In the basketball world, athletes are subject to physical rigors that most other athletes cannot rival. For the elite basketball player of any level, his/her body is a literal temple and principal livelihood, and while the roughly 400 players in the NBA put their bodies and minds to the test daily and yearly, those outside of that realm also have become just as conscious about their fitness and health. The FIT is a series that will concentrate on the Fuel, Information and Training (F.I.T.) that it takes for both professional and amateur players to be at their very best in the world, as well as focusing on the literal Food, Intelligence and Technology that also comes into play in our physical fine-tuning—because after all, without having the vital sustenance, guidelines and tech advancements to feed our bodies, help us better absorb and process what’s necessary, and make the labor efficient and effective, we don’t have much to advance our collective health and performance. The FIT is here to bring to light what can make us all the best uniquely tuned creatures who we presently are and can continue or aspire to be.
Basketball as we all know it is a game of running, and basically, outside of the half-court nature of the game, it’s a game of sprints and jogs, literally. Basketball shoes as they are constructed are meant for protection of the body because of the game’s dynamic nature and drastic levels of force exerted and absorbed by the body…but the shoes are crucial in running; for that, the running part of basketball is why a running shoe for basketball players is relevant to the sport…
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The biggest and hardest part of completing effective training much of the time revolves around locale—locale means everything when it comes to training, because it’s atmospheric. Location relative to training means “gym” or “driving to work out after work” to “I don’t feel like getting up off the couch to get ready to exercise,” and while those are mostly matters of will, your will to train is largely affected by what you have access to and how you can do what you need to do effectively.
On a recent business trip, I recently realized that New Yorkers are largely at a disadvantage when it comes to belonging to fitness centers—where certain parts of the country allow for monthly memberships as low as $10, city slickers have to many times pony up at least $60 monthly for basic accommodations to an adequate facility, which could overcrowded and less spacious.
For some athletes in dense areas of the country, this would be an issue, but alas, Aylio Fitness has solved a problem for the financially-conservative athlete with their brand-specific Resistance Bands.
Made with versatility and effectiveness in mind, Aylio Fitness describes their bands as:
Professional-grade resistance bands use the highest quality components for premium elasticity and durability. Unlike standard exercise bands, this unique home gym system offers a metal clipping system that allows users to create over 100 pounds of resistance.
In addition, Aylio Fitness Resistance Bands (in the Complete Resistance Band Set) comes with comprehensive DVD covering all possible workout formations. There is live instruction with a digital trainer via video that shows you how to perform each workout. Depending on the chosen set, there are four to five resistance bands that range from 7 to 40 pounds per band, and they all can be used with each other to create varying tensions and maximize weight as needed. Each set comes with a door anchor that allows you to do standing and sitting exercises (exercises that can reach the century mark in exercise count). One-hundred pounds of resistance can be reached with the Bands.
In personal evaluations with the Resistance Bands in the Complete kit, I found that the Band Set was very smooth and sturdy. The door anchor didn’t destroy or disrupt the functionality of the door it was posted to (usually an unfortunate attribute of home door gyms) and it’s effectively compact to use virtually anywhere as needed (all of the elements of all three Band Sets can be stored in their own complimentary bag).
Most important was the physical results of using the Bands; because of the constant tension and high-quality of the Bands, I was just as sore after my first workout with them as I might be using my usual free weights. Even better is that basketball players are best when their muscularity is lean and strong tissue; what the Aylio Bands do, being cable-based, is provide the constant tension to the muscles to work harder at all levels of the exercises that are performed, making for well-conditioned, dense muscle tissue that promotes leanness and strength.
Obviously, every athlete has his or her preferences for training regimens. While some people prefer different kinds of resistance training to get stronger, via body weight, free weights, or cable tension, if nothing else, Aylio Bands are portable, easy to use, and can build your body as you desire.
For more information, go to aylio.com for details.
Sandy Dover is a published author, media consultant, and web & print magazine columnist in the world of publishing, while serving as an expert sports product evaluator and as an independent wellness & training consultant, advocate and journalist in the health & fitness industry (with the two worlds often colliding). You can find Sandy frequently here at SLAMonline, as well as at about.me, Facebook and Twitter.
