Thursday, August 28, 2008

What George Hillyard (Pro-Boxer) thinks...

I recent met George Hillyard a young professional boxer who uses the Shadowboxer VRT. After a short discussion and sharing some ideas on how we both use the VRT, I just had to film him. Remember, we don't sponsor George but I loved his enthusiasm so much that I just had to get him talking about the product on camera, hence you can hear me laughing in the background. See the two video clips.


Suffice to say that we are now looking at sponsoring George such was his enthusiasm, added to the fact that he is just such a nice bloke. He is truly a good role model and we want to support George in the challenges that lie ahead of him.

We have been invited to film one of George's training sessions and will post this also so you can get an idea of the wide range of things that you can use the shadowboxer for.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Fighters Only Review This Month


So you don't have to believe us harp on about how good the Shadowboxer VRT is here's a recent independent review...

You should be able to double click on the article so it's not so much on an eye test.

After some exercises that we recently recommended, Dean Amasinger, a professional MMA fighter said "It increases (punching) speed and power and that snap that you really can't explain...giving you that extra inch that you're really going to need in a fight...it will add to your cardio and your muscular endurance massively...today we were working the abs also and I couldn't believe how hard it was, it was really working the lower abs and it took a lot of focus to use."

After George Hillyard, a professional boxer was recently shown the ropes on how to use it he said "For my punching it makes me sharper and helps with faster hands speed and power. I'm not just saying this 'cos you're here, but its like a mini multi- gym. I was initially using it just for shadowboxing but now I know I've tried that range of exercises I think it's unbelievable. When you think of it like that it's great value."

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

MORE than just a PUNCH -- Reverse Crunch

Recently, we met George Hillyard, a light middle weight boxer who uses the Shadowboxer VRT. Apart from being a throughly nice chap, it became apparent that after a short discussion that he wasn't aware that the VRT could be used for a wide variety of exercises aside from punching. So we decided to give him a quick run down and he was very impressed after our short session. So it is with this in mind that I have included the following exercise.

THE REVERSE CRUNCH
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  1. Loop the Shadowboxer VRT over your feet as shown on the image.
  2. The start position is to lay with your back flat against the floor with your legs vertically pointing up to the ceiling. Your feet should flat, do this by pulling your toes back. Your hips is on the ground at this point and you will need to pull the handles back to your waist to they are taught. (hold the handles however feels most comfortable for you, personally I hold the handles in a gun like position by the orange plastic body)
  3. Now as you breath out lift your hip in a controlled manner (i.e. don't throw the hips) 1-2 inches off the ground, keeping the legs in a vertical position.
  4. Slowly lower them back to the floor, in a controlled way, breathing in.
  5. Repeat 15 reps, 3 times.
This exercise targets the lower part of your abs, which many people struggle with. It is a very tough exercise and so an easier version is to do this laying on your back with your knees bent and the VRT over your shins, so there is less tension on the cables.

These muscles are very important for posture and weaknesses here are the root cause of a lot of lower back pain due to bad hip position. If you exercise this area not only will you look considerably slimmer but your posture will improve. If a beer belly is your probem a few weeks of this and you'll be shocked by the difference.

George and the numerous MMA fighters we work with loved this exercise and that's why we're sharing it...Enjoy.

Warning: if you feel back pain when attempting this exercise, stop immediately and seek the advice of a doctor or professional gym instructor.