Drew Baye squatting in Vibram FiveFinger shoes
I hate wearing shoes, and if they weren’t required at work, in restaurants, and in various other places I would go barefoot most of the time. I am almost always barefoot at home, and unless I absolutely have to wear regular shoes, I only wear sandals when I’m out.
I also prefer to lift barefoot, especially when squatting, deadlifting, or performing any kind of standing exercise, as it seems to improve balance and stability. Rather than being harmful to the feet, as some people believe, when lifting barefoot the feet would adapt to the stresses of exercise like any other part of the body.
A few weeks back I saw a video on Tim Ferriss’ web site in which he wore what appeared to be a pair of camouflage socks with toes. I thought they looked interesting, but didn’t give it much thought until I saw a post on The Dream Lounge called The Ultimate Shoe, which showed another video where the interviewer asked Tim about them. He was wearing a type of shoe by Vibram called FiveFingers, which are almost like a glove for the feet, with separate toe pockets and a thin Vibram rubber sole for grip and protection. After discussing them with Anthony from The Dream Lounge I decided to try a pair, and drove over to Travel Country Outdoors to check them out. They are the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn. Read more…
Drew Baye Equipment
I’ve received a large amount of comments and e-mail regarding the Hybrid machines developed by Randy Rindfleisch since posting about the prototype I am testing. To save myself time answering individual e-mails I am going to answer the most frequently asked questions here.
What is your involvement with Hybrid machines?
I am currently testing and providing Randy with feedback on the design and use of a prototype of one of the Hybrid machines. I hope to be more involved with the company later on, and plan to eventually get production models to use in my own training and for research.
I first heard about Randy Rindfleisch’s machines through Charlie Haire, who I met in 2004. Randy had developed a line of plate-loaded equipment called Negative Attitude which were designed to make heavy negative-only training safer and more practical to perform. I met Randy at the high intensity training seminar in Indianapolis in 2006, where I was able to try his machines firsthand and was blown away by them. Those plate-loaded machines evolved into the current, motorized Hybrid machines.
What is the difference between Hybrid machines and regular machines?
Hybrid machines have motorized resistance instead of weight stacks, which provides perfectly balanced maximum resistance over the full range of motion and duration of an exercise, during positive, static, and negative work. The movement arms are driven by a motor at a selected speed over a user-controlled range of motion while the user attempts to push or pull against the machine in the appropriate direction for the muscles being worked. This can provide as much or as little resistance as necessary, accommodating users of all strength levels. Read more…
Drew Baye Equipment
I recently received a prototype from a new line of machines from Randy Rindfleisch, the inventor of the Eccentric Edge leverage machines and Xntrx motorized machines. It is an isokinetic, multi-exercise machine providing both positive and negative resistance, and can be used for several exercises and a variety of protocols.
There is no weight stack or plates to lift or lower. The resistance is entirely motorized. Movement is controlled through touch sensitive pads on the ends of the handles. The user contracts against the handles or shoulder pads as they move positively and negatively, attempting to speed up the positive and slow down the negative. The users effort is then displayed on a readout in front of them, which can be used to evaluate progress between workouts.
This provides several major advantages over conventional equipment.
When using free weights or conventional machines, you normally select a weight that will allow you to perform some number of repetitions or some duration of work, which is a compromise between having a heavy enough weight that the tension on the muscles is high enough but not so much that you can’t maintain that tension for adequate duration to induce a significant amount of microtrauma and metabolic byproducts of fatigue to stimulate growth. When you do this the only time your muscles are contracting as hard as possible is the point when their momentary strength has been reduced to the level of the selected resistance. From the start of the exercise up until that point, they are not working as hard as possible.
Since the muscles are capable of resisting far more force during the negative than they can contract against during the positive, they are worked even less intensely during the negative when using conventional equipment. For example, if you can lift 100 pounds, you can probably lower at least 140 pounds under control (this 40% figure is most likely an average and may vary significantly between individuals). If you select 80 pounds of resistance for an exercise, you are lifting 20% less weight and lowering over 40% less weight than you are capable of at the start of an exercise. Since the negative portion of an exercise is the most important for stimulating growth, this is a serious shortcoming. Read more…
Drew Baye Equipment
Parallettes are a gymnastics training tool which can be used to simulate some movements performed on parallel bars as well as a variety of bodyweight exercises such as L and V sits, planches and a variety of push ups and pressing movements. While various models are available commercially, they can be easily built for much less with commonly available materials such as wood or PVC piping.
I built the set pictured for a little over $20 using 1 and 1/4 inch schedule 40 PVC piping in a little under 30 minutes, with nothing but a tape measure, a sharpie and a small hacksaw. Schedule 40 PVC is light weight, strong, and easy to work with. While some people recommend building them with only 1 inch PVC, a larger diameter will be stronger and more comfortable to grip. If you are very heavy you may even want to go up to 1 and 1/2 inch, although I currently weigh about 190 and mine barely flex under my weight. Read more…
Drew Baye Equipment
You can easily add attachment points to many squat or power racks for chains, bands, gymnastic rings and numerous other devices by swapping heavy duty eye bolts for the regular bolts. Additional attachment points can be placed anywhere else on the rack by drilling new holes if you have the appropriate tools. More on this later…
Before swapping out bolts, you’ll need to know the diameter and length you’ll need. Most home and commercial equipment uses 3/8 and 1/2 inch hex bolts. The bolt size is not the same as the head size. A 3/8 inch bolt will have a 9/16 inch head, and a 1/2 inch bolt will have a 3/4 inch head. Check the head size using your socket or wrench and write it down.
Remove the bolt and measure the distance from the bottom of the head to the end. Write this down. Or, take the bolt with you to the hardware store and compare directly. Let anyone else that might use the rack know you’ve removed the bolt before you go.
When selecting eye bolts, check the packaging for the safe working load. The stainless steel bolts will typically have the highest, although zinc plated steel will usually be more than strong enough for most uses. The eye bolts I purchased will handle up to 540 pounds, and the spring clips up to 400. The packaging will usually contain some warning about not using the product for support of human weight or athletic equipment, but this is just there to cover their ass – a properly secured 3/8 or larger steel eye bolt is more than strong enough to safely support you and then some. If you’re over 400 pounds I doubt you’re going to be doing any body weight rows or ring dips any way. Use common sense. If you ever notice any kind of wear or damage to a bolt or spring clip, replace it. Hardware is much cheaper than an emergency room visit for a concussion or broken bone. Read more…
Drew Baye Equipment
