Whether
you're working out at home or at
the gym, the more versatile the
equipment you have, the more exercises
you can do and the better your results
will be. Can something as elegantly
simple as the "The Equalizer"
crank up the intensity of your training?
Find out now!
When it comes to training equipment,
sometimes the phrase "simpler
is better" rings VERY true.
And in the case of the "The
Equalizer," simple is not only
a good thing, it can get you GREAT
results!
"The
Lebert Equalizer," invented
by top Canadian personal trainer
Marc Lebert, is very simple in design.
On the surface (it comes in two
separate pieces), "The Equalizer"
resembles two thick yellow hurdles
standing a few feet tall and measuring
a few feet long, with two "feet"
on the bottom for stability and
support. It also sports two padded
hand grips right in the center of
each piece. It looks very simple
for sure...
But
when you start performing some of
the recommended bodyweight exercises
on "The Equalizer," you'll
see just how powerful "simple"
can be.
Now,
speaking for myself, I'm a big believer
in exercises that use your body
for resistance, including variations
of push-ups, chin-ups, dips, etc.
Exercises that move your body through
space have been shown to activate
greater numbers of muscle fibers
and create much stronger demands
on the body, both in the muscular
and nervous system, than exercises
where you move the weight instead.
Bottom
line - bodyweight exercises and
exercises that combine weights and
body movement (like squats) are
more effective than the vast majority
of "locked in" exercises
where you move the weight and not
yourself.
And
the sheer number of bodyweight exercises
that you can perform with "The
Equalizer" makes it one of
the most versatile pieces of bodyweight-centric
equipment you can get, whether you
train at the gym or especially if
you train at home.
THE
"PROS" of the Lebert Equalizer
1.
Easy assembly, simple design, solid
construction and no moving parts
"The
Equalizer" ships in pieces
but is EXTREMELY easy to assemble.
It's basically a matter of sliding
the pieces together then tightening
a few screws. It only took me a
few minutes from taking it out of
the box to having it ready to go.
The
design is simple and the two parts
stack together very nicely, making
it a great space-saving piece of
equipment. And, because "The
Equalizer" is basically a base
to perform exercises on, there's
no need for any moving parts, which
means less to go wrong and ZERO
maintenance.
The
actual frame of "The Equalizer"
is constructed of solid steel and,
I would say, is pretty much unbreakable
in normal use. You would have to
really try hard to do any damage
to it.
2.
Extremely large number of valuable
exercises to perform
One
of the greatest assests of "The
Equalizer" is the fact that
it can be used in so many ways.
Without looking at the exercise
chart that was included in the box,
I found myself performing 5 or 6
exercises without even having to
refer to it. When I did stop and
look at the chart, it gave me some
good ideas for further use.
Some
of the sample exercises include
dips, push-ups, pull-up rows (a.k.a.
inverse bodyweight rows), bench
dips, knee raises, bodyweight tricep
extensions, one-legged squats (used
for keeping balance), calf raises,
assisted lunges, side push-ups (for
obliques), bodyweight inverse curls,
and many more! "The Equalizer"
website offers a tremendous number
of exercise variations that you
can put to use immediately.
You
can even use it as something to
jump over to develop leg power and
vertical leap!
And
as a dedicated "exercise innovator"
myself, I've already come up with
quite a few new uses for the equipment!
3.
Good stability and portability
For
a piece of bodyweight-oriented equipment
to be truly useful, it must be stable.
This is because you need to balance
on it, push your body off it and
pull yourself up on it.
The
"feet" on "The Equalizer"
make the apparatus quite stable
for the majority of exercises and
I found it to be quite solid. There
were a few times when I pushed out
to the sides a little too hard and
the pieces tilted a bit. But once
I understood the limitations, it
was simple to work around. Like
any equipment, it's important to
know what you can and can't do with
it. Overall, you can do quite a
lot!
The
two pieces themselves are extremely
light and portable and very easy
to maneuver into any position you
want to put them in. It's a good
combination - solid, stable and
portable.
THE
"CONS" of the Lerbert
Equalizer
1.
Not as stable laterally (to the
sides)
As
I mentioned above, when I pushed
directly out to the sides, the pieces
did tilt a bit. But in that case,
I was doing the movement specifically
to test lateral stability so it
wasn't a big shock when the pieces
tilted. To make the units more stable
with those types of movements, the
feet would have to be much larger,
resulting in a larger overall footprint.
Once
you know the limits of the lateral
pressure you can put on, you can
very easily work within them.
2.
Not adjustable in height
The
only real change I might make to
"The Equalizer" would
be the ability to change the height
of the pieces. As they are right
now, the height is set at only one
specific point. A couple of removeable
pins and some height options would
give "The Equalizer" even
more potential variety in exercises
you could do with it.
As
it is right now, the height seemed
to be just fine for the vast majority
of the exercises. With height adjustment,
you could potentially make some
exercises easier or harder.
*On
a side note, I did ask Marc Lebert
about height adjustability and it
IS something they have thought of
and are considering adding into
the equipment in the future.*
3.
It's yellow
Yellow
doesn't match any of the other equipment
I have in my gym. This is the biggest
challenge I faced with "The
Equalizer" and, you better
believe, it's a very VERY small
one.
---
When
it comes right down to it, I would
HIGHLY recommend "The Equalizer"
not only in a regular gym setting
but ESPECIALLY in a home gym situation.
The sheer variety of exercises and
movements you can do with this simple
piece of equipment would make it
an extremely valuable addition to
any training area.
It's
even used by a number of professional
athletes to boost their sports performance,
including Scott Niedermayer of the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks (hockey) and
Mike Wiebe, Professional Long Driver
(golf - best drive 428 yards!).
If
you're in a gym setting (e.g. trainer,
owner or manager), "The Lebert
Equalizer" is also offered
in money-saving package deals. That
way, you can offer classes using
this excellent piece of equipment.
If
you just train at a gym, it'll be
tough to fit it in your gym bag
(unless you bring a suitcase!),
but it would be a very good piece
of equipment to have at home for
days when you don't feel like going
to or just can't make it to the
gym.
"The
Lebert Equalizer" is, overall,
an excellent piece of equipment
and well worth picking up.
To
learn more about The Equalizer and
to
get one for yourself, please click
here.
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