SNEWS has fun with accessories at IHRSA
Accessories are always a great item to carry and this year’s IHRSA introduced us to some fun new things, including a little item that makes stability balls more manageable during a workout, and mobile fat burning and strengthening station.
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Though the economy is looking up, according to some optimistic fitness manufacturers, accessories are still always great to keep in stock in your stores. And IHRSA offered SNEWS a plethora of accessories to have fun with.
This year’s IHRSA brought us a strength-training tool that looks like a giant whistle, a progressive resistance item that looks like a bow tie, and a handy helper that makes training with a stability ball a little less unstable. Most of the accessories focused on training and strengthening users’ muscles to move in ways they normally do.
It seems like companies are getting fed up with the same old designs of strength equipment and accessories, and the ViPR, which looks like a giant whistle (photo, right), proves that is the case.
“ViPR was created from a need to evolve training tools, foster purposeful motion and blend strength training with functional training and movement,” Michol Dalcourt, inventor of the product, said in a news release.
The big tube has various points that can be used for handgrips. Users can do various movements from rowing to other multidirectional movements, which helps users become stronger and work more efficiently in their daily tasks. Keep on the lookout for the company’s upcoming promotional video that should be out within the next few weeks.
From whistles to bow ties, accessories came in all shapes. The Iso-Bow (MSRP $9.95, photo, left) from Bullworker is a small, compact item for fans of the Steel Bow, which is more than 50 years old. Users can pull on each end of the Bow, and do any fluid movement from yoga poses to Tai Chi, said John Hughes of Bullworker.
“Most people who see this are very skeptical,” Hughes explained. “But when they have one, they find it’s so simple to use.”
Another fun item that had our SNEWS reporter a little sweaty was from the newcomer Freestyler Fat burner and body shaper. Personal trainers Karla Kelly and Quanita May gave our reporter quite a little workout to strengthen her for her everyday chores like sweeping the floor, to strengthening muscles to kick up the pace for the last .2 miles of a marathon. There’s a little something for everybody with this piece.
The item (photo, right) consists of a football shaped plastic board with two spaces on each end through which the resistance bands can be looped (resistance bands come in four different levels of difficulty, easy, medium, strong and sport). After the resistance bands are looped through the spaces, one end is attached to your ankles with a velcro stap and the other side is for the handles.
“It’s a portable workout station,” Kelly said. “It’s functional fitness – an all core, full body workout.”
Another neat newcomer to the show was the Halo Trainer (photo, left) from Physical Therapist and President Bryce Taylor.
“The idea is controlled instability,” Taylor told SNEWS. It helps users of all fitness levels get the benefit from exercising with a stability ball by providing an item with dual sides: one side keeps the ball from rolling and another keeps the ball from being so squishy. Plus, the handy little item could be used on its own for push-ups.
Taylor explained that there are four different levels of workouts from full body weight training to physical therapy.
–Ana Trujillo
