Fit As A Virtual Fiddle
Sun Herald
Sunday March 7, 1999
Serious gyms are constantly installing new gadgets to keep the focus on fitness.
Grinding away day after day on a treadmill takes strength of mind as much as body. Imagine if you could burn the fat as you experience the delights of a Caribbean island. Or get fit cycling around a mountain, taking in the vista as you race against an unseen rival.
When repetitive exercise syndrome strikes, it's time to bring in the high-tech toys: virtual reality exercise equipment.
That's what you'll get at the seductively named Temple Of The Body And Soul - a women-only health club in Sydney's east.
After a spell in underwater virtual reality, ducking and weaving marine creatures on the video cycle, club members can keep the cardio work-out going by climbing a rotating rock face.
The Rock - described by its makers as a virtual mountain that puts excitement back into exercise - is an electronic climbing wall which can be adjusted to suit the beginner or serious climber.
You can start with the wall tilted at a timid 15 degrees, with the rotating face on its lowest speed of seven metres a minute. Club manager Cynthia Talone said five minutes on these settings would work up a mighty sweat on your average gym goer. For those super-fit show-offs, The Rock can be set to force dangling climbers to move at 15 metres a minute.
"This is a great boredom alleviator because you must focus fully on what you are doing - you have no choice but to keep climbing," Talone said. "And that means it's a good stress reliever too because it takes your mind away and switches you off.
"It's a fantastic way to tone up the lower body without even realising you are doing it. You're lunging and lifting using your thigh muscles, bottom, arms and back. The concept is to lift your own body weight."
And if you've ever fantasised about throwing a punch at the boss/partner/rude waiter, now you can in the name of fitness. Enter the Slam Man - a foam and plastic, life-size electronic torso held upright by a water-filled base.
Guaranteed not to hit back, the Slam Man is showing up in clubs all over Sydney, ready to take abuse while masquerading as an Aerobic Boxing Trainer.
"The Slam Man teaches all styles of boxing punches using pre-set, three-minute rounds," said Kieran Nolan, co-owner of New Image gym, Manly. "It improves hand-eye co-ordination as well as fitness and you can hit it as hard as you like.
"We've only just installed him and it's the ladies who are loving it so far. After three minutes you're sweating - it's great for agility, stamina and endurance."
Bouncing on a huge rubber ball is now officially regarded as legitimate exercise. The fit ball is a new gym gizmo which has its origins in physiotherapy. Its main purpose is to strengthen abdominal muscles in a variety of exercises, such as curls and stretches.
Fitness instructor Suellen Roberts not only uses the balls during her work at the new Healthland club at Dee Why but also in her rehabilitation work with heart patients because of its aerobic benefits.
"You can lie over the ball and do push-ups," she said. "When you sit on the ball and bounce it encourages good posture, you're working the lower back and stomach and, on top of that, getting aerobic exercise."
She said Healthland's 20 metre pool had a water treatment system that created ultra-hygenic water and cut the stinging eyes and green hair sometimes associated with chlorinated pools. A two-stage ozone treatment method, like those in use at Homebush Bay Olympic pools, eliminated more bacteria than any other system.
Club manager David Allen said the new gravity-assisted Chin & Dip machine meant you could aim for the sculptured biceps and back muscles gained by relentless chin-ups, thanks to a moving platform that lifted your body weight. "Normally, chin-ups are so hard nobody except the super-elite can do them," he said.
Despite a massive investment in the latest equipment, the club's most popular activity is boxing, especially among women.
A squash court at Sydney's Hyde Park Club has recently been turned into a concept called "cardio theatre". The space is filled with row upon row of the latest fitness machines - the step-mill cross-trainer and elliptical trainers, described by operations manager David Clark as a cross between walking and stepping. The machines face a wall of 10 video screens - plug in your personal earphones and choose between cable TV music, news and sport channels as well as free-to-air TV.
© 1999 Sun Herald