The
Omniglide - Portability and Versatility
At Home and On The Road
Looking for workout equipment
you can take with you wherever
you go? The Omniglide may be exactly
what you're looking for!
One of the biggest problems a person
faces when it comes to exercising
at home or while traveling, aside
from time, is the availability of
equipment to workout with.
While
there are options in terms of bodyweight
exercises, sometimes having some
good equipment can give you that
extra variety and motivation you
need to do your training. Let's
face it...hotel exercise rooms that
consist of a couple of pink neoprene
2 lb dumbells and an exercise bike
with no seat aren't going to do
you a whole lot of good!
But
what do you do when space is at
a premium, i.e. if you're traveling
and can only pack equipment into
a suitcase along with everything
else you're bringing? Or if you
just don't have room at home for
normal, bulky exercise machines?
That's
where a new product called the Omniglide
comes in.
The
Omniglide, while being simple in
design, allows for good versatility
in the exercises you're able to
do with it. In fact, there are exercises
you can ONLY do with the Omniglide!
What Is It and How Does It Work?
The
Omniglide is a very compact product,
consisting essentially of two plastic
hand-grips. The bottom surface is
flat and smooth while the top surface
provides a comfortable grip for
your hands and fingers. The small
size means you can take it with
you pretty much anywhere you go.
The
Omniglide works by sliding on carpet,
using your bodyweight (applied at
various angles) for resistance.
Your hands grip on the top of the
Omniglide sliders as you do the
exercises.
Having
separate, freely-moving handles
for each hand allows for a good
range of effective exercises to
be performed, even allowing for
diagonal movement of the hands for
a totally different kind of stress
on the body. This ability to perform
diagonal movement (similar to how
the arms work when cross-country
skiing - one goes up while the other
moves down) is unique to the Omniglide.
The
exercises can very easily be tailored
to your ability level. Depending
on how you position your body, you
can increase or decrease the resistance
you apply.
Some
of the exercises you can do with
the Omniglide include:
Circles
- Front
Circles - 45 degrees
Circles - Single Disc
Degree Extensions
Front Extensions
Front Extensions - Single Disc
Swim
V Extensions
V Extensions- Single Disc
Fly Front
Side Swing
Fly Front
X Extensions
You
can view these exercises in action
on the Omniglide site (the URL is
listed below) and the product itself
does come with an instructional
video so you'll know exactly what
you're doing and how to get the
most benefit from the product.
After
testing these exercises for myself,
I found them to be very effective
at working the chest, abs, arms
and even the back. With a little
experimentation, I was even able
to come up with a few exercises
of my own that weren't on the site
(and I'm sure there are plenty more
that could be done that I haven't
thought of yet). The freedom of
movement that the Omniglide gives
provides you with a great base from
which to work.
Also,
being equipment that uses your bodyweight
for resistance, the Omniglide is
very good for building functional
chest and core strength. Exercises
that move your body through space
will actually activate more muscle
fibers as well. The Omniglide is
a great example of innovative bodyweight
exercise equipment.
There
were only a few minor drawbacks
that I noticed with the Omniglide.
The first is that there really aren't
any direct lower body exercises
you can do with it. Only the muscles
of the upper body can be worked
due to the size and shape of the
grips. As there are many effective
bodyweight exercises you can use
for the legs, such as squats, lunges,
calf raises, one-legged squats,
etc., this is not a big concern.
It is good to know going in that
this is an upper-body exercise tool.
The
other drawback that I could see
was that the Omniglide can only
be used on carpet or other similar
surface. That being said, most homes
and every hotel or motel room I've
ever been in has some carpet in
it, so this is not a very big limiting
factor for the Omniglide. It may
simply restrict where in your home
you can use it.
[NOTE:
while it is possible to use the
Omniglide on other surfaces, carpet
is the manufacturer's recommended
surface.]
Conclusion:
All
in all, if you're looking for a
good piece of versatile and very
portable exercise equipment, the
Omniglide may be a very good choice
for you. It provides a nice variety
of very effective exercises for
a wide range of ability levels.
The
drawbacks of not being able to work
your lower body and not being able
to use it on every surface are minimal
and not hard to overcome.
It's
an innovative piece of equipment
that can help you get a great workout
at home and on the road.
For
more information on the Omniglide,
including pictures and videos of
the exercises you can do with it,
please click the following link
to go the product's website:
Click
Here
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