Take a heavy-handed approach to fitness

For busy professionals, the Heavy Hands workout system is one of the most efficient and effective fitness programs on the market today.  Heavy Hands was developed by Dr. Len Schwartz, a psychiatrist who was also an adjunct professor of health and fitness.

Back in 1968, Schwarz was inspired by the original “Aerobics” book by Ken Cooper, and he took up running.  Later, after being sidelined by a hamstring tear, Schwartz looked for creative ways to combine weight training with running.  He tinkered with hand-held iron weights for years, and after much refinement, the Heavy Hands system was born.

With his unique understanding of the human mind and how it relates to exercise, Dr. Schwartz developed a program that combined cardiovascular fitness with weight training for the entire body, and burns excess bodyfat.  The fruits of this development are available as the Heavy Hands program.

With Heavy Hands, you walk while gripping a set of cushioned dumbbells and doing various exercises with them.  The beauty of Heavy Hands is that while it looks simple, it is actually a series of linked systems.  Each system builds whole body strength, skeletal and heart endurance and flexibility during every workout.

Heavy Hands is very effective for fat weight loss: one hour of walking and pumping Heavy Hands burns 780 calories, versus 300 calories for just plain walking.

The weight of the Heavy Hands forces your cardiovascular system to work harder, driving it up into the high aerobic region, and the force required to swing the Heavy Hands through various ranges of motion stimulates your muscles.  In addition to cardiovascular fitness and strength, Heavy Hands offers some less obvious benefits.

Robust walking while swinging weights promotes a sense of empowerment and well-being.  Many devotees claim that a Heavy Hands workout feels less like traditional exercise and more like dancing.

But the biggest thing that’s boosted Heavy Hand’s popularity is the money and time saved.   Heavy Hands replaces treadmills, Nordic tracks, weight equipment, and gym memberships, at a much lower cost.  They are also very portable and can be taken to the office or on trips. 

Because of their low cost, compared to gym equipment, many professionals buy two sets and leave one at the office.  Having Heavy Hands available negates the need to jump in the car and dash off to the gym for an abbreviated workout during lunch time.

Gerry Morton, CEO of EnergyFirst, has these suggestions for getting started with Heavy Hands:

• If you’re just starting out with an exercise program, begin with the one-pound size Heavy Hands. 
• Do a Heavy Hands walking workout for thirty minutes, three to five times per week.
• On Monday, take your Heavy Hands to the office, and bring them home on Fridays, or buy two sets and leave one at work.
• When you’ve mastered the one-pound Heavy Hands, you don’t have to buy a whole new set—just buy the three-pound weights that insert into the handles.
• If you are training for sports, or if you are already in shape and strong, consider using the nine-pound weights.

Heavy Hands are also useful for athletes, since they build core and stabilizer strength.  A few sports in which Heavy Hands have been used with success include swimming, canoeing and kayaking, skiing, cycling, golf, mountain biking and baseball.

If you’re looking for the maximum workout with a minimum investment of time and money, you’ll find it in the Heavy Hands system.

More tips on how you can increase fitness, gain strength, and shed fat with Heavy Hands can be found by visiting Effective Exercise.

Gerry Morton, CEO of EnergyFirst, is an experienced athlete who has competed in 30+ marathons and 4 Ironman triathlons.  Gerry is an excellent source of information on nutrition, supplementation and exercise.  Since 1997, he has been educating and motivating others on how to attain peak performance.