The most IRRITATING recent gym trend....

[Hypertrophyguy]

Ok so I watched the news this morning and some new age hippy personal trainer chick was talking about how beneficial "CORE" strength is and how much more efficient it is at burning fat than "traditional" and "more dangerous" weight lifting is. and I quote "this burns 30% more fat calories than normal weight lifting"..... Ok so a 20 rep set of squats isn't going to get your metabolism going as much as doing a couple pushups with a swiss ball under your hips!!!!
AHHHHHHH this drives absolutely nuts. And all these out of shape women in my gym are all pumped about "Core" this "Trunk stabilizers" that. Good Grief.
While it is important to have a very strong trunk if you are an athlete the majority of the 6pm gym warriors just want to look better and feel good, WTF do they care that all of their trunk muscles are developed... Do some fucking medium weight squats, or deads without a belt for christ sakes and stop bitching and looking for "the new better easier" way that will get me there that much faster.
People will NEVER realize that looking good is GOD DAMNED HARD. thats why its called GOOD because it is obtainable by only those with the discipline, work ethic, and knowledge to get there!!!! If it was easy, quick, and simple it wouldn't be considered "good" anymore.
My new years resolution.. to puncture every swiss ball I come into contact with.


Sorry my rant for the week. Just got home from a hippy ski bum bar with the girlfriend. Im a little bit buzzed so bare with me. Oh and for future reference... Wearing your ultimate fighting sweat shirt that has "GOT BLOOD" on the front and the picture of a guy getting pummeled on the back is not "jiggy" with the peace loving brotherhood we call the hipsters.

 

[saint808]

although that trainer sounded full of shit.... funny story... we have a couple of good trainers at our gym now.... one of which completely humbled me with a fucking swiss ball... he's a monster too but he has no calves.

 

[Mr_Magoo]

yea, i hear u with the core epidemic thats goin around, it is fuckin annoying, especially when people dedicate workouts to their core
whatever happened to calling it abs and low back or lumbars or whateva the fuck not.

yea, core strength is important, but if u can only squat 225, ur still a bitch

 

[raybravo]

yea, core strength is important, but if u can only squat 225, ur still a bitch

no truer words have been ever spoken

 

[Conan21]

i get a kick out of the total gym comericals on how it beats free weights and machines

 

[muscle96ss]

yea, i hear u with the core epidemic thats goin around, it is fuckin annoying, especially when people dedicate workouts to their core
whatever happened to calling it abs and low back or lumbars or whateva the fuck not.

yea, core strength is important, but if u can only squat 225, ur still a bitch

I agree that the whole "CORE" thing has been taken way too far. However, it is something that is essential, even for the gym warriors who just want to look good. Put it this way, you wouldn't put a huge house ona crappy foundation. By the same token, you don't want to put all that muscle on your body without being able to support it. Otherwise the forces go directly into the spine and you get all kinds of injuries. There is a difference between being big and being both big and functional.

 

[Hypertrophyguy]

muscle,
I agree 100% you need core strength but I think you could have more than adequate core strength by doing deads, squats, and some ab work. Im just saying that the VAST majority of people will NOT benefit much from doing all these exotic exercises with weird contraptions in weird positions.

 

[ken69dahl]

Must be a 24 Hour Fitness, I hear it from all their skinny carbon copy trainers!

 

[GetnDiesel]

Can you say "fad" ?

... Im just saying that the VAST majority of people will NOT benefit much from doing all these exotic exercises with weird contraptions in weird positions.

hahaha! Aint that the truth. The only real question is "whats the NEXT fad to promise strength without effort?" Cuz as soon as someone invents it, all these swiss ball fags will jump on that boat.

I say, if youve got balls, squat heavy. If you dont have balls, go for the swiss ones. At least its some kinda ball....

 

[Sandblaster]

Damn....I thought this was going to be a Pilates thread?

SB

 

[Largeman250]

and here i thought that those balls were for some really cracked out form of basketball...hmmm go figure..lol people are LAZY and it sucks...i was listening to NPR the other day and they were talking about the government trying to get involved in what they called the "fat epidemic" by trying to some how regulate what we eat they didnt go into to much depth since it was at the end of the show but interesting none the less

 

[Chuck999]

But you know I bet the folks who come up with this stuff are making some serious money. Le'me think...maybe if I get some BIG rubber bands, and tie a stick to each end, and then you pull on them a few times and instantly turn into the next Mr.O (or Brittney if you're a chick), and...

 

[Largeman250]

i think you got something there we should go into biz...lol

 

[homonunculus]

But you know I bet the folks who come up with this stuff are making some serious money. Le'me think...maybe if I get some BIG rubber bands, and tie a stick to each end, and then you pull on them a few times and instantly turn into the next Mr.O (or Brittney if you're a chick), and...

The trick is to come up with something that is quick and easy to do and makes you feel like you're being assisted by technology (but not when its intimidating - all those computers are scary). The Swiss ball is unintimidating (reminding us perhaps of our childhood), and somehow exotic, b/c it comes from Switzerland after all, meaning it must have been used in Europe for decades. Pilates is guided by the wisdom of a genius guru (never before seen, it seems) and the foreign name is attractive.

Also, your gadget or technique should not produce noticeable discomfort (you should be able to have a conversation continually).

Having a celeb like Oprah use it is ideal. This will appeal to the middle-aged housewives, of course.

You must warn that women will not get bulky muscles, but (Like Pilates) you will "sculpt" leaner, shaplier muscle. The shortest amount of time necessaary for a good workout, the better, ala "8 minutes abs."

You MUST get good abs from whatever your product is.

The subliminal message to men is that you will end up looking like a state-level BB competitor (or better) who is 4 weeks out from a show, and you can maintain this with just 3 workouts a week. Leg training must be minimal.

Since the basic shapes of the cube (aka box step) and ball (swiss ball) have been taken, I'm considering using a 4 sided pyramid: you could step against it to do lunges, hop over it for plyometrics, do 45? wall-style pushups against it, squats while straddling it on the sides, plus attachments for all sort of other exercises. You will be able to take it apart and have different sized dumbells (ala powerblocks),

I think I'll call it the Egyptociser, inspired by the wisdom of the Pharoahs. I'll get Nasser to be my model.

-Randy

 

[MikeS]

Yes if you are not used to using the stability balls you will feel like a girl when someone tries to work you out on one. Its all about overall balance and coordination combined with some core strength.
Most of us are intrested in brute size and power-that shit has no place in our routines except maybe for some ab work. It totally distracts from the target muscle you may be working, because you are so busy trying to stabilize and balance.

Another fad-well put.

 

[tbonus]

Arnold had a hell of a physique. He got that midsection from squats and deads!

 

[Hypertrophyguy]

The only time I thought someone could benefit from it was this trainer at my gym worked with a world cup level skier and the guy used to jump up and stand on the ball, with his feet about 12" apart kind of squeezing the top of the ball and the trainer would throw medicine balls to him in all different directions so the guy would increase his balance and coordination of this trunk stabilizers. It sounded to me like this was a good application for the swiss ball, but I dont recommend you doing this with many clients cause I saw this guy take some NASTY spills on that ball. Law suit waiting to happen when grandma is up on the ball catching medicine balls and breaks a hip. LOL now that I would like to see (not the fall just granny balancing and catching)