Equipment that I Use For Exercise

Lately, my training has taken a turn towards using more equipment in my exercise. I’m not using weights or any kind of foreign resistance other than my body. I’ve been experimenting with different things that destabilize my body in order to add difficulty. I added a pull-up bar and have done many experiments with rings. Stability balls, bosu balls, and abdominal wheels have entered in my repertoire. It’s all a nice change of pace to what I’m used to. I even have a great little stereo and so I can listen to my favorite metal music. So, here's the things that I've been working with and what I'm doing with them:

1. Rings. I've been working a lot with these lately. I pull my body up to one ring, lower myself, and bring myself up to the opposite ring. I've done some rowing with them as well. My runaway favorite exercise with rings has got to be push-ups. When you do push-ups on the rings, the rings want move away from your body. So you have to pull them back towards your body. The intensity that this places on the chest is brutal!

2. Bosu Ball. These are expensive but they're an interesting device. I've done DVR squats and Romanian deadlifts with my feet (foot) on the ball. I also like doing a V-up aerobic isometric exercise with the Bosu. Hold the top position of the V-up for a minute or more. The higher the legs, the more difficult it is.

3. Stability Balls. I like doing wide-stance push-ups for the work it gives my shoulders. However, the wide stance makes the push-up easier for the abs since the width of my hands gives me more stability. So, I fixed this problem by doing these push-ups with my feet on the ball. I'll even throw the perfet push-up into this exercise.

Still, I won’t allow myself to get wrapped up in the stuff around me and become dependant upon it go get myself a good workout. That is the beauty of bodyweight exercising. You don’t need stuff to get into shape. Since I’m not tethered to stuff to get into shape, I can exercise anywhere at any time that I get. Then, there’s no excuse to skip. How many people have you heard say that they lost their groove because they were out of town and couldn’t get to the gym?

Well, if I allowed myself to get stuck on the toys and tools to get into great shape then I might as well have a gym membership and start using iron and machines. Fitness doesn’t come from stuff. It comes from you. It’s your mind and body forcing each other to work together towards the common purpose of getting yourself strong and healthy.