March, 1991 edition. Paid for by some guy named Kevin.
It’s cold, it’s rainy, the sun is just a memory. You don’t want to go outside, so you’ll just have to postpone your workout until the weather clears. Which happened last year, if memory serves, on the Fourth of July.
You’ve tried aerobics, you’ve run your buns off. They don’t make a helmet big enough for you to bike in traffic. The last time you tried walking for fitness, you dozed off.
You’ve had a massage, eaten sprouts – perhaps not intentionally – and joined a health club. You spend too much time looking at yourself in the mirror. You take vitamins. Lycra is your life.
You’re a Nineties kind of person, so you’ve come to grips with the realization the computer is here to stay. You’d go hi-tech in a nanosecond if you could find some exercise equipment that didn’t take a Cal Poly graduate student to put together.
Well, wait no longer. Introducing the Nordic Fitness Chair . That’s right. A complete upper body workout you can do while sitting on your gluteals. A system of pulleys, hidden when not in use, transforms this normally ugly chair into a strength training device. Over 20 different exercises. A complete program can be done in less than a half hour, three times weekly. (Don’t go picking fights, however, at that level.)
“Strength training means welcoming life’s challenges instead of avoiding them,” explains Jim Bostic, NordicTrack’s CEO, “and postponing the aging process rather than letting it sneak up on you.” Buff up or die.
The cost of the basic model Chair begins at $499. But you can spend as much as $1200 for the EXECUTIVE POWER CHAIR. It even sounds strong. One moment it’s a handsome office chair, the next it’s half of a weight room. (This unit has business expense written all over it.) Beginners are advised to loosen their ties while exercising.
Bostic again: “Evidence is mounting that exercise is crucial to giving top executives the extra stamina and energy that distinguishes them from the also-rans. A basic workout on the Executive Power Chair can make executives energized, alert and able to handle the stresses typically associated with today’s high-pressure business environment.”
It takes more than muscle to be a success today, whatever your occupation. It takes heart, too.
[Surprisingly, the Fitness Chair was not a big hit. No longer in production. – ed. note]
Cross-country skiing is arguably the world’s most effective aerobic exercise. Which is to say it really gets your blood pumping. Minnesotan Ed Pauls created a machine which duplicates the motion of cross-country skiing. Indoors, where it’s warm and there’s no snow to fall face first into.
NordicTrack (1-888-308-9616) exercises and tones all the major muscle groups of the body, while providing a cardiovascular workout said to be unmatched by other in-home exercisers. The sales literature also says “medical research has proven that NordicTrack burns more calories in less time” than other exercise machines. The ACHIEVER model – complete with digital speedometer/chronometer and a calories-burned slide guide – costs $769 + $33 shipping & handling. [Prices may have changed.]
The Versa Climber (1-800-237-2271) looks like something invented by a Marine Corps drill instructor. But, no. Dick Charnitski, an engineer by profession, recognized that climbing a ladder was the complete strength and aerobic exercise. Because really what you’re doing is lifting your own weight against the force of gravity. (It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.)
Using a VersaClimber is like crawling up The-Wall-Without-A-Ceiling. And if that sounds like fun, there is another version which works like a vertical treadmill. Which should give new meaning to the term “hill training.”
The Personal Aerobic Controlled Exerciser (P.A.C.E.) Model VersaClimber features the first wireless heart rate monitoring system on an exercise machine. The heart rate is transmitted from a chest strap via infra-red beam to a computer which displays the current climbing. A target heart rate can be maintained throughout the workout, and, of course, this machine claims to burn more calories than any other in-home exerciser. Which may be true…there is a race mode. Such NASA technology, by the way will run you $3,450.
At just $125, The Wet Vest is only as expensive as a pair of the top-of-the-line running shoes available at Nike Town. But it is one product which is revolutionizing the way many of the world’s greatest athletes maintain their fitness.
“Deep water running in a Wet Vest is one of the most significant advancements in training techniques that I’ve experienced during my 28 years in the sport,” says Jim Ryun, the man who ran a 3:55 mile…while still in high school. Runners are particularly excited about the Wet Vest (1-800-346-7295) because it allows them to reduce the miles pounded out on the roads yet still maintain, or even improve, fitness levels without risk of injury.
“Running in place, overstriding and sprinting in deep water will strengthen muscles and improve endurance,” explains Glenn McWaters, inventor of the Wet Vest. “In many cases, it will help increase actual dry-land running speed, without unduly stressing joints and ligaments.” That’s his real name.
It’s the concept, not the product, that makes the Wet Vest hi-tech. Because water offers resistance much greater than the resistance encountered on land, 30 minutes of running in the water is the equivalent of 45 minutes to an hour on the road. Your muscles work harder in the water.
The Wet Vest lets the healthy athlete train without fear of injury, while allowing the injured athlete the chance to maintain conditioning until rehabilitated. Priscilla Welch, winner of the New York City Marathon at the age of 42, trained in a Wet Vest twice daily while recovering from a stress fracture. Her foot was completely healed in four weeks, half the time predicted by her doctor. Amazingly, she found she was in better shape after the injury than she had been before.
Also, ten or fifteen minutes in the water after a race or hard run will completely eliminate, in most cases, the next day’s normal soreness. Marathoners find that they’re able to resume normal training much sooner by using the Wet Vest as a regular part of their exercise regimen.
Pregnancy is not an injury, but it will certainly put a cramp in your training. Joan Benoit Samuelson used the Wet Vest throughout her last pregnancy. The Olympian was able to resume training one week after giving birth. Originally designed for competitive athletes, three-fourths of the Wet Vests are now sold to sedentary folks in need of an alternative exercise.
“People with arthritis and the elderly find that water is the answer to their prayers,” says McWaters.
As any serious fitness enthusiast can attest, prayer has its place in many exercise programs. Especially at the end of a hard workout. So, if all this hi-tech, hi-priced equipment seems like more than you need, Instructors of Life Aerobics offer a class set to contemporary Christian music at the New Life Christian Center in Milwaukie.
It’s $1.25 to try it once. Lycra is not required.