December 6th, 2011 by Joe Alter | 1 Comment | Filed under Equipment
Sebring Transformer Treadmill
Check out the new Osprey and Sebring Transformer™ treadmills and you’d be hard pressed to tell that they can be folded up into a compact storage position. That is because these machines are not built on the subframe style folding design that all other companies are using. The end result is a much better looking and better performing treadmill that resembles health club non-folding style machines.
November 29th, 2011 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Equipment, Nutrition
It is amazing that with all of the fitness products that have come out over the years, there has never been a product that has made it easy to reach your target body weight. Yowza Fitness has just introduced our new IWM (Intelligent Workout Management) system. Currently available on our Daytona and Sebring treadmills, the IWM system comes with a precise digital wireless weight scale. Just press the IWM button on the console and step onto the scale and IWM does the rest! The machine will compute your BMI (Body Mass Index) and will assign a target weight based on that and other variables. The treadmill will automatically control your speed and incline in order to get you to your target body weight. Each day, you will weigh yourself prior to the workout and the machine will make incremental adjustments in order to keep you on track. For a full description of Intelligent Workout Management click on the IWM logo on our homepage http://www.yowzafitness.com/.
April 2nd, 2010 by Joe Alter | 13 Comments | Filed under Equipment
Just like in any business we get lots of calls from potential customers who all seem to ask the same questions over and over again. Will my elliptical fit under a 7′ ceiling in my basement? If I put my treadmill in the garage and it is humid will it void my warranty? bla bla bla. But there is one issue that bugs me and it has something to do with our business model.
Yowza was founded based on the idea that a truly factory direct business model can save consumers hundreds or even thousands on their purchase. But, by selling direct we are eliminating the retail showrooms where folks may want try out the unit. We do explain that we have a 60 day in-home trial period where you can return the machine if you don’t like it for a full refund. But considering the return shipping cost and size of our products, that can be a daunting task.
So I’d like to float the idea of starting a “Happy Yowza customer 10 minute demo program” the idea is that Yowza customers could voluntarily sign on to allow potential customers to come over and try our machine in a home setting for roughly about 10 minutes. The “happy customer” who provides the demo will get some sort of compensation for this service. We have talked about things like paying $50 for every demo that results in a sale, or giving a discount up front with the purchase if you sign onto the demo program. To be honest, I am open to any and all suggestions as this exercise is just to see how the folks feel about such an idea.
So please take the time and comment on this post with any feedback that you may have. Also understand that Yowza Fitness will respect your privacy and never give out your contact information unless you have asked us to.
February 22nd, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Adidas Table Tennis
Adidas Table Tennis
For 25 years now, I have been looking for the perfect contra-seasonal product line to go along with fitness equipment. As you can imagine the fitness business is busiest in the cold weather months while folks are cooped up in their homes and looking to burn off those excess calories that came along with the holiday season.
Yowza Fitness has recently entered into an agreement with Adidas which gives Yowza Fitness and parent company Greenmaster Fitness of Taiwan the worldwide rights to design, manufacture and distribute Table Tennis tables, accessories and clothing. Yowza is currently building a new website for Adidas Table Tennis and we expect to go live sometime in the second quarter of this year.
As with our fitness equipment, we expect to deliver a real value proposition offering both indoor and outdoor table tennis tables that all feature our patented one-step folding mechanism. In addition, Yowza will manufacture all Table Tennis tables in Germany under the direction of Mr. Frank Koch who is the President of Yowza’s sister company Green Fitness.
Look for Yowza to offer promotional discounts on Adidas Table Tennis products to our existing customers this summer as we launch this new and exciting business.
February 12th, 2010 by jbrooks | No Comments | Filed under Running
Last time out we spoke of tips for the beginning runner. In the interest of time I kept that post to only nine but here are a few more that wanted to share. I have listed them below and also wanted to talk a little more about selecting the proper treadmill. As this is a big investment there are a few things to consider. First and foremost decide about the space you can alot. There are many great choices in folding and non-folding models. Get a longer running surface 20′ x 60″, so you will never outgrow your treadmill.. Be sure the unit you get has at least a 3.0 hp motor, multi ply belt, good sized hand rails, as well as a good heart rate training program and heart rate receiver. Choose one with nice user features such as water bottle holders (hydrate), a place to plug in your iPod and speakers if possible. Avoiding boredom is an important consideration if this is going to be a long term regimen. Beyond that, make sure it does not have hanger hooks, it is to run on and not to hang clothes on. Have fun:
1) Keep a protein bar near by for runs of 30 minutes or more. They provide good quick energy.
2) Set goals to motivate and a way to realize success. Start with time and eventually change those goals to distances in times. Next try a race, they will really increase your motivation.
3) Do not be afraid to amend goals if injury delays or time is yet unachievable. Better to change the goal date than to toss it aside altogether.
4) Build your runs with a solid base. Start with times, then add hills (incline) and speed (time to distance).
5) Be consistent. Run every day for 30 minutes rather than twice a week for 90 minutes.
6) Listen to your body. If the runs start to take there toll and become a chore, cut back the time a little or the days you are doing them. It should be fun and something you look forward to.
7) Focus on “quality runs”, good form and pace rather than always looking at your watch.
Before you know it you will be looking forward to the next run, your break from the hectic day, and the miles will pass as quickly as the stress of life falls away.
February 8th, 2010 by jbrooks | No Comments | Filed under Running, Uncategorized
For much of the country it is a funny time to talk about running. What with the biggest snow storm of the decade raging in the Virgina area, schools and business’s closed up and down the east coast and no break in sight. Running is not limited to an outside endeavor, for many with treadmills this is the way to avoid cabin fever, reduce the stress and anxiety of closed quarters and for many a way to stay in shape for when the weather does break. It is also a way to start your training, attend to a resolution and develop some good habits. Like with any new exercise program you definitely want to be careful not to over do it and to do some advance preparation. Some helpful hints to remember:
1) Use a quality treadmill. Nothing worse than using a treadmill with the wrong specs, have it breakdown and derail your regimen or out grow it.
2) Buy comfortable and well designed shoes. Heavy padding is not as important as making sure they are a little long and a little wide for your foot to avoid discomfort. Actually a minimalist approach to cushioning might be best in the long run.
3) Run for minutes and not for miles. Concentrate on good form and increasing your duration in minutes. It is an easier goal to hit and maintain and will keep you from getting discouraged.
4) Get plenty of nourishment. If you are hungry, eat, your body will tell you what you need as long as its not dipped in chocalate or fried you should be good.
5) Run relaxed, shake your hands every once in awhile and avoid bunching your shoulders up. The more relaxed the less chance for muscle tension and pulling.
6) Vary your workouts. If you only have time for a short run, 10 to 15 minutes, then do it. Something is always better than nothing.
7) Always stretch after running. Do some light warm ups to start and save the stretching for a warm and flexible state.
8) Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. This does not only mean while you are on the treadmill but all of the time.
9) Listen to your body and remember to run through annoyance, not through pain. Your body knows.
Take these suggestions to heart and enjoy yourself. Before you know it the snow will melt and you will be ready for that Summer 10k. Read Friday’s post for 10 more tips for the beginning runner!
January 17th, 2010 by jbrooks | No Comments | Filed under Running
A colleague of mine recently sent me a copy of a Men’s Health article on the Tarahumara people of Mexico. In essence it totally called into question all that I have ever learned about running, diet, running shoes and what is really important in life. Pretty profound when you realize it is about an Indian tribe from the high hills of Mexico with no real wealth or economy, whose people run bareoot or in sandles. Now I am not suggesting we all pack up and move south, only that there are some things we can learn from this article and the Tarahumara.
1) Many runner’s foot injuries are now thought to be caused and aggravated from too comfortable a shoe? Several shoe manufacturer’s are designing less cushioned shoes for a more barefoot like feel.
2) One should run and land from the forefoot and not land on the heel, keeping your shoulders directly over your hips and keeping your arms high and elbows pumping. Picture running up a steep hill at all times and you will have the motion.
3) The best diet for strength and conditioning and high protein is not chicken, eggs and red meat, but vegetables, wild grains, and legumes. Read the full story.
4) Lastly, run, run, run, and run. If you are unable to do this to start, then walk and walk until you can run. But learn the right way and add years to your life without the nagging injuries. A treadmill is a great tool for this because of the incline capabilities and softer landing surface.
You can see how with more energy, fewer injuries and pains, the prospect of a healthier life and a passion for fitness allows the Tarahumara to have little or no heart disease and happier lives. By the way, the article talks about their proximity to drug smugglers and the danger therein, their love of alcohol and gambling and the fact that many smoke. Why is it they are healthier and more fit than us with less stress? Read the article and start running everyday!
January 14th, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Uncategorized
My name is Joe Alter and I am one of the founding partners or Yowza Fitness. I’ll be blogging on a regular basis on all things fitness, including treadmills, elliptical trainers, and especially our unique products like the Captiva VME variable motion elliptical and our brand new Core X trainer.
Sign up to the left of this screen to receive our newsletter, special offers and of course links to our latest blog. You’ll get new workout routines, industry news, information about new product breakthroughs and much, much more.
When you are browsing around our website you may notice that we have a lot of technical terms and industry-specific language associated with our products and manufacturing processes. Well that is because we all come from a background of fitness purists who believe that there is a right way and wrong way to build fitness equipment and it is well worth the extra time and effort to get the bio-mechanics right when it comes to “feel-based products like elliptical machines.
Speaking for myself, I have always been fascinated by the physiology of exercise dating back to my days in College as a pitcher and 3rd basemen for coach Eddie Stanky at the University of South Alabama. I would spend hours trying to understand how to get more mileage out of the human body whether it was trying to crack 90mph on my fastball, hit the ball out of the park without over-swinging, or just avoiding injury with the proper mechanics.
Not surprisingly, I surrounded myself with like-minded people over the years resulting in the formation of Yowza Fitness – America’s premier factory direct fitness equipment company. Feel free to give us a call or drop us a line to discuss our products and how they were developed. We would love to chat with you!
January 14th, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Running
Gary and Amby Burfoot
Check out this blog post by Amby Burfoot (Editor at large for Runner’s World Magazine) http://footloose.runnersworld.com/ After winning the 1968 Boston Marathon he has continued to run for over 40 years! But some of us are not as fortunate to have survived the injury bug. Running outdoors on asphalt is OK for those thin guys who don’t have enough body-weight to inject heavy trauma onto their joints, but many people need to make the switch to a soft shock-absorbing treadmill.
That’s why our engineers at Yowza Fitness have spent years studying impact and knee sheer and designing better and better shock absorption systems with each new generation of treadmill we build. Our current line-up of treadmills features the best-selling Keewadin folding treadmill which utilizes the patented swing arm impact absorption system. Swing arm absorbs impact in the front of the belt where your foot lands on the deck but allows for a firm and stable surface in the rear of the belt to push off of. Check out the Keewadin here www.yowzafitness.com/Treadmills/Keewadin-Folding-treadmill
In 1982 a man by the name of Ken Hutchins invented a new form of strength training called “Super Slow” while doing some research at the University of Florida, Mr. Hutchins was searching for a new training method that would provide greater results than the various techniques that were being employed at that time.
He began testing the concept of doing “time-based” reps while using Nautilus machines, free weights or even the person’s own body weight. He soon determined that a person would gain 50% more strength over an eight week period if they lowered the weight, increased the time of each rep to a minimum of 20 seconds and did only one set to complete muscle failure.
How could this be true? Well with Super Slow your muscles are under a constant load for a longer period of time which is called (TUL) Time Under Load. By stressing the muscles continuously, Super Slow training eliminates the bouncing or ballistic movements that are normally caused when an exerciser changes direction. So for instance, if you do pull ups really fast, your muscles will only be loaded for a portion of the upward movement and under very little load on the downside, and you would be able to cheat from the residual bounce created there, in order to do more reps.
But with a Super Slow pull-up you cannot cheat and your muscles will be stressed to the max until they begin to quiver and ultimately fail. Lactic acid builds up at a faster rate and ultimately you will end up shedding body fat and seeing more muscle tone.
That said, Super Slow is a difficult and sometimes tedious method of training and probably works best as a portion of your overall weekly workout routine. It can be done in 10 minutes a day and also in regular work attire. So give it a try and experiment with the length of time that you allow for each repetition. Try doing only one repetition for each exercise and even take as long as five minutes to do one rep. Start with a pushup on your knees and advance to a full bodyweight pull-up or for seniors or deconditioned folks try using machines with light levels of resistance.
