Full Week of Workout Videos - Saturday Shoulders and Calves Accessory Home

43 minutes - 497 Calories - Average Heart Rate 138 - Max Heart Rate 163.

• Garmin Heart Rate Monitor Session Link

Location: Home Gym

Light first sets instead of doing a warmup

Strength:

• Shoulder Press using Total Gym x2 sets (Shoulders)
• Shoulder Side Raise using Total Gym x2 sets (Side Delts)
• Shoulder Rear Raise using Total Gym x2 sets (Rear Delts)
• Shoulder Front Raise using Total Gym x2 sets (Front Delts)
• Dumbbell Shrugs x4 sets with 85 lbs per side (Traps)
• Single Leg Calf Raises x9 sets incremental weight up and down (Calves)
• Cable Rope Ab Crunches x3 sets (Abs)

Total Gym Direct Blog - How To Get a Strong Back

Another feature video over on the Total Gym Direct Blog, this one is your's truly showing some of my favorite back exercises using my new Total Gym Fit.

If you haven't already watched my first Total Gym Direct Blog video where I demonstrate a great Arm workout using the Total Gym then make sure to watch that one also. The great thing is these videos are nice and short and to the point!

Total Gym Fit Versus XLS Comparison Review

I have been getting some questions about my new Total Gym Fit. So far I have owned three Total Gym's. My first Total Gym I bought used and I believe it was the original Infomercial Total Gym, I then got a new Total Gyn XLS version a few years back and just recently acquired the latest Total Gym Fit model.

Most people seem to want to know if the new Total Gym Fit is worth the extra money and if it is worth upgrading to? Now if you already have the Total Gym XLS version, I would not necessarily recommend you go out and get the Fit version since both units pretty much do exactly the same thing. I can say that Total Gym has made some noteworthy improvements to the new Total Gym Fit model so you will have to decide for yourself it this these upgrades are worth the additional cost.

Addition of Extra Resistance Levels:

This is not a huge deal breaker but after using the new Total Gym Fit I do find myself using the levels in-between the main level found on my old Total Gym XLS version so yes, the extra levels do come in handy with some exercises, especially when you are getting tired and you want to drop the weight or resistance just a bit.

Reenforced Arms and Main Brace:

For me this is one of the biggest improvements of the new Total Gym Fit. With my old XLS model, I always found there was a lot of flex in the arms area where the cables attached at the top, so much so that squeaking would occur. Now I am not your usually Total Gym user.I generally do most of my exercises on the top level and even add anywhere from 60-100 additional pounds on the weight bar so I am pushing my Total Gym to its limits, so this flexing I am talking about may not be noticeable for most Total Gym users. The main Brace where you adjust the resistance levels has also been improved and reenforced, I have found it to be much smoother when adjusting the levels up and down, no more need to place my foot on the bottom when making adjustments with the new Total Gym Fit.

Improved Wing Attachment Design:

One accessory that may come with your Total Gym us the wing attachment, the new version is now a two piece design instead of being one piece which does allow me to keep it in place on the bottom and still allow me to keep the Leg Platform on at the same time. This was not possible with the one piece wing attachment.

Weight Bar Slight Relocation:

A small change was made to where the hole is now placed on the new Total Gym Fit. It is now just a bit higher up on the pad perhaps to give a better balance when adding weight to the weight bar? I did however find that with my kind of long legs that I now have to bend them slightly or I will come off the pad at the top. Not a big deal but worth mentioning.

Updated Color Scheme:

For some of you, the looks may or may not be that important and the new color Scheme will not improve your workout but does make the new Total Gym Fit look more up to date for sure. I kind of like it and it matches my gym room very well :)

Total Gym Direct Blog - How To Get Big Arms

I was featured on the Total Gym Direct Blog showing one of my Arm Workouts using the Total Gym! There will be a few more of these demonstration videos as we recorded a series of them for the Total Gym Direct Blog.

In this two minute video I show a couple of my go to exercises for Triceps and Biceps performed of course using the Total Gym. The Total Gym model used in this video is the new Total Gym Fit!

Workout Diversity for Injury Prevention, Recovery and Gains

I have always believed that changing up your workout program and adding a variety of workout strategies to your workout program is a great idea, but lately I kind of got a bit away from this. Perhaps I thought that the CrossFit classes I was going to offered enough variety for me and maybe if I stepped back just a bit then the CrossFit alone would have been just fine.

As good as CrossFit is, it can be very physically demanding and there is a lot of repetition involved, it's not really about how much working out I am doing at CrossFit but rather the intensity and demand I'm putting on my body five days a week. if I was in my 20's or 30's, perhaps it would not be as hard on my body, but now in my mid 40's I feel every workout more than ever and recovery time is taking longer than it used to ;)

So I am going to take my own advice and step back just a bit from my CrossFit, maybe only go 3-4 days per week and add some more diversity to my workouts, get back to my Total Gym a bit and do some less jarring isolation type exercises. I believe this will benefit me in the log run by helping to prevent injury, recover quicker from each workout and see more gains in terms of overall joint usability and muscle health and strength.

Watch my YouTube Video as I explain why it is so important to add Diversity to your Workout Programs to avoid Injury, improve recover time and see gains in strength and overall health!