twisting, lunging and squatting.
Everett Aaberg, director of personal training for the International Athletic Club Management, says, "The unique feature about FreeMotion is that it allows my students to apply progressive resistance forces to their bodies at every angle possible. This empowers them to train virtually any muscle, in all planes of motion, in a standing position."
Traditional weight machines tend to focus on one muscle group at a time. Let's take that standing bicep curl again: After eight reps of standing bicep curls, you may add a hamstring curl. Not only will you strengthen the working hamstring, but the supporting leg, the core muscles and bicep muscles. On a traditional weight machine, you often use a bench to support the body while doing that same hamstring curl.
When the class is over, you will feel as if you've thoroughly worked those out-of-sight, out-of-mind muscles.
"FreeMotion," says Scotty Esquibel, group exercise director at the Cooper Aerobics Center, "is the most exciting innovation to come around in years. My students love it."
Karon Karter is a Dallas freelance writer and the author of
Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pilates Method (Alpha Books, $16.95).
WHERE TO GO
These Dallas facilities offer FreeMotion classes:
Cooper Fitness Center, 12100 Preston Road, 972-233-4832
Premier Athletic Club, 5910 N. Central Expressway, 214-891-6600