The ViPR is vicious!

Hello fitness fans! This week features a workout that pushed us to our limits - we hope you like it - and maybe even try it!

A personal trainer in Ames says he hasn’t repeated a workout in a year and a half and now he’s added a brand new fitness tool to his bag of tricks. "Yeah,” Jeff Barton says with a grin, “Viper. I just discovered it online - they haven't been on the market very long, maybe six months."

"ViPR" stands for vitality, performance and reconditioning. We're soon thinking of other names for it. "To the novice it's a very simple tool,” Jeff explains, “it’s just a hollow cylinder with some handles on it."

ViPR is the main component of station number one during this workout. Jeff has us doing uppercuts, lunges, squats and tire kicks with it - but the possibilities are endless. The creators of ViPR claim it provides more than nine-thousand exercises. "The fact that it's made of rubber makes it virtually indestructible ... you can really get creative and have quite a bit of fun with it."

The cylinders range in weight from 8 to 45 pounds, and push our bodies in a whole new way. Jeff explains why. "I like to think in terms of movements, not muscles. Especially with ViPR we're doing movements not just, ok we're working biceps now."

That theory carries through to station number two. Pipes and resistance balls are filled with water - throwing everything off balance. "Yeah, we live in a world where things are constantly changing around us - it's not this fixed path like a chest press...that's not real life." There are eight different stops, with moves like atomic pushups, single leg cobras, and ball slams. "The fact that we do interval training is good for overall conditioning, not only strength training,” says Jeff. “Your heart is racing throughout the workout and probably stays elevated."

Our hears are pounding, and that's before we hit station number three. It incorporates kettle bells and resistance bands to form challenging combination moves, and soon we're pouring sweat. "There may be brief periods where your heart rate comes down, but the up and down is good ... it's great for annihilating fat!"

Curiosity about the ViPR is what brought us here, and curiosity about what Jeff will dream up next is what keeps people coming back. "It’s something new and fresh – which keeps it interesting. They know they're going to do something new when they walk in the door."

You can try ViPR, or any of Jeff’s boot camp classes for FREE all this week. Visit www.jeffbartontraining.com for details!

Have a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com