We recently re-discovered an old school exercise bike. The Schwinn Airdyne is a recent addition to our arsenal of tools for the fitness classes.

For those not familiar with how this bike works, it is similar to an elliptical trainer in that you push and pull with your arms at the same time as you are pedaling. The unique feature on this bike is the fan mechanism. As you pedal, with feet or arms or both, it turns a large fan. The harder you pedal, push, and pull, the greater the air resistance. The fact that it works your legs, torso, shoulders, and arms all at once makes this a great workout.

We use it as a warm-up tool. The dual action of legs pedaling and the upper body pushing and pulling do a great job of increasing core temperature and heart rate. We also use it for interval workouts at high intensity. At a high effort this machine is nasty within 15-30 seconds.  When you sprint as fast as possible, it feels as if the machine sucks the oxygen right out of your lungs. You will be impressed and humbled by the effectiveness of this low-tech tool.

The bike can be used by just about anyone and is great for those recovering from an injury. If you have an upper body injury, then you can concentrate on the lower body and only work this part on the machine. The same goes for a lower body injury, just push and pull with the arm action to get a great cardio workout.

Schwinn’s Airdyne exercise bike is intense, effective and safe to use whether you are a beginner or an elite athlete. I highly recommend this machine.

Traditional gym facilities and health clubs have their place.  At Fitness By Design we still make use of the typical tools you’d find in a health club: machines, free weights, etc…..  Our equipment is top of the line and our personal trainers make great use of it every day when they are working with their clients.  But after nearly 3 decades of being involved with personal fitness I am glad not to be chained to a gym, let alone a machine.

I’ve become passionate about finding and developing work outs and exercise programs that don’t involve much of any gear.  Most of what we do in my fitness boot camps only uses the human body.  Calisthenics, body weight resistance exercises, and function movements will help most people reach their fitness goals.

This means I can get out of the gym to workout, whether that’s in my backyard, my living room, a park, or on the beach during my vacation.  I love that kind of freedom and variety.

One source of inspiration and information for me is the Never Gymless material from Ross Training.  This is some great stuff!  I highly recommend it.  Let me know if you come across a book or a website that promotes this approach to fitness and exercise.  I’m always looking for more info.

I recently finished reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John Mann.  I highly recommend the book.   Easy read but very powerful.

The basic idea of the book is that your value is determined by what you give not what you get.  My worth is determined by the value I give to clients, not what I can charge per hour.

I want to find ways to serve more people.  For me its about getting outside of my building, not limiting myself to only those who can come to my gym.

One great “take away” from the book is The Five Laws Of Stratospheric Success.

• THE LAW OF VALUE

Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

• THE LAW OF COMPENSATION

Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

• THE LAW OF INFLUENCE

Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

• THE LAW OF AUTHENTICITY

The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.

• THE LAW OF RECEPTIVITY

The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

Personal training has been my business for well over 20 years.  However, I can honestly say that the money alone would not have been enough reason to stick with it all these years.  Better fitness, good health, and improved quality of life are all benefits I strive to give my clients.

Seeing people change their lives is the most satisfying part of my work.  I’m grateful I can make my income from helping people this way.

Push-ups are a great, simple strength exercise.  They are a fundamental part of the majority of exercise programs I put together for people.

In the fitness boot camps we do periodic testing.  I picked up the Perfect Counter (made by the Perfect Pushup people) to see if it would help.  It worked perfectly!

Easy to set-up, it has a timer and counts the reps.  You place it under your chest so that at the bottom of the movement your chest pushes the trigger and counts the rep.  It beeps with each rep so you know if it counted.  The trigger is a foam cushion so you don’t have to worry about the impact.

Perfect Counter also encourages good form.  Proper form is crucial to get the maximum benefit of any exercise.

A helpful tool.  I bought a bunch for use at our gym.

One of my favorite tools for developing functional fitness is the Power Wheel. Great for strength, endurance, and stability, I don’t know of anything that works your core better.

I learned about the Power Wheel from the inventor, Jon Hinds. He introduced me to it while I was getting my Natural Trainer certification at his Monkey Bar Gym in Madison,WS.

We use the Power Wheel in the fitness boot camps at Fitness By Design. Don’t let its simple looks fool you. This thing provides an incredibly challenging workout.

My first time using it was a humbling experience. I tell people in the boot camp classes not to get discouraged if they can only crawl 5 yards to start with.  It takes time to get efficient with any exercise and this one is no different.  Regardless of where you’re starting from, the point is to make progress.

After some practice I got better and was able to complete the Power Wheel Challenge.  Later this week I’ll share that video.