Esquire Magazine, April, 2005

WELCOME TO THE ERA OF FUSION AND FITNESS...

Welcome to the era of fusion in fitness. New workouts such as the Bar Method (a grueling blend of isometrics, yoga, and, um, dance) are grabbing converts by the gymful, which doesn’t mean that aerobics or weights are dead – just downplayed as athletes mix torturous innovations like a two-hour “indoor biathlon” with old-school work such as jumping rope. To make sense of all these converging trends, we talked to four of America’s top trainers, then incorporated their favorite exercises into this customizable fitness grid. Match your ages to your goal(s), then mix it up whenever monotony sets in. -–CURTIS PESMAN

By focusing on large muscle groups – thighs, glutes, and chest – the Bar Method helps raise metabolism more effectively than regimens that focus on smaller muscle groups. “The wall sit [a standard isometric move] doesn’t work, but the fold-over does,” says Burr Leonard, co-owner of eight Bar Method studios in California and Connecticut, of the Bar Method’s targeted isometric work.

The fold-over: Stand a few feet from a waist-level surface. Cross your forearms, lightly palming each elbow, and lean over so elbows are resting on the surface. Now smoothly raise your right leg and bend at your waist until your back is parallel to the floor, eyes ahead. Your left leg should be a pillar. Next, flex your right knee into a 90 degree bend – a kind of curl – and hold it for five seconds. Lower your leg to horizontal and repeat five times, then switch legs and do five more reps.

The Bar Method employs killer muscle-building poses (hold ‘em till the nerves tremor) to sculpt such overlooked areas as the back, core, butt, and shoulders.

To keep weight down and workout interest up in middle age, routines should produce “showy” results, if not quite rippling muscles. A move called “back-dancing” works the seat and lower back. Start by lying down. Raise your pelvis slightly, slowly, clenching your glutes, and hold for a five count. Lower halfway, raise quickly, and repeat. You’re aiming for three to five minutes of work; you’ll need to build up to that.

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