The Total Gym is commonly used in home fitness, but physical therapists also use it for rehabilitation. It consists of a sled that slides along a track and a footplate that the user stands on. The Total Gym uses gravity and your bodyweight for resistance; The sled is on an incline that can be adjusted by moving the head of the Total Gym up or down on its base. Lowering the Total Gym decreases the incline of the sled and also decreases the resistance. Raising the total gym increases the incline of the sled and increases the resistance. A pulley system and weight bar can be attached, allowing for a variety of upper and lower body exercises.
Research
According to a study published in the "North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy," lower body performance on the Total Gym directly correlated with performance of walking, hopping and stepping tasks in people recovering from lower body surgery. If patients performed better on the total gym, they also walked, hopped and climbed stairs better. The study's lead author, Dr. Daniel Cipriani of San Diego State University, also noted that patients had less anxiety over maximum tests on the Total Gym versus hopping and climbing stairs.
Benefits
Many physical therapy patients must restrict weight bearing after surgery, so the Total Gym is ideal because it offers options for physical activity with reduced load. According to EFI Sports Medicine, exercises on clinical Total Gym models can be performed with as little as 3 percent body weight. In addition to changing its height, resistance can be added to the sled using the weight bar that is provided. The weight bar allows you to increase your resistance without making the Total Gym higher, which may be ideal if you are worried about losing your balance but want to work harder. The pulley system allows for movement in all three planes of motion.
Exercises
Lower and upper body exercises can be performed on the Total Gym. Lower body exercises include squats, single leg squats, jump squats, side squats and calf raises. The Total Gym pulley system can be used to perform a variety of upper body exercises, including rows, reverse flies, chest presses, chest flies and shoulder raises. The bar attached to the top of the Total Gym allows you to do modified pullups.
Considerations
The Total Gym is appropriate for people recovering from injuries and surgeries. It is also appropriate for people who are afraid of falling, such as seniors, stroke victims and spinal cord injury patients. Consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program and only perform exercises that are recommended and supervised by a certified physical therapist. Stop exercising immediately if you are in pain. Failure to follow instructions may result in further injury.
References
- "North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy"; Reliability and Validity of a Partial Weight Bearing Measure of Lower Extremity Performance; Daniel Cipriani, PhD, PT, et al.; May 2009
- Physical Therapy Products: Rehabilitation Study Explores Post Physical-Rehab Functional Performance of Total Gym
- Total Gym: Lower Body Exercises
- Total Gym: Shoulder Exercises
- EFI Sports Medicine: Benefits to the Therapist
