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Showing posts with label equipment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equipment. Show all posts

Monday, 7 November 2011

REVIEW: Gym boss interval timer

This is a nifty little device I got a couple of weeks ago now. It isn't perfect, but as a decent, basic interval timer it does the job.

Ok, let's get the bad stuff out of the way. First off it is not that intuitive to use, I've had it several weeks & I still need to read the instructions to set it up (hee hee that might just be me though!), second point is you can only set one work time & one rest time - so you can have up to 99 intervals, but each of those must have the same work times & rest times, for example you could do 2 minutes work & 1 minute rest, but every set will have the same 2 minutes work & one minute rest, so you can't have, say different times for each work or rest set, if you wanted to do for example a 90 second front plank, then a 45 second side plank with one minute rest each time you'd be out of luck.

Those are the bad points, but the good points are that you can set it up to beep & if necessary vibrate (useful for louder gyms or headphone wearers), most often you won't even need different timings, so one rest & one work time is usually ok, you can get handy arm or wrist straps (you can also attach it directly to your clothes if you prefer), once you've set it up it is easy to actually start & stop, you can do up to 99 work sets, for stuff like planks, kettlebells etc it is really great for keeping you honest about time & allows incremental increases in duration, or you can do various forms of density training as you feel the need. In use I found it to be a pretty useful tool when doing timed stuff, the beep is loud enough to hear over music (or if you have ear buds in adding the vibration can help). I've tended to use it mainly for planking work & for timed kettlebell stuff, but I'm sure as time goes on I'll find other uses for it. If you are into any sort of density training it would certainly help with that. It could also just add a little variety into your training if you've not worked in timed intervals before, whether using bodyweight, barbell, or other training tool.

So far I've found it a very useful tool that I'd recommend. It may not be useful to a powerlifter so much, or probably a few other selected sports, but for the average gym goer, or someone looking for a change, or someone presently doing stuff under time, but using a clock on the wall, this is a vastly superior way of doing it in my view as you don't have to compromise your position to check your timing.

Final points are that I have only had this a couple of weeks, it seems to be working fine, but it's obviously not 100% proven durability yet (I need to to knock it about a bit more), oh yea it does have a stopwatch, but I've not used that yet so I'm not sure how well that works (I suspect it will do the job, but I rarely time things like that so I may not be using that for long while, if at all). Oh yea & be warned it comes in several colours including pink for all you guys who don't to be seen with a pink timer, so check what colour you are getting before you buy (mine is black just like in the picture).

Amazon is probably the easiest place to get hold of it, just go to their site & do a search for 'gymboss' & loads will come up, I found buying the wrist band & arm band added a couple of pounds sterling to the cost, but it was a free shipping item, so it was worth buying them all at once for me (although I've found I've not really needed either of the bands it is nice to know I've got them if I do need them.

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

My new wrist wraps


I don't use many training aids as a rule. I don't normally wear a belt when I train (although I will be testing one out in the very near future, so look out for that), nor do I wear elbow or knee wraps, super suits or even lifting straps that often. I prefer to lift without specialist lifting gear...but...Recently I've been suffering a touch of tendinitis, in the right wrist, so my options were rest it with no training at all for that arm, or get some sort of support for the wrist. I went with the wrist support option!
Anyway I looked about for a bit & finally found a pair online at the vegan sports shop, this shop actually does some serious bits of kit. It's run by some lads in Scotland who provide gear for powerlifters, strongmen & weightlifters & unlike many specialist vegan shops it hasn't inflated it's prices just because it deals with a niche market.
After a bit of looking about I went for the 'blood stripe' design (you've got to go with a name like that!) & delivery was super-fast, so I could get back to some upper body training without a break. The wraps are great for my needs. I only use one on my right wrist, but the difference is like night & day in terms of pain when training (especially pushing). Obviously once it recovers I'll be doing some serious rehab & eventually I aim to drop the wraps, but to me they were well worth the few pounds they cost me to keep me in the game while the wrist has time to heal up.

As a rule I keep aids to a minimum, but for contest where they are allowed & for recovery are 2 areas I think training aids like these can come into their own. If you have a nagging issue or 2, or an annoying injury, that can be bypassed with a training aid (while you work towards a recovery), then they can mean the difference between a forced training break & continuing towards your goals, so I'm all for them...when used correctly. I must point out that yes wearing a super suit, knee wraps, wrist wraps & a belt will add to your total, but I don't believe they add the benefits of spending the majority of your time training in the raw. Obviously a powerlifter who competes equips has different needs, but even these should take some time training in a t-shirt & shorts, just to build up that base strength level & not be forced to rely on the support of a suit 365 days a year. Yep, the weight will go down quite a bit without the gear, but you'll build a better base if you spend at least a portion of your off-season training lifting without support (obviously taking into account any injuries & issues - don't be stupid).
So do I recommend wrist wraps...well if you need them yes, for most people probably no, unless you're entering a contest that allows wraps, you don't need wraps (as I said I only wear 1 wrap when training), if you have wrist issues benching or curling then they could help (when the pain subsides consider some wrist rehab with some progressive lever bar work, grippers, wrist curls etc). You're goal shouldn't be to hide a weakness with wraps or any support gear, it should be to work around an injury, so it can heal, then CORRECT that problem & get the area strong enough you don't need the aid anymore. At least that's my take on the whole training aids debate.

Thursday, 13 November 2008

I've got to get me one of these!

I've never, ever seen one of these peg boards before, maybe they're
more common in the US, but I've never seen one...I WANT! Got no idea
where I'd put such a thing, but man they look cool to do :-)







The guy doing it in a weighted vest...AWESOME!