If you want to take some exercise equipment along when you travel, but don’t like the thought of hauling your trusty iron dumbbells in your suitcase, you may be pleased to hear that there are now collapsible alternatives. These are made of plastic, not iron. You just fill them with water when you reach your destination, pump some H2O, then drain and fold them when you’re ready to leave.
These items can give you a decent dumbbell workout without having to pack your own iron, with the attendant threat to your shoulder, the little wheels on your suitcase, or whoever’s standing next to you in the check-in line. Aquabell is the leading manufacturer for this equipment.
Even more low-tech are devices you can attach to a doorjamb or knob and use to with the weight and resistance of your body. The more you support your weight on the device, the harder the exercise become. The one I used recently is called the Jam Gym. It’s a length of webbing with a buckle that slides into the door jamb on one end and on the other end it splits into two bands with a handle on each side. Believe me it works!
Don’t use anything that hasn’t been specifically designed for this kind of exercise, and make sure you check for rips or flaws before you use it. If you’re leaning forward at a 45- degree angle with your weight supported by webbing or tubing, you don’t want it to break. These devices usually come with instructions—Jam Gym also has a video—but you still have to know how to do the exercises for them to be safe and effective. I don’t recommend these for beginners.
Elastic bands or tubing, long used in rehab, are becoming more and more popular as resistance training devices. Made by companies such as Theraband and Dynaband, and widely available, they are usually color-coded according to how heavy they are. Don’t just automatically reach for the pink ones if you think you’re not very strong. You should use heavier bands for large muscle groups (legs, back, biceps) and lighter ones for the small (triceps, shoulders).
You can get more resistance by doubling the bands or grasping them so that they become shorter. Be careful though. These things do break if they are overused or overstretched. Bands are attractive to many people, because they are inexpensive, light in weight, and easy to transport, and that is also why you may want to take them when you travel.
Here’s a quick look at how you can use elastic exercise bands to get a workout.
Chest: Sit forward in a chair, wrap the band around your back a couple inches below armpit level, hold it so you get the desired tension, and extend your arms as though you were doing a vertical (seated) bench press. You can also perform a chest fly by keeping your elbows straight and moving from there out to the sides and then out to the front. Incidentally, you can use the same technique to add resistance to your pushups.
Upper Back: Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and loop the band around your feet. Pull the ends of the bands back in a rowing motion, elbows close to your sides, until your hands are at your ribs. You may want to double the bands or use one arm at a time to make the exercise harder. Another option is to pull the band tight with your hands overhead, about shoulder width apart. Then pull it down to your collarbone, bringing your shoulder blades together as though you were doing a lat pull down.
Shoulders: Sit or stand on the band, depending on how long it is, grab the other end and bring your arm out to the side like a lateral dumbbell raise. Exercise one arm at a time.
Arms: To work your arms, do biceps curls by standing on one end of the band. For triceps, grab one end with your arm behind your back, then point the elbow of the other arm up with your elbow bent, and straighten out that arm with the band in that hand.
For most people, these bands will not provide enough resistance for a good lower body workout. You’re better off doing some sort of squat or lunge, even if you just sit down lightly on a chair and get up again repeatedly. An exception would be if you want to tie the band to a heavy object such as the foot of a bed, then loop it around your ankle and move your leg either out to the side or inward, crossing over the other ankle, to work the outer and inner thigh.
For abs, you’ll have to forget about the bands and do some crunches.
Travel Well, Travel Safe!
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