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"
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"
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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