Good idea: Freeweights and tubing

While perusing my usual morning watered-down-news-and-trashy-info website (also known as msn.ca), I came across a very interesting article about freeweight use. The article suggests using exercise tubing – also known as medical tubing – to enhance strength workouts that use dumbbells. How so? Simply by tying one end of the tubing to the dumbbell and the other end to something heavy and sturdy near the floor, like a couch leg.

What the tubing does is not only create additional resistance, but also create a line of tension and imbalance which you need to work against. In order to keep the dumbbell moving in a straight and smooth line, you need to engage a whole lot of muscles including deep stabilizers that you otherwise would not be working (or not working as hard). The end result is a harder workout that will tone more muscles. The full article and instructions is here:
Twice the Workout, Half the Time

I will definitely be giving this a try. It sounds like a sensible sort of twist on my usual strength training, and certainly will not require any extra time or effort on my part. What I also like about it is that it’s cheap, both in terms of money and time. As I’ve said many times, I dislike spending money on equipment and membership fees, and will rarely drop a dime on exercise outside of dance classes and the occasional practice DVD. I also dislike the cost in time that it takes to commute to gyms to use their equipment. But I do believe that a good pair or set of dumbbells is an excellent and cost-effective addition to any fitness budget. I use mine all the time, and they need not be fancy or expensive. And the tubing is incredibly inexpensive! The article suggests purchasing tubing from j/Fit fitness product supplier. Their tubes (with or without handles) are certainly inexpensive, but for even cheaper tubing without shipping cost, just trot down to a medical supply store and get a length of stretchy surgical or rehab tubing. I got some a few years ago when I was in physio for wonky shoulders, and it cost me something like $2 for a good two meters. I just tied loops on either end for handles, and it works exactly the same as those pricier fitness tubes and handles.