Tuesday, September 28, 2010

New AB Exercises with BOSU and P90X using SoloStrength System

My ABS are KILLING ME!

I've been trying to work through the P90X program to see how we can best modify the programs to fit with our quick SoloStrength workouts.  I have to say that Tony Horton and the BeachBody team have done a great job.   It's intense and like any exercise, works miracles...when you do it, and more importantly, stick with it. 

I for one love taking 90 minutes for exercise.  The problem is, I'm a dad, have a business to run, and like to do "other activities" with my time, so the reality of sticking to a 60 or 90 minutes program with the consistency long enough to have lasting value, is unfortunately going to end in failure for me - if I was to rely on such programs for my fitness.

Those of you who know me, know that I like it "Simple and Fast", and that's for a lot a lot of things in life. :) I get bored quickly, and if I'm not doing something fun or interesting, I am looking to move on.   


What I love about the SoloStrength system the most, is that I can do my basic 9 exercises in like 15 minutes, or add an entirely different set of exercises, focus or just hammer on one body part if I want to.  If I get in those moods, I usually choose the abdominal/core region, and let me tell you, I start easy, but near the end of 15 minutes, I can't even bend over my abdominals are like stone, I need to stretch it out just to breath.  If that sounds attractive to you, then SoloStrength might just be what you are looking for. 

Well today I was playing around with a trainer friend of mine, who put a little twist on some of our standard exercises, by using the BOSU on the slanted mat, and lightly bracing the legs on the support bar (adjustments to the bar are fast and you can see them on the website www.solostrength.com) .

I took a little video showing this one.  It feels like an intensified decline crunch, but with the benefit of using the BOSU on this new exercise system, you can really open up the abdominals and get a "killer crunch" on it.   I didn't take any video yet of using SoloStrength for the P90X program but if you know the program you will understand how to use it quickly for self spotting and full bodyweight exercise work, with the benefit of adjustable leverage points for full body stretching and anchoring resistance bands.  






Please post your comments, thoughts and suggestions.  It's always good to hear from you and enjoy living with SoloStrength!


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Functional furniture for fitness families

Functional furniture for fitness families ...more click link


CANADA.COM

A new North Shore company is encouraging clients to go solo to simplify their fitness regimes.

North Vancouver resident Michael Bulva, president of SoloStrength Lifestyle Products Corp., is behind the SoloStrength FUSE (Fitness Utility for Strength and Energy), an advanced, streamlined, all-in-one circuit training station.

Bulva worked on the development of the FUSE with program director Dianne Speranza, a well-known local trainer, for the last two and a half years.

"We designed it locally, we prototyped it locally," he says.

"We came up with this concept of a fully supported body weight fitness training system which incorporates the structure itself, which is a uniquely designed structure that is a support bar that you can adjust from a very high to very low levels really quickly and safely," he adds.

The FUSE is simple and safe to use, is gentle on joints, and is effective for users of various levels of fitness, says Bulva. It creates a feeling of calm, concentration, and body awareness. In that way it's similar to yoga. Additionally, the FUSE can also provide a physically exhausting workout allowing users to reach a higher intensity level due to the natural and easily adjusted resistance levels.

"We're finding that a lot of trainer gyms, or gyms where there's a lot of personal trainers working, like to use our system," says Bulva, noting that North Vancouver's KO Fitness has a unit that's being used by its trainers.

"We're looking at going into a few other gyms locally here so that people can utilize it and so the trainers can utilize it," he says.

The FUSE is intended to be used by everyone in the family. Bulva says children will be inspired to mimic their parents and give it a shot, contributing to the well-being of the whole family.

Additionally, the FUSE is aesthetically pleasing, which Bulva says is a result of his past experiences in interior design. "It's a nice looking piece," he says.

"It's really meant to be more of a piece of functional furniture," he adds.

Bulva says he plans to conduct direct sales of the FUSE and it is currently available through his company website. Also, it will be distributed through Fitness Town, beginning in early December, as well as some specialty distributors, including Lotuswear.

Bulva is currently finalizing the details of the FUSE's official launch.

For more information on the SoloStrength FUSE, visit

www.solostrength.com.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

How To Speed up and Simplify your Exercise with Functional Fitness and SOLOSTRENGTH



Functional fitness may be among the latest buzzwords in gyms these days, but for good reason. It's about training your body to handle real-life situations.
By Gina Shaw

WebMD Feature

Yesterday you had a great workout at the gym. You're bench-pressing more weight than ever before, and pulling enough weight on the seated rowing machine to try out for the Olympic sculling team.


Today, you lift a 60-pound suitcase to carry it downstairs -- and throw your back out. What happened? In all likelihood, you're not paying enough attention to your functional fitness. You might be toned, tight, and ready for the beach, but are you ready to lift your toddler out of his car seat or hoist the spring-water bottle onto the dispenser?
Functional fitness and functional exercise are the latest gym buzzwords. They focus on building a body capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions, not just lifting a certain amount of weight in an idealized posture created by a gym machine.

Making Muscles Work Together

"Conventional weight training isolates muscle groups, but it doesn't teach the muscle groups you're isolating to work with others," says Greg Roskopf, MS, a biomechanics consultant with a company called Muscle Activation Techniques who has worked with athletes from the Denver Broncos, the Denver Nuggets, and the Utah Jazz.
"The key to functional exercise is integration. It's about teaching all the muscles to work together rather than isolating them to work independently."
So what's an example of a functional exercise? Think of a bent-over row; not the kind of row you do on a seated machine, but the kind you do leaning over a bench, holding the weight in one hand with your arm hanging straight down, and then pulling the weight up as your elbow points to the ceiling, finishing with your upper arm parallel to the ground.
"That's an exercise that will build the muscles of the back, the shoulders, the arms, and because of its nature will really work your whole body," says exercise kinesiologist Paul Chek, MSS, founder of the Corrective High-performance Exercise Kinesiology Institute in California who has advised the Chicago Bulls and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
"Compare that motion to a carpenter bending over a piece of wood, a nurse bending over a bed to transfer a patient, or an auto mechanic bending over to adjust your carburetor. Anyone doing a bent-over row will find a carryover in things you do in normal life."
Contrast that with the seated row: You're sitting in a chair with your chest pressed against pads, and you pull two levers back. "You may be strengthening certain muscles, but your body's not learning anything, because you don't have to activate your core stabilizer muscles or the stabilizers of your arms and shoulders. The machine's doing it for you," says Chek.
"In functional fitness, most of the time, you should be standing on your own two feet and supporting your own weight when you lift anything."


Control and Balance the Body

In fact, to get started with functional fitness, you might want to forget about the weights entirely at first. "Most people can't even control their own body weight," says Roskopf. "They can't do a one-legged squat without falling over." Try it now; can you?
"They could lie down on a leg-press machine and press 500 pounds, but they don't have the muscular control for a one-legged squat because they don't have the stability or the muscles working together." That's why, when we walk downstairs or reach up to get something out of a high cabinet, a lot of us have pain.
Your first step, Roskopf says, should be to teach your body to control and balance its own weight. "Start with simple movements, like the one-legged squat, and other balance exercises. Then try standing on one leg on a step-stool that's perhaps eight inches high, and then lower the heel of your other foot to the ground, while controlling your body weight as you go down and back up." Switch sides during each maneuver to promote balance and muscle integration on either side of your body.
Once you can control and balance your own body weight, then you can start working with added weights. "Put a five-pound dumbbell on a level chair, and then do the same one-legged squat, but this time pick up the dumbbell as you come up," suggests Roskopf. "Next, pick up the same weight from the ground while doing the squat. That's challenging your total body integration, and teaching the upper body to work with the lower body."
Other popular tools that promote functional exercise are things like stability balls and the "wobble board," both of which force you to work your core to keep your body balanced while you're lifting a weight.

Function Follows Form

So should you abandon the weight machines at the gym for a program that's all about free weights and balance? Not necessarily.
"If there are isolated weaknesses, they'll cause a detriment in functional movement," says Roskopf. "If you don't address integration, strong muscles get stronger and the weak ones stay weak, and you create a pattern of compensation. If you blend the two together, functional exercises teach isolated muscles how to work together."
Jumping into functional exercise may startle some people used to working on machines alone: It's a lot harder! "Functional exercise is much more neurologically demanding than machine exercises," says Chek.
"You can't do functional exercise with the same levels of intensity and short rest periods as machine exercise. And unlike traditional weightlifting on machines, with functional exercise, if you 'train to failure' [until muscle fatigue], you train to fail. Instead, your set ends when you can no longer perform the exercise with perfect form."
Finding a trainer with a background in functional exercise shouldn't be hard -- most gyms now have them, says Roskopf. And he advises caution. "Don't try to go too fast," Chek cautions. "The longer you've been away from exercise, the more time it takes to build your body back up."
Learn more about functional fitness equipment for professional and home use at www.solostrength.com

Saturday, July 24, 2010

functional fitness equipment: SoloStrength FLEXI-GYM

functional fitness equipment: SoloStrength FLEXI-GYM: "SoloStrength FLEXI-GYM : A beautifully designed all-in-one system for fundamental exercises and progressive functional fitness for the prof..."

Friday, May 7, 2010

Special limited time BOSU promotion with SoloStrength FUSION Reservation!



Special SoloStrength Reservation Promotion! 
Put your hold in now and take advantage of this special offer!


www.solostrength.com
























SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise and Stretching System.
The SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise System is a simplified, streamlined, and full body strength, stretching and toning station for maintaining a lifetime of fitness. The quick and simple SoloStrength bodyweight training program adapts to every user’s ability and needs, increasing strength, metabolism and calories burned while toning and tightening the entire body. IDEAL as personal trainer tool for studio or in home use.
The SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise Station aids in the safe rehabilitation of most injuries, trauma, surgeries and diseases. It also provides a controlled activity to rebuild muscle tissue and body functions for those who have had hip and joint replacement surgery. The SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise Station uses the least amount of space of any full body fitness equipment available and is ideal for use at home and personal training studios. (yachts, hotels, and low management key card style gyms).
With its unique design, high quality finish, hygienic comfort grip bar and soft base mat, the SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise Station gives you a safe, worry-free work out.
With the SoloStrength you are able to take center stage in a human centric (rather than mechanical, technological) approach to fitness, movement and wellness. The low impact exercise offered by the SoloStrength is great for people of all ages.
SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise Station Features:
  • Provides an effective full-body workout Adjustable frame
  • smooth comfort grip bar
  • Perfect low impact workout for all ages (with compression exercise necessary for improving bone density)
  • Quick reference sheets for easy guides & Complete full body color instruction guide and user manual
  • Easy to assemble – all tools provided!
  • No power supply needed
  • Foldable for storage
  • 10 year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. (5 yrs. Commercial applications)
Specifications:
Recommended Space Requirements: Height: 90, Width: 44, Length: 108 Height: 7′4 (88) Width: 3′6 (42) Length: 4′2 Folded – 6′2 Open Weight: 165 lbs (approx.) Assembly: 5-10 minutes, 20 screws and assembly tools provided. 

Friday, April 23, 2010

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Personal Trainers view on SoloStrength FUSION "one stop shop" bodyweight exercise gym



WE LOVE BODYWEIGHT EXERCISE!  -  So do most Personal Training and Fitness Professionals.

WHY?
It's Fast, hassle free, and does a GREAT job of keeping us fit! 


I recently asked a personal trainer why he was such a fan of the  SoloStrength FUSION system?
This is what the reply was:


It would be the best option for me because it is so functional. It brings you back to the most basic exercises that are crucial for strength, muscle, and flexibility development in people of all ages and fitness levels. Exercises can be modified  depending on someone's level of strength and fitness. Any regimen can be adapted for difficulty and progressions with stability and balance equipment, so it encompasses every section of the population, whether they are professional athletes or individuals just looking to get in shape and stay active. The trend in fitness is completely re-shifting toward its origin, when bodyweight exercises were universal. People are looking to get lean, lose weight, gain functional strength to improve their lives and sustain their health and longevity! The Solo-Strength does all of these things with minimal time commitment and stress on your body. It is a total body gym, only your body is the gym. Other options are a lot more expensive, geared towards bodybuilders, inefficient with space, focus on certain sections of the body, and do not promote the basic functional movements and flexibility that everyone needs.

I don't think I could say it better myself. 
Thanks for the feedback Bogdan.  Looking forward to sharing SoloStrength with more trainers and bodyweight exercise enthusiasts soon!

www.solostrength.com for more information on how to order yours!

A complete gym for your home or personal training business all with one piece of equipment.
SoloStrength - The fastest fitness on earth

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Just SUPER FAST FITNESS! - SoloStrength offers nothing but simplicity and great exercises

SOLOSTRENGTH FUSION 

Get your FITNESS FAST with SoloStrength  


A system designed for beginner to professional training without the complexity.

Are you tired of all the hassle of driving to the gym?
Messing around with cables, weights, and machines?
Trying to talk yourself into getting started on a complex machine?


"By simplifying the exercise process and functionality


we maximize fitness results"

Built with Quality for your Home Gym
Personal Training Studio
Lifestyle Enjoyment
Sport Performance
Rehabilitation
Fun


  

Monday, April 12, 2010

SoloStrength doesn't AGE DISCRIMINATE - Get your FITNESS FAST today!

Do you like to workout in your PJ's? Underwear? Well maybe it's more fun to get all dolled up from time to time, but the reality is to fit in your workouts as often as you might like, you have to do it on the fly...in all sorts of circumstances, and if all have is 15 minutes - You better not spend it looking for your socks and shoes.


Welcome to the world of SoloStrength FUSION.  A FAST FITNESS system that uses bodyweight exercise that caters to the needs of all from the very beginner to professional trainers. http://www.solostrength.com/Catalog_171.html


Quality built for your home gym, personal training studio, rehabilitation, sport performance and lifestyle enjoyment, SoloStrength offers a safe and simple option to get full body exercise to feel your best, without the hassles of cables, weights or machines.  Why complicate something as simple as exercise? We didn't.  


Take a look at Dianne our 39 year old home based personal trainer
or Dorothy, the 77 year old recovering from two hip replacements,
or Stan, the 40 year old "gym guy", 
or the 15 year old Kesia who is all about the PJ's.


SoloStrength offers something great for you at any age...watch some of our testimonials, and enjoy SoloStrength.










Wednesday, April 7, 2010

FINALLY AN EXERCISE SYSTEM BUILT FOR YOU





POWER YOUR PASSIONS WITH THE FASTEST FITNESS ON EARTH


You love to workout.
Well, maybe you don't love to HAVE to workout, but you LOVE HOW IT FEELS.


You have everything you want in your life, but things are different now.
Kids, family, relationships, lots of demands on your time...and you want to do it all
But NOT by GIVING UP YOUR FITNESS.


In fact you know you need it, to keep up and manage the stress, 
to stay strong, healthy, fast, balanced. Ready to go on a moments notice
for whatever might come up in your day.


You aren't getting younger, but your attitude is...because you know
that YOUTHFUL is a by product of keeping FIT.


That energy, that youthful enthusiasm, that confidence and health
is what we call SOLOSTRENGTH.  
You have it in you...
and we bring it out naturally.


Simple, fast and safe bodyweight exercise, tightens, tones, and leans muscles.


Keep HEALTHY, Keep ACTIVE
Some Think It, Some Say It, You DO IT, and that's the difference.


HOW? 
For you to be consistently active and balanced in your exercise
your options must convenient, and fast.  The more simple the process, the better.


SoloStrength FUSION offers simplicity and versatility that compares to nothing else. 


Simple and quick adjustments the bar to change the resistance, from very beginner basic strength and toning exercises to elite fitness conditioning, 
on its own, or add fun with accessories like BOSU, Bands and Balls.


LIVE WITH SOLOSTRENGTH






LEARN MORE AT WWW.SOLOSTRENGTH.COM AND GET YOUR SOLOSTRENGTH TODAY

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

SoloStrength Bodyweight Exercise is THE FASTEST FITNESS ON EARTH


LEARN MORE HOW SIMPLICITY AND CONVENIENCE OFFERS
THE BEST CHOICE FOR YOUR LIFETIME FITNESS SUPPORT


WWW.SOLOSTRENGTH.COM

Solostrength Simplifies What the world has made difficult - EASY FAST FITNESS

Monday, April 5, 2010

SoloStrength FUSION - FASTEST FITNESS ON EARTH - Bodyweight Exercise and Stretching System: SoloStrength Targets the Boomer Market for Solutions to Simple, Fast Fitness

SoloStrength FUSION - FASTEST FITNESS ON EARTH - Bodyweight Exercise and Stretching System: SoloStrength Targets the Boomer Market for Solutions to Simple, Fast Fitness

SoloStrength Targets the Boomer Market for Solutions to Simple, Fast Fitness

Looking for the perfect gift to help mom and dad keep fit and strong to keep up with the grand kids?  Then look no further than the most simple, and convenient full body exercise system built to keep them moving faster than ever and strong enough to join you for long days in the park and full days at Disneyland.


Bodyweight exercise is simple. It's fast, because it engages more of the bodies muscles to do each of the movements, and your body works in a synergistic way to strengthen and tone the muscles, burn calories and lean the body.  Depending on the pace you keep, the cardio component engages benefits that strengthen the heart, and the low impact exercises help bone density, and overall mobility.  


SoloStrength offers a complete home gym (suitable for operating a personal training business with commercial grade construction for safety and durability) system that couldn't make full body exercise more simple and fun.  With super quick adjustments to the bar (less than 3 seconds), you go from body stretches, to pull up bars, lowered bar for self spotting (the real magic of the system is the ability to quickly adjust the bar to self spot or assist yourself to do the pull ups which offers additional lower body exercise benefits at the same time while you strengthen the upper body muscles), and push ups, every kind of abdominal exercise you can imagine, and a system of leg exercises that take you through a simple program of basic but very effective full body exercises that  can quickly grow from the needs of a very beginner to most advanced strength conditioning.


Interested in learning more on how to use SoloStrength for your busy life or get one for someone you know?


Try the website www.solostrength.com for free bodyweight exercise videos which demonstrate how the system is being used by everyday people in all age groups, professional athletics, and professional personal training businesses. 


SoloStrength is a simple solution to power your passions...the Fastest Fitness on Earth


TABATA Interval Training with SOLOSTRENGTH

What is a Tabata and how is it performed?


A Tabata Interval (also called a Tabata sequence) is an interval
training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by
10 seconds of rest, repeated without pause 8 times for a total of four
minutes. In a group context, you can keep score by counting how many
lifts/jumps/whatever you do in each of the 20 second rounds. Usually,
the round with the smallest number is your score. You can also count
total reps completed over the whole sequence.

History of the Tabata Interval

Credit for this simple and powerful training method belongs to its
namesake, Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National
Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. Their groundbreaking
1996 study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports
& Exercise, provided documented evidence concerning the dramatic
physiological benefits of high-intensity intermittent training. After
just 6 weeks of testing, Dr. Tabata noted a 28% increase in anaerobic
capacity in his subjects, along with a 14% increase in their ability to
consume oxygen (V02Max). These results were witnessed in already
physically fit athletes. The conclusion was that just four minutes of
Tabata interval training could do more to boost aerobic and anaerobic
capacity than an hour of endurance exercise.

Although Dr. Tabata used a mechanically braked exercise cycle
machine, you can apply this protocol to almost any exercise. For
example, a basic Tabata workout can be performed with sit-ups. The more
muscles used the better, so use full knees-bent sit-ups. Sit-up non-stop
for 20-second intervals, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for a
total of 8 cycles.


MORE INFORMATION:  WWW.SOLOSTRENGTH.COM 

Thursday, April 1, 2010

SoloStrength AMAZINGLY Simple and Fun Exercise for Old and Young







Imagine...if something that was so basic to life was made easier, and more obtainable for more people...would that be an idea worth sharing? 


IF the logic of simplicity and results literally conditioned us to take control of greater power for ourselves, even if it went against a long history of deception as to how it can be achieved. Would that be something exciting? 


Well it is to us, and we love to show off SoloStrength and share it with everyone. 


Interested? learn more at www.solostrength.com .

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

SOLOSTRENGTH supports your HIGH PERFORMANCE LIFESTYLE

How can a simple bar offer exercise that is "high performance"?

What's High Performance?  Efficient, fast, and gets the results you want.

THAT IS WHAT SOLOSTRENGTH IS ALL ABOUT!

Originally developed for personal trainers working out of smaller spaces – FUSION is valuable tool due to its versatility and speed, and ability to do all the important basic exercises you need for strength, lean muscle and tone - but we have had a great response by consumers for use in their home gyms.  

FUSION can’t do anything different than other all in one fitness equipment pieces, but considering what it can do, and that it offers extreme simplicity, convenience and speed, we think its the best option available for people to enjoy great fitness levels in minimal time invested, for very beginners to elite conditioning exercises.  You can’t beat SoloStrength for simplicity, and great fitness.

The only “secret” about keeping fit…is consistency.  The ups and down in life, in and out of the gym, different seasons and popular activities and demands on your time, change the equation.  

We know that the best chance you have for keeping fit by maintaining consistency, is if what you are doing is extremely convenient, and fast.  SoloStrength FUSION comes with beginner to advanced exercise programs, uses only your own bodyweight for leveraged resistance training exercise (which is safe and as effective as weight lifting), and gets you done faster, and with less hassle then other options, and its FUN because you just start stretching, a few supported squats, and before you know it, you are into, through, and done your workout ready for a day living with SoloStrength. 

SoloStrength is lifetime fitness success.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Tommy Europe Filming TV Show with SOLOSTRENGTH bodyweight exercise equipment

I was proud to work with Tommy Europe  with SoloStrength FUSION bodyweight exercise strength and stretching gym (www.solostrength.com) for training during some episodes in the new season of THE LAST 10 POUNDS.  He demonstrates a few of the exercises he puts the girls through and a few of his own that most people wouldn't even try - GREAT guy to work with and it was awesome to see SoloStrength in action.  As usual, creative trainers come up with many of their own exercises and ways to use FUSION in their personal training business.  Look for the episodes to air on SLICE network in late 2010 or join our SoloStrength FAN page to keep notice.






free bodyweight exercise weight loss fitness videos
SoloStrength Lifestyle and Fitness

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

SoloStrength at DRAGONS DEN audition! Follow our business growth on our FAN Page!


How do you raise growth capital for a small company? ANYWAY you can..DRAGON'S DEN audition was a blast, they had fun with us...we had fun with them, and you can follow our business growth journey by joining our fan page! We had some news coverage the next day check it out :)




SoloStrength FUSION - a beautifully simple tool that can be used for a pile of bodyweight exercise in a stand alone all in one system ideal for home gym and personal training professionals for their business, for beginners and elite fitness conditioning. http://www.solostrength.com or Join our FAN PAGE:http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Vancouver-BC/SoloStrength-Lifestyle-and-Fitness/132259759281?ref=nf




SOLOSTRENGTH - THE COMPLETE BODYWEIGHT EXERCISE GYM.

Bodyweight exercise and free fitness programs and videos.