I Do CrossFit - Why Do I Need VertiMax?

The latest and ongoing fitness craze is undoubtedly CrossFit. With more than 4,400 affiliated gyms - most of which are in the United States - CrossFit is an ever-evolving, high intensity workout method that includes a variety of movement patterns performed to the maximum intensity. Some Workouts of the Day (WODs) can be 20 minutes or less because of their extreme physical demands, and athletes use: bars, dumbbells, jump ropes, climbing ropes, medicine balls, kettle bells, truck tires, and much more to complete their exercises. And individuals from all walks of life are flocking to it in order to get in shape. But is it the best pathway to fitness?

It’s certainly one of them, and there’s good news - VertiMax can help you get even more out of your CrossFit workouts.

With its structure and variety, it’s clear why CrossFit is a favorite among those just getting started and those looking to ‘go to the next level.’ With that said, numerous compound movements are involved in many of the exercises and, as a result, not all bodies are prepared for the stress and strain that will be placed upon them in the workouts. But VertiMax can help you get ready - and improve - your ability to perform each of the activities.

CrossFit Ponce
see more at: CrossFit Ponce

One of the VertiMax’s best qualities is its ability to utilize multiple functional muscle movements, strengthening both prime mover muscles and complementary muscles, too, meaning that you won’t overtrain one muscle at the expense of another.

The alternative? If you’re deconditioned to some degree, but training your body for only one type of movement with weights, for example, you may be putting yourself at the risk for injury.

In addition, the VertiMax trains muscles in compound movements that can’t be simulated with weights, but can improvement the movements you’ll conduct with weights, nevertheless. So VertiMax takes your performance training to new heights, while actually improving your output capabilities in other forms of exercise.

If you reside in the GA area.. try VertiMax integration into your crossfit training at CrossFit Oconee

Ready for the VertiMax advantage?

Get started today!

The Benefits - Parent & Child Exercise

As the producers of an elite fitness training system, our VertiMax team certainly has a vested interest in the ambitions and performance of athletes, but our passion doesn’t end there. As we’ve noted in previous blogs, and elsewhere on our website, we’re pleased that the VertiMax is a particularly invaluable tool in the development of youth athletes. What’s more? Because of its set-up and flexibility, it introduces an altogether new benefit - allowing parents and children to exercise together.

With more than 30 percent of the population being classified as obese, and statistics indicating that childhood obesity data are even worse than that, it’s evident that a healthy lifestyle is lacking for many - and it’s creating a whole new wave of health problems for our population. But a simple change can put you - and your family - on a much better path.

In an article for Faith and Fitness Magazine, Dr. Ron Eaker, M.D. OB-GYN, author of Fat-Proof Your Family, says that, “exercising with children reprograms kids to understand what is normal and what is not. Kids today believe that a sedentary lifestyle is normal. Studies show that most kids spend an average of 6 hours after school doing sedentary things like TV, computers, and video games. The have a skewed perception of ‘normal.’”

Indeed, defining normal shouldn’t be left for external forces to decide. In your life, and that of your family, defining a healthy standard of ‘normal’ at an early age can have a lifelong impact on the emotional and physical well-being of your children - and you, too.

With multiple bands and functional flexibility, the VertiMax not only adds a new layer of fun to activity for individuals of all ages, but it allows families to do it together.

What’s better? The VertiMax system doesn’t put children at developmental risk - bone and joint injuries - the way that resistance training does, but it provides a tremendous boost in athletic performance nevertheless. Not to mention that it’s fun beyond compare.

Ready to take your family’s health commitment to the VertiMax? Order yours today!

So You Want to Know How to Jump High

For years and years, athletes have wanted to know how to jump higher. For basketball, it was dunking or blocking shots. For volleyball, it was spiking or playing defense. Soccer? Head balls. You name it - if there’s a sport, there’s a reason for wanting to jump higher. In fact, PF Flyers, a sneaker brand, were once believed to help an athlete ‘run faster and jump higher,’ too. But could a piece of sporting equipment ever replace the power of a finely-tuned athlete? Quite frankly, the answer is no.

So athletes turned to sport training - sprinting, power training, and heavy lifting, just to name a few techniques. But in due time, the realization came that there was only so much that could be achieved through these methods. Athletes still wanted to know how to jump high.

Enter VertiMax. It was always assumed that the ‘how to jump high’ solution came primarily from training your legs. And on its face, that seems logical. But when you consider the total movement pattern of a jumper, you can’t help but ignore another major element of the movement - arm swing. If you’ve ever tried jumping without the use of your arms to propel you forward, chances are you didn’t get too far - or too high. Our statistics showed us that, indeed, 13 percent of vertical jumping capabilities come from arm swing speed. But what piece of equipment could teach that and lower extremity power?

The VertiMax. With resistance bands for your hips, legs and arms, you can now know the difference between good enough and great. Professional athletes from all sports have turned to VertiMax because they know the difference - and they see it first-hand in their performance. Coaches are bringing it into training rooms, too, and their teams are looking better as a result.

It’s not a fluke, either. If you truly want to know how to jump high, you need to train like you want it. And VertiMax is the only training machine out there that prepares all of an athletes parts for the movement. How’s that for a game changer?

VertiMax & The Woman Athlete

Sports and athletic performance don't know a gender, and neither does the VertiMax. With that said, women athletes have found the VertiMax to be particularly useful in a number of particular sports, including volleyball. In fact, four of the top five, and 15 of the top 25 ranked women's Division I college volleyball programs are VertiMax users.

And it's not just volleyball. Anson Dorrance, head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of North Carolina, has led the program to 20 of the 28 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships in his time as coach. And he had this to say about VertiMax and its impact on his female athletes.

"Our program continues to strive for ways to incorporate cutting-edge methods to improve our athletes' performances. The VertiMax trainer has been instrumental in helping us take our athletic strength and explosive power development to the next level. VertiMax has also helped the improvements in our girl's strength and speed attributes to very effectively transfer to the field where it counts. The VertiMax is one training system that I will continue to use to help us to achieve our training goals."

Play football? Run track? Play basketball? Or just looking to improve foot speed and explosive power? The Vertimax is your workout partner for the ultimate achievements in fitness. Get started today!

What Our Customers Say About VertiMax

Naturally, our blog is a place for us to showcase information about our line of VertiMax products, show you how they're used in a number of different sports by professional and amateur athletes, and more. But why not provide you with the feedback of actual, every day users? You could take our word for it, but you could also take theirs and we're sure you'll appreciate the unfiltered commentary.
Here are a few:

"Just as advertise! Got it for basketball workouts for those in the age ranges of 8- 25 and They Love it!!!!! Really Intense!!! Got my Stamp of Approval for Anyone!!!" - Champ019 on Amazon.com

"I bought this resistance trainer to do replicated tennis moves. It works great--on both ends (removable harness and removable light harness for the trainer to use) a heavy metal hook allows you to be creative with how you want to create your exercises. You can replace the harness with handles or a bar to do various other drills. The harness itself seems durable, however I have used more cushioned harnesses. This by no means is a flaky harness, and after all, if you are going through the pain of training, a regular harness should suffice. Last note, the cord is about eight feet long, so your partner should be ready to move with you as at higher speeds, eight feet is not very far at all.xxxxx " - KingV on Amazon.com

"This product is great! as an athletic trainer it has upgraded the workout and the players are waiting to work with me! thank you!" - shlomi on Amazon.com" - CharlesH24 on Amazon.com

What do you think? Have some thoughts of your own to share? Post them in our comments!

VertiMax & The Power of a Healthy Family

If you're a VertiMax user, or just a frequent visitor to our website or social media pages, you probably have a pretty good grasp on what VertiMax can do. No matter your sport, whether it's football, basketball, track and field, or something in between, the VertiMax is the ultimate tool for developing explosive athletic power, along with arm swing, to achieve maximal first-step quickness, straight away speed and vertical jump enhancements. But to look at it as a tool to achieve a means to an end is limiting. It's also a great way for parents and children to be active together! It's more than just fun, though. Now, it's more crucial than ever for families to be physically active.

Did you know? More than one third - over 35 percent - of U.S. adults are obese. As if that weren't bad enough, the statistics are even more alarming for children. In the past 30 years, childhood obesity has tripled. (Reports from the Center for Disease Control)

So how does the VertiMax help out? For one, it's an exercise tool, but it provides a change of pace from the norm, too. It can also support two users at once, so you can both go to work at the same time, or go one at a time and cheer each other on!

Another common objection to staying with a workout plan is one that the VertiMax strikes down on its face - time. Where some think they need to workout for an hour at a time, the VertiMax allows for a complete workout in just a fraction of the time.

What's not to like about that?

Golfing & The VertiMax Advantage

The terms 'explosive' and 'powerful' are often associated with sports known for agility and athletic movements - football and basketball come to mind. But golf? You bet.

As WorldGolf.com showcased in its recent blog, VertiMax is quickly gaining traction as a swing power generation tool. PGA tour pros and amateurs alike have recognized VertiMax's capabilities to improve hip rotation speed and power. And the benefits? Longer distance, greater club speed and bigger shots.

"Rotation and power are such a huge part of golf," said Al Marez, VertiMax V.P. of Business and Development. "The VertiMax is designed to increase speed and explosiveness, two of the integral parts of a golf swing. Once golfers try our product, they are hooked."

He adds, "Golf requires an excellent combination of strength, speed, power and balance to excel. Implementing VertiMax in your golf strength training program will dramatically increase explosive club head speed and speed endurance to radically elevate any player's game. VertiMax is the best system to quickly develop a dominant your swing by radically improving acceleration, deceleration and drive distance."

Click here to read the WorldGolf.com article in its entirety, and change your golf game today with VertiMax.

Boosting Your Tennis Game With VertiMax

Lateral quickness and agility, as well as straight-ahead speed, are crucial to an A-grade tennis game - but that's only part of the picture. The ability to improve racket velocity and overall hitting power are integral to the game as well. So how do you train them all? VertiMax!

Because of the VertiMax's ability to improve arm swing velocity, in addition to lower extremity agility and power, it's easy to understand why Maria Sharapova's strength coach, Ken Matsuda, is such a fan, among others. Tennis enthusiasts and athletes alike are bringing their rackets with them to practice actual tennis movements on the VertiMax. Sprint across the baseline for a backhand return, sprint forward for a short return and much more.

Check out this video for some visual displays of the workouts:

You'll improve first-step quickness, hitting power, offensive and defensive play making abilities, and durability, too. If you're serious about tennis, get serious about VertiMax!

The Art of "VertiMax-ing" Out

Plateaus. In sports, and in life, we all run into them. No matter how hard you train or how hard you work, eventually you'll reach a wall - unless you develop a plan for breaking through.

With VertiMax, you can make a number of changes to improve your performance at any given time. Altering the number of repetitions that you perform, or altering rest periods or increasing resistance are all options to consider, depending on your goals.

One way to anticipate plateaus and effectively break through them is to monitor yourself. What does that mean? Track your workouts and track your corresponding performance times and measures. You may feel physical manifestations of a workout coming up short, but if not, your numbers could indicate if you're getting diminishing returns on them in much clearer terms.

Write everything down, alter your plan every six to eight weeks, and continue shattering the walls of your goals. That's called VertiMax-ing out!

vertimax.com

Good Enough for Duke. Good Enough for You?

The Duke University Blue Devils are an icon in American collegiate sports. With 12 combined NCAA national championships among its teams, 119 ACC championships, and a graduation rate of 97 percent, it's easy to see why their teams are seen as among the best in the nation - on the fields of play, and in the classroom.

One of the keys to the success of their athletes? VertiMax. With 26 teams in all, each using the university's state of the art training facility, Duke is in possession of three VertiMax platforms in all. Why would a facility that includes 10 Power Lift Multi-Use Power Racks, 10,000 pounds of York Bumper Plates, a Keiser Infinity Series 6-Pack Trainer, two full sets of dumbells up to 130 pounds, and a full assortment of accessory training equipment on top of Infinity Max Pro Flooring with 10 in-ground Olympic platforms also need three VertiMax platforms?

Duke knows what many of our clients know. No other system exists to adequately train all of the mechanics that are necessary for lower extremity power and arm swing, core strength, and overall foot speed. And it does it all on one platform.

Click here to read more about how Duke aims to train its athletes, and search around our site to learn more about why VertiMax is a must have for serious athletes.

Elite Athletes Need Elite Equipment.

How VertiMax will Change Your Game.

In preparation for events, games and competitions, the best indicator of performance improvements for an athlete are in the numbers. Speed times. Vertical jumps. Power transfer measurements. And thankfully, numbers are just one of many indicators of the superiority of VertiMax.

Case in point. Matthew Rhea, an assistant professor of exercise science at Southern Utah University, conducted a study of 60 high school football players during off-season training to monitor improvements in performance. The group was separated into two teams of 30. The only difference in their training regimens? One group added VertiMax; the other did not.

The results, shown in post-testing after a 12 week training period, were startling. The VertiMax group saw an average of 4.5 inches added to their vertical jumps and a boost of 217 watts of lower body power testing output. The group that didn’t use VertiMax? Their average vertical jump improvements were 1.8 inches and their lower body power testing improvement came in at an average of 49 watts.

And that’s not all. Also calculated was the impact the athletes’ training had on overall power transfer. A measurement ratio of 1.0 was set as a benchmark for what would be indicated as an ‘excellent’ transfer. The athletes who didn’t use VertiMax saw those ratios ring in at 0.48 and 0.22, respectively, for squat and power clean exercises. The VertiMax group? 1.57.

The difference is clear. The difference is VertiMax!

That Thing Looks Intimidating! Is VertiMax Hard to Use?

In short, the answer is ‘no.’ The intimidating look? We can understand that, especially if you’ve never worked with VertiMax before. But what nearly all of our users find is that its uses for agility and speed training become crystal clear the second you begin to use it. Whether it’s a sprinter’s workout or a training program for strength, VertiMax makes life easy.

In fact, our largest customer group consists of parents buying VertiMax for child athletes who average 12 years in age who quickly become familiar with VertiMax and its uses.

With that said, our user’s DVD and training manual come in handy, as do our numerous online videos. While the VertiMax itself can be easy to configure and use, the above-mentioned tools will help greatly in teaching proper form and technique, which is the difference between peak performance or potential injury in anyexercise scenario.

There’s no assembly required either, and the second you take the VertiMax out of the box, it’s equipped for use. Are you ready for the game-changing workout you’ve been waiting for?

What are Some VertiMax Workouts for My Players?

Got five minutes? We’ve got a comprehensive jump training workout for your athletes or team. Designed for athletes from all sporting disciplines, VertiMax jumping workouts are both quick and extremely effective. Here are two of the most comprehensive ones we’ve developed.

Quarter Quick Jump: This exercise, which applies resistance only to the waist, is one of the primary exercises that should be performed in every VertiMax workout. Why? It is the most effective fundamental exercise you can perform to develop explosive leg power. The recommended workout focusing on explosive power consists of 5 to 6 sets of 6-8 repetitions, two to three times per week. The key? Giving it your all on every set. After all, the goal is maximum power. Click on the video to see a demonstration. training-basics

Quarter Quick Jump w/ Leg and Arm Loading This patented exercise, which can only be performed using VertiMax, simultaneously applies loading at the waist and arms while jump training. Did you know that 10-13 percent of vertical jump performance results from arm-swing velocity? That’s the key to this exercise, as it improves both explosive leg power and arm swing velocity to maximize the vertical lift component and maximum jumping height of the athlete. This exercise is recommended for athletes of ages 14 and older who are strong jumpers. As is the case with the quarter quick jump, the recommended workout focusing on explosive power consists of 5 to 6 sets of 6-8 repetitions, two to three times per week. Click on the video to see a demonstration. Click on the video to see a demonstration. training-basics

As you’ll see from the videos, VertiMax’s advantage is that it covers all facets of a jump. And that’s the VertiMax difference!

VertiMax for Basketball Players

Strength does not always equal power. And in basketball, when vertical jumps, lateral quickness and speed are make-or-break abilities, knowing the difference could mean everything to your game.

Consider this tidbit from our website:

Traditional speed and performance training consists mainly of weight training, plyometrics, speed and agility drills, running with parachutes and pulling sleds. All these exercises focus primarily on over loading and improving the power producing capabilities of the quads, gluts and calves, the muscles that provide driving power when our foot is planted on the ground and pushing. That's great for developing power to increase our drive velocity and speed when the foot is planted on the ground. However, when your foot leaves the ground, how fast it can accelerate in the direction you are running and make ground contact to drive again is the other half of the speed equation. Power to generate airborne foot speed will greatly impact how fast you are! And guess what? The muscles that provide the power to accelerate the airborne foot are NOT the quads, gluts and calves; they're the hip flexors, abductors and adductors. If you do not allocate training time appropriately and effectively to those muscle groups, you will never reach your full speed potential.

Included in optimum basketball training are off-platform basketball speed training, broad jumping, acceleration drills, isolated hip flexor and glute training, jumps with arm loading, and lateral shuffles – all done with the game-changing VertiMax system.

Beginning to understand some of the difference? If you are, then you’re not alone. 11 NBA teams are on board, as well, and two should stick out to you right away – the Miami HEAT and Oklahoma City Thunder, the two teams that squared off in the 2012 NBA Finals. The rest are the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers.

Bruce Weber, head coach of the University of Illinois men’s basketball team agrees, too. "After implementing VertiMax in our off-season strength and conditioning program, our basketball team's cumulative vertical jump capability in shear inches increased by a magnitude that I have not seen in my 26 year coaching career. The VertiMax has made every player on my team a more dominate athlete providing me a more competitive team to work with. After seeing what VertiMax has done for my program in three short months, I can't imagine any coach not making VertiMax an integral part of their team's strength and conditioning program."

Want to learn even more for yourself? Click here! vertimax.com/basketball-training

Why Does VertiMax Work?

You’re skeptical, right? You’re an athlete, after all. What could VertiMax do that the equipment and training that you do in the gym can’t? Well, you’re about to find out.

We looked at all of the movements that would be necessary for powerful, explosive movements in sports and we broke them down. We took everything we knew about training in the gym and built it into a better product that took plyometric training, quite literally, to new heights. In short, we designed VertiMax meticulously.

Did you know, for example, that arm swing velocity accounts for 10 to 13 percent of an athlete’s vertical jump? VertiMax is the only system in the world that can simultaneously train explosive leg power and arm swing velocity by loading both the legs and arms while jump training. This unique feature allows athletes to train all vital explosive elements of the vertical jump for maximum gains.

What’s more? All athletes regularly training the drive or pushing phase of the running motion (squats, plyos and cone drills), but how often do you dynamically load the foot when it breaks contact with the ground? Most athletes never train the muscles that accelerate the leg when it breaks contact with the ground. What does that mean? If you’re one of them, you have a lot of untapped speed potential – potential that only Vertimax can help you develop.

Want to learn more? Click here to learn even more about VertiMax, and how it’s turning good athletes into great ones!  

why-vertimax-works