Patent Pending
Tonight we want to introduce you to the first piece of equipment we have designed since inventing the High Step several years ago. The Strength Bar/Pull-Up Tower (Patent Pending) that you see pictured above was designed by us to help solve two problems we encountered when we started designing the STS program over a year ago.
First, we know that pull-ups are one of the best back exercises you can do, but most people don’t like them because they can’t do them. An assisted dip machine would probably be the best solution, but few people can afford them and they’re just too big for most homes. A doorway pull-up bar is nice solution, but a lot of people don’t like the aesthetics of a pull-up bar in their doorway which quite often is not in view of their TV anyway. They also usually don’t have the strength to do a vertical pull-up and using a chair to assist is not an option many people are comfortable with.
Thus, we came up with the idea to make a pull-up bar that did not require a doorway and could easily and quickly be moved or setup near a person’s TV. We designed the unit so that you could do supine pull-ups, which are easier to do than vertical pull-ups. The picture above actually shows Cathe doing a seated vertical pull-up and Denise doing a supine pullup. We actually modified the design and made the unit taller at the request of Cathe who felt it would be nice if she could use the unit to do a seated vertical pull-up. The bar you hold onto is totally adjustable so you can lower or raise it to the height you prefer. We originally only planned on making this unit to do only pull-ups, but then we ran into another problem – The Bench Press.
Because STS uses heavier weights we ran into a problem in designing the chest programs for meso #2 and meso #3. In the same way you are limited in doing a squat with a barbell to the weight you can lift to get the bar into position, you are also limited by the weight you can safely load as you roll back to do a bench press. We realize that many people have a bench press or a Bowflex and these are great options, especially for really heavy weights, but what about everyone else? Sure we could have everyone use dumbbells, but thought it would be nice to do a simple add on to the Pull-up bar that would allow you to be able to use the same piece of equipment for your pull and push exercises. Thus, we changed the design of the Strength Bar/Pull-Up Tower so that it could hold the same size barbell we usually use in most of our DVDs.
The barbell rack is totally adjustable and accommodates Barbell Flat Bench presses as well as Incline Bench presses. It is also great to use as a stabilizing device when doing leg conditioning drills or stretches. It is light weight and should sell for under $100 when first released. It can also be easily taken apart and stored under a bed or in a closet.
