In my last article I mentioned that Keiser is best known for its work in elite level performance. If you ask our competition, they will tell you that Keiser is for elite level training and not for the general population. Which begs the question, why? If Keiser is the best for elite athletes, why wouldn’t it be the best for you and your members?
The reason Keiser is the equipment of choice at the elite level of performance is because it is very difficult to improve your performance when you are already at the top of your game. You are at a level where the little things count, like the little things that make Keiser different from everyone else.
Keiser equipment is a staple in our performance department with the Los Angeles Rams. The versatility of Keiser allows us to train our athletes in a safe and efficient manner with various movements.
- Ted Rath, Director of Strength Training & Performance, Los Angeles Rams
The first thing Keiser did was eliminate the use of iron as a resistance so we could train at faster speeds. The additional forces needed to start and stop the iron at the beginning and end of each repetition increase with speed and create a shock load to the joints and connective tissue. Eliminating these shock loads reduces the risk of injury and allows us to vary the resistance through the range of motion to make it heavier where you are stronger and lighter where you are weaker. We call this Variable Resistance. Variable Resistance makes your muscles work at their maximum potential through the entire range of motion, thus allowing you to gain strength faster.
Keiser gives you a consistent Variable Resistance curve at any training speed, thus allowing you to build your strength at the speed you play the game. We call this Dynamic Variable Resistance.
Keiser also gives you the ability to train each limb independently like you function. We call this Independent Dynamic Variable Resistance. Independent Dynamic Variable Resistance does something that we have never been able to do with iron, and that is, better develop our neuromuscular system. For the first time we are able to exercise the muscle and the brain at the same time. The faster you move a resistance the more focused the brain has to be on the contraction of the muscles involved.
Keiser training equipment has been a potent staple in our arsenal for years. It is, simply put, an unmatched resistance device with incredible versatility.
- Mike Barwis, Strength & Conditioning Coach, New York Jets / Detroit Red Wings
We are training the brain to make the muscles do exactly what it wants them to do at the exact moment it wants it done. Essential, not only in elite level sport, but also in our daily activities.
Athletes are all different with different “Engines”. Yes “Engines”. When riding a bike, it is obvious who the engine is. When we produce movement, we are the engine producing that movement, whether we are riding a bike, walking, running, swimming, or lifting weights. Athletes have very specific engines that make them good at their sport or even their position within that sport. An NFL lineman has a very different engine than the running back he is blocking for, just as a truck has a different engine than a car. We all have our own unique engine. The versatility of Keiser allows us to tailor our engine to our needs.
There was a time when all athletes trained the same, regardless of their sport or position. The focus was on getting stronger, so everyone lifted heavy weights to get as strong as they could. Now that they can train speed and strength on Keiser, it is about how much speed and how much strength they need in their sport or position and build their engine accordingly.
Why wouldn’t everyone want to train at the speed of the life they live and do it safer? Why wouldn’t they want a more efficient exercise and get the results they want faster? Why wouldn’t they want to train each limb independently so the strong limb can’t help the weaker limb, forcing the weaker limb to get stronger? Why wouldn’t they want to have the option to train with one limb pushing out while the other limb is coming back, and do it at speed? Why wouldn’t they want to improve their speed as well as their strength. The answer is obvious. They would.
Movement quality is the name of the game, and Keiser helps us achieve the same positions and patterns reinforced by power that dramatically upgrades the quality of life for our members.
- Mark Verstegen, President & Founder, EXOS
The same benefits Keiser affords elite athletes are the same benefits Keiser affords your members. As we age, we lose what we don’t use. We get weaker. We get slower. Our dominant side becomes more dominant. Our coordination, stability, and balance get worse. These are changes that typically affect us from age 30 on. Keiser is already the equipment of choice for Seniors, because the studies conducted since 1988 have shown that Keiser can reverse all of these effects. But why suffer the decline and then try to reverse it when we can live a healthier and happier life by preventing it?
Our teeth are a good example of how we can prevent the decline of certain parts of our body. In the 1950’s fluoride was added to toothpaste to help prevent cavities and we were taught to brush our teeth vertically to clean between our teeth. The dental industry turned its attention toward prevention. To our surprise, twenty years later, the teeth were great, but the gums had to come out. Twenty years of brushing incorrectly with toothbrush bristles that were too stiff damaged the gums. Both the way we brush and the instrument we use had to change.
The tooth brushes and methods we use today aren’t the tooth brushes and methods we used in the 60’s. Today’s tooth brushes are pure science, designed to prolong the life of our teeth AND gums. Likewise, as Keiser has shown, the machines and methods of the future aren’t going to be the ones we used in the 60’s. They too, will be pure science, designed to prolong the life of our neuromuscular AND skeletal systems. Focusing only on our teeth and ignoring our gums taught us that we can no longer focus only on our muscles and ignore our joints, connective tissue, and neuromuscular system.