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There’s a new piece of training equipment out that I would highly recommend for fencers looking to boost their speed and endurance.
US Fencing Olympian and overall amazing fencer (just check out his anchor leg bouts during the 2008 Olympics!) Keeth Smart co-founded this company which had the goal of creating workout gear that would make workouts more efficient. After looking at the original pitch and videos on their Indiegogo page, I contributed to the initial funding so that I could get one of the first ones.
Why do I think this is a revolutionary product?
Being an over-40 “recovering” fencer and athlete, I’m spending more of my time shuttling kids to their activities or coaching them – not on my own fitness. I’ve long been a believer in using added resistance gear to augment a workout and the Physiclo product fit the bill – it is easy to use, targets muscles I want to get stronger, and makes it easy to get some value out of every day activities (even walking the dog!)
When these came out, I got the Physiclo resistance shorts. Once you put them on you can feel them getting to work immediately – it felt almost like trying to walk in a bouncy-house but I quickly got used to the sensation.
My first workouts were really just putting them on while running a short route around the block and doing some shadow fencing footwork in the basement. For both activities I began to tire more quickly than normal and felt the work. (For me, it was like I was carrying my youngest on my back – not an unbearable workout but a lot more than just pulling my own weight around.)
After the workouts, I had that same spent feeling in my legs that normally would come from a full night of fencing. Attaining that ‘wobbly leg’ feeling lets me know that work is getting done and is satisfying. It tells me the workout – though short – actually did something.
So, for me I’ll keep using these to augment the times where I can do some of my own workouts and get a bit more work than just a normal run, agility, or footwork sets.
Here’s a video where Monica Aksamit takes a treadmill test using the Physiclo resistance gear. Even with just a short treadmill test the added resistance is apparent:
Some notes on the Physiclo Resistance Gear:
- They run small (at least the initial run from Kickstarter did.) I had to order a size up from what my size was in soccer shorts or regular UA compression shorts. (The company is great about handling size exchanges.)
- They’re a bit difficult to get on – I understand why as the resistance bands need to be in place and tight but it’s a bit of a process.
- They feel heavy when you pick them up – that’s due to the resistance bands and durability needed to work.
- Once on, you can feel the resistance bands getting to work. It’s an odd feeling at first but only takes a minute to get used to.
- They work!
Where to get them? They’re available via Amazon and directly via Physiclo.
Do you have these? What do you think of the technology?
