The Blast Straps are the newest way to
perform bodyweight exercises in a challenging way. These movements are
excellent as they allow athletes to move their bodies against external
resistance in a multi-dimensional environment. They also force athletes
to move their bodies against unstable forces. If you compare a barbell
bench press to a Blast Strap push up, you will notice that the athlete
can use the bench, the floor and the barbell to help stabilize the
weight. With the Blast Strap push up, the body is being moved instead of
a barbell and thus the body has to stabilize itself during the exercise.
This incorporates many more muscles because of the stabilization effect.
Suspended push-ups have been a part of many training programs but
setting them up has always been a pain.
Blast Straps are sold by Elite Fitness
Systems (http://www.elitefts.com/documents/blaststrapreport.pdf)
Although the heavy duty nylon straps, clasps and handles are made very
well, I decided to make a cheap pair myself and save the $60 cost of the
originals. There is another version of these suspension straps out
now called the
TRX system that is being publicized
heavily... not bad if you don't mind paying $149!
As you can see from the
picture above, I used a small amount of rope, some PVC pipe, some strong
cargo tie down straps (mostly because they were adjustable) and some
heavy duty clips... all of which I picked up at home depot for about
$10-$15. Depending on what you want to put into them, you can
include actual cable handles (stirrup handles) instead of the rope and pipe method.
The below youtube video may provide a better visual:
So far they work really well
and I haven't had a face plant... yet. I don't perform all the
exercises advertised, but there is nothing like the suspended pushups
for a good stability (core) chest workout! Enjoy!
