Sunday, April 13, 2008
Life, Health + Fitness, In this Issue...
Hanging tough
Want to get in shape for real? Drop the free weights, and suspend yourself in the air with nylon ropes
CREDIT:Courtesy of Crunch Fitness
WHAT: Bodyweb, a suspension workout class at Crunch Fitness
WHERE: 3365 Piedmont Road
HOW MUCH? Call for membership info.
CONTACT INFO: 404-262-2120. www.crunch.com.
FITNESS FACTOR: 4 1/2 stars
FUN FACTOR: 2 stars
Spiderman is not my favorite superhero. Mainly because I don’t think Tobey McGuire is that attractive. It really puts a damper on my damsel-in-distress-saved-by-a-hunky-man-in-tights fantasy. But I have to admit from the neck down, he’s rocking a pretty cut body. Flinging himself from building to building—supported only by webbing—must be quite a workout for the major muscle groups.
That’s the premise, anyway, behind Bodyweb, a new workout at Crunch Fitness where you use nylon ropes “to push, pull, lift and lower your body through Spiderman moves for a total body suspension workout.”
When I went to check it out on a Sunday morning, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As I’ve mentioned in a previous column, I’m not a fan of heights, so I was a bit apprehensive taking a Spiderman-like class, as I don’t think he harbors the same fear.
Fortunately, I soon found out, your entire body is never suspended in the air at once. A nylon strap is hung from an anchor point. When you’re holding on to the straps with your hands, your feet are firmly on the floor, and you can do push-ups, squats or any number of exercises, using your upper body and the straps to support you at various angles. Or you can put your feet in the straps, leaving your hands on the floor and do a lot of plank-type core-strengthening exercises.
The point is, the majority of your body is “suspended” in the air, so you’re supporting your entire body weight the whole time. And believe me, it’s intense. Doing a 30-minute workout using my 145 pounds of body weight as resistance was a bit more grueling than the 8-pound dumbbells I’m used to working with.
Then came the kicker—the teacher informed me that this workout was invented not by Spiderman as I was led to believe, but by a U.S. Navy Seal, who needed to find a way to stay in shape while out at sea where he didn't have access to weights. It got the Spiderman connotation because once it caught on, a lot of Navy Seals would hold on to the ropes with their hands and climb a wall with their feet, effectively suspending their entire bodies just like the wall-climbing superhero. But I have a feeling these Navy Seals wouldn’t be caught dead in red tights.
And in my fantasy, they also look a lot better than Tobey McGuire.
Bottom line? If you’re bored with your weights routine, or have come to a stalemate as far as your progress, bodyweb is a good way to intensify your workout and keep it interesting. If you’re new to working out, or love your free weights, leave this suspension class to the navy seals and superheroes. SP
Colleen Oakley is a freelance writer in Atlanta and the former editor of Women’s Health & Fitness magazine. She’s no triathlete, but she enjoys being active and adventurous. Got a fitness challenge for her? E-mail her at colleen@sundaypaper.com.