Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Roger Schwab's Mechano-Medico-Gymnasia


AKA Main Line Health & Fitness http://www.mlhf.com/.
The "Mechano-Medico-Gymnasia" bit is inspired by the work of Gustav Zander, an excellent summary of which can be found in the free ebook Massage and Medical Gymnastics, p. 296.
While many of us personal trainer types have our own studios, few are on the scale of Roger's.  Roger's work with clients ranging from athletes and bodybuilders, to wannabee fitness experts (ahem yours truly), and what the fitness industry calls "special populations" (a misnomer, as they represent the real population far more accurately than hardbodies and gym rats do)  continues in the tradition of Zander and DeLorme.

In no particular order:
Nautilus Row, Pullover, plate loading Bicep and Triceps, Compound Triceps
 

 Nautilus Hip Extension,  Medx Knee Extensions, Medx Leg Presses, Duo-Squats, old school Nautilus Compound leg, and the excellent and underrated Medx Calf.

Medx leg curl, Nautilus Side leg curl, more leg curls (very short clip)



Medx Adductors & Abductors (another short)


Pullovers, Rows, Pulldowns, both Nautilus and Medx:



 Medx Pulldowns, 10 degree chest, old school, rare Nautilus Omni Chest, Rotary Shoulder




 Medx and Nautilus Chest Flyes, vertical, incline, and horizontal Chest Presses

 Curls and triceps, Medx, Nautilus, cantilever style, overhead, compound

 Neck, Shrug, Row, Presses, Side Raises






I wasn't able to get into this room, something about not being part of some "inner circle" or something.  From what I heard, there's only 3 or 4 machines here, so I guess I didn't miss much.

 
I kid!  Roger deserves much credit for accommodating  multiple training approaches under one roof.

In its own room, the current state of the art:  Medx Rotation, Lumbar, and Neck Extension, the X-Force line, and for 30-30-30 Chins and Dips, Nautilus Omni-Multi-Exercise.  And Roger himself...

 

At a time when more and more real estate in big box gyms gets turned into playgrounds, mosh pits,  and truck tire yards,  Roger continues to progress the "mechano-medico-gymnastic" philosophy. 

And speaking of Roger himself...at almost 70 years old, he has always been in shape.  He has only used the X-Force Biceps Curl and Pulldown for biceps since January, 2012, one set each, once/week.  At his current weight of 175, 7.1% bodyfat, his arms, by his own observation are the largest they've ever been...at almost 70 years old, two minutes of direct exercise each week.