Defying The Laws Of Physics?
During a recent meeting with one of our readers at Pressed Cafe here in town, we began discussing our workout routines. Like me, the person with whom I was meeting is a triathlete and finds himself balancing the required volume of training alongside his work and his family life. Because triathlon involves training for swimming, cycling and running and because each of these disciplines consume a fair amount of time each week, strength training often suffers. This results in most triathletes performing their strength training within the confines of their home gyms.
I was asked if I had met Norm, a local fitness equipment expert here in town that had developed an innovation for home gyms. I was not familiar with Norm but, immediately following our discussion, I made my way down the street to introduce myself and to learn about this innovative system.
As I walked in, the future of fitness equipment appeared before me. Looking at its large iPad like screen flanked by two cabled towers with a bench in the middle, I believed I was seeing the Tesla of the fitness industry for the first time.
Norm walked over and introduced himself and shared what he referred to as the OXEFIT XS1. Norm explained, over the last twenty-five years, he had worked with leaders in the fitness industry to engineer advanced fitness equipment to support both commercial and residential environments. This innovation, however, felt different to me. Norm explained, in working over the last few years with former a NASA engineer among other brilliant people, they had developed a way to “defy physics”. I took the bait and asked for further explanation.
Norm went on to share that traditional fitness equipment allows you to move a given weight up and down. He used the term “Concentric” to describe the movement. Using the example of a simple bench press, Norm explained, if the bar and added plates weigh a total of 100 lbs, you are pushing up 100 lbs (concentrically) and resisting (eccentrically) 100 lbs as the bar comes back to your chest. Because we are capable of resisting more weight eccentrically than we are capable of pushing up concentrically in the case of a bench press, traditional equipment creates an inherent inefficiency. If it were possible to to add weight at the top allowing us to resist more on the way down and then remove that weight at the bottom allowing us to push up less weight, our strength would be improved. While physiologically that seems to make sense, it’s unreasonable to accomplish it. Or is it?
By incorporating digital weight, this innovative fitness technology creates an environment where this additional eccentric resistance can be accomplished. Amazingly, the OXEFIT XS1 appears to have changed the game completely by advancing the ball downfield. Speaking of advancing the ball downfield, Norm also shared that OXEFIT XP1, the bigger brother to the residential OXEFIT XS1, is already in use by several NFL teams and many college sports conditioning facilities. That’s an impressive endorsement of this fitness technology!
Beyond the equipment itself, the integrated, ever-changing, recorded and, I’m told live, trainer led workouts can be selected based upon muscle group, intensity and / or duration. But, interestingly, while it can act as a digital personal trainer, this technology is being leveraged by personal trainers as well. These personal trainers can program precise workouts for you and you simply follow that workout. The internal reporting system tracks your progress and shares the results of your efforts with your trainer or coach. So, if you’re looking to improve your home gym, I definitely think the OXEFIT XS1 is worth a look.
