Nature versus gym equipment part 2

We compare the standard bench press to the push-up in this article. The standard bench press can be done while lying on your back and pressing upward on either a machine, dumbbells or a barbell and weights on each side of it. To increase the resistance usually you would increase the weights. The standard bench press is a fundamental part of most workouts because of its focus on auxiliary or major muscle groups in the upper body. The face-up technique in this exercise works at both an advantage and disadvantage when strength training. The advantage to facing upward is that not only do you have the weights and gravity giving you resistance, but you also have to fight your own muscles to control the weight up and down especially when not using a machine. The advantage to the standard bench press can also a be a large disadvantage. Normally when looking to get any satisfactory gains from this exercise, you need to use a sufficient amount of weight. This also means that you would most likely need someone to supervise your lift. This is one great advantage of a push-up. A push-up is done while facing downward so gravity is the main resistor in this exercise. To increase the resistance of this exercise, you would add more weight. In this case it would help to grab a buddy to add more body weight to the exercise. The best part about this exercise is that not only works your upper body like your chest, arms and back, but it also works your abs. Your abs are used to hold you up and keep your lower back from falling so you get the added bonus of core work when doing a push-up Another advantage to a push-up is that is can be done at different angles. In my boot camps we have a wide variety of push-ups that we incorporate into each upper body class. The variety of push-ups focus on specific muscle groups that you would not have the ability to focus on with a bench press. Looks like nature wins another one with its ability to focus on more muscle groups and to help in getting a rock hard stomach. Remember there is always a great workout hiding in plain view. See you Outdoors!

Nature versus gym equipment part 1

An associate of mine asked me the other day about exercise equipment. I must first say that even though I am an outdoor enthusiast as it pertains to training the body, but I also my way around exercise equipment and could tell anyone the benefits of the each equipment sometimes without even having to use it. It is interesting at times, to see how we can get washboard abs with just the swivel of a chair or firm glutes with a ball that is the size of the palm of my hand. How do they all work? Why do they all work? Most importantly, do they all work? We should explore this for the sake of a new series of posts I like to call nature vs. gym equipment. There are a variety of exercises that can be done outdoors. Many of these exercises and movements are mimicked and modified to create new exercise equipment. Exercise equipment will be an industry that will last forever for the shear fact that there are a plethora of movements that the body can make in just a single day. If you add resistance to any of these movements and do it repetitively, all of a sudden you have an exercise and subsequently, a workout. Today we will discuss the newest workout craze, the perfect pull up. These new contraptions are simply a bar that you can put up in your home and do pull-ups from a door frame. This is a very handy device. I have actually been tempted to buy it a few times for myself. This bar is built to strengthen the muscles that help you pull, mainly your back muscles and those muscles to the outside of your shoulder blade called latitimus dorsi (known as your lats for short). You also can strengthen your abdominals, but as with almost all exercise, your abs will come into play someway or another. There are exercises that you can do outdoors that replicate this and are actually more effective as they help you with stability and balance while working targeted muscle groups. The outdoor equivalent of the perfect pull up bar is of course, the monkey bars that you used to use in grade school. There are still many of these located in almost any park and playground in your area. If you are not by a park or do not have monkey bars at your park, you can also find a tree (make sure the branches are strong) or you can use the base of a light post. You can always find a great adventure outdoors if you are looking. Just make sure you are paying attention to your surroundings. There is always a great workout hiding in plain view.