Can't believe this one

So me and Steve, our Director of Awesome

went to a commercial gym today. Why? We wanted to see what the competition is doing, check out the equipment, scope out the staff and see if they are any good, and see what is hot on the Group X schedule.
Gotta know what the other guys are doing.

Awesome

Before I go on my rant, let me say the place was spotless, very nice, and the staff was very professional and friendly. They knew who we were and let us walk around anyway. That is why I'm not saying who it was. We even spoke with the Fitness Director who was awesome and friendly. She appears to be an asset to the club.
So with the disclaimer out of the way:  as we walk in there is a wall with photos of the training staff. Pretty standard right?
It was a bunch of fairly overfat looking people that apparently never exercised a day in their lives. Some of them were "skinny fat". This is coming from a fat guy. At least I look like I lift weights although I'll never be confused with a fitness guy.
I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but this book looked pretty BAD.
As we were looking around we saw one of the "skinny fat" trainers talking to one of the gym members. The gym member pointed to the leg extension and asked about using it.

Never use one of these, EVER!

The "trainer" asked her if her knee still hurt form the surgery. The member said yes.
What does the "trainer" say when she was asked if this machine was OKto use considering the knee was in pain?
I shit you not, she said "Load it up" and walked away. Steve and I almost puked. I wanted to scream at her.
I didn't.

We then walked around and looked like two mongoloids using a few of the machines. I had no idea how to use them. People were looking at us like we were morons.
At one point I said to Steve "I was voted one of the 20 best trainers in the country and I have no idea how to use this stuff".
We made a quick exit after thanking them for letting us in.
What is the moral of the story?
Beware of "trainers" in a lot of gyms. There are a lot of good ones out there. There are also a lot of really bad ones that make the rest of us look bad.

 The other moral of the story is that Steve and I could never work at a Globo Gym because we have no idea how the machines work.

 I guess that is good right?

Get a great workout at home.

Train at home. 

 Are you someone who trains at home, or maybe don’t have time to get to the gym, yet still want to get in a quick workout? 

What if I told you that you can get a full body workout in your driveway or basement with a piece of equipment that costs about $12? 

How? 

Sand bag training. 

 Take an old gym bag, or an army duffle bag, and fill it with 100-250 pounds of sand. 

 Putting the sand in a few trash bags inside the duffle bad and taping them up will keep the sand from turning your basement into Miami Beach. 

 Start a little lighter, it’s easy to add sand if it’s too light.  You can get sand at most home centers for $3-5 per bag. 

Now to the workout. 

Wrestle the sand bag from the floor to your chest, and press it overhead.  Do this for 1-2 minutes and rest.  Then do another set. 

Next, hoist the bag up to one shoulder and then do a squat.  Drop the bag and lift it to the other shoulder.  Again, don’t count reps, go for 1-2 minutes. 

Last, lift the bag to the chest, bear-hug it, and run, walk, or job around for 1-3 minutes, rest 1-2 minutes, and go again. 

 Add a set of each in once a week.  You’ll feel this in muscles you didn’t know you had!

The sandbag’s odd shape and instability make it perfect for a full body workout, and to stress muscles that won’t normally get a workout. 

2 birds with one stone.

  People are always looking for ways to make exercises more productive or quicker.  This  crunch variation will hit two areas that are frequently neglected, or not worked hard enough, abs and grip.  We all know why working abs are important, but grip is a mystery to many.  Having a strong grip helps in many sports from golf to football to rock climbing, and everything in between.  We are going to attack these two areas at the same time. 
To do this we will do what is called a gripper crunch.  Two pieces of equipment are needed, a Swiss ball, and a hand gripper.  The gripper should be a captains of crush variety (http://www.ironmind.com/). 

COC’s come in 5 levels of difficulty, trainer, 1, 2, 3, and 4.  we suggest you start with a trainer.  The sporting goods store grippers will not be nearly as effective as COC’s, but if it’s all you have, use them.
To do the exercise, lie on a Swiss ball as if you were going to do a traditional ball crunch.  Take your gripper and squeeze it closed, now keep it squeezed as hard as you can and begin performing crunches.  Switch hands with the gripper after a few reps and go again.  Do the same amount on both sides.  We suggest 3 sets of 20 to start, performing 5 reps of crunches with one hand, switching grippers, do another 5, switch hands, and repeat.  Most people won’t be able to keep the gripper squeezed for too long, so we advise switching hands.


These are much harder than they sound.  You will feel a very strong abdominal contraction because of what is called radiational tension. Radiational tension is caused by squeezing your hands as hard as you can, which allows you to contract other muscles harder. Give it a try, you’ll see.