Fitness fads come and go. But a strong number of followers of ViPR workouts believe that soon it'll replace several pieces of conventional gym equipment like the dumbbells, bar bells, medicine ball, resistance tubes, stability ball and so on. Developed by Michol Dalcourt, ViPR is a functional training workout that makes you re-think your general, daily, boring workout routine. ViPR (pronounced as VIPER)  stands for Vitality, Performance and Reconditioning. Today fitness expert, Wanitha Ashok introduces us to the ViPR workout and tells us why it might just be ‘the’ workout of the season.

Tool used in ViPR workout

This workout uses a special cylindrical tool which incorporates a whole gym in itself. It is a black colour stick-like workout tool which can be stored easily. The basic exercise moves in this workout involve throwing, flipping, tossing, rolling, dragging and stepping upon the ViPR. It is a one meter long stick and is made out of heavy duty rubber which helps you hold and manipulate the movements. Available in seven different weights, it can be chosen from 4 kilos to 20 kilos of weight. It’s suitable for all ages and fitness levels.  

How does ViPR workout work?

There are more than 9,000 exercises one can practice with in this workout routine. It can be used as a whole body workout and is more effective than traditional weight training exercises. ViPR trains your body in a new way and works on the functional strength training and offers high calorie burn. The workouts are challenging and every exercise move engages several muscle groups adding more intensity to the workout. 

This innovative workout works on your strength, flexibility and functional fitness and within just 3 consecutive classes, each one hour long, it will show you the desired results. This workout specially works your core muscles as every exercise move involves engaging the core muscle for stabilization. It also corrects and strengthens the postural muscles. 

Each and every muscle and joint in our body is designed to function in all three planes of motion – up, down and side to side twisting- and to ignore even one plane of motion will not complete your workout routine. The body is primarily designed to disperse force and stress into the system through each and every joint and tissue of the body. and therefore training this in all the 3 planes of motion will lead to fewer injuries and offers better results.

A few ViPR moves can be:

• Squatting by holding the tube vertically or sideways.
• Move the tube from side to side while standing.
• Keep the tube in between your thighs and perform different moves.
• Use the rubber log at different weights and speeds and there is no end to the number of innovative exercise you can perform with it. 

Why you should go for ViPR?

This calorie-torching workout is quite unlike isolation training. The ViPR workout uses your whole body and people with joint and muscle pains can get rid of frozen knees and frozen shoulders, apart from losing weight. Quite similar to kettlebell exercises, ViPR adds momentum and overall resistance ViPR is an attractive tool for fitness enthusiasts and is here to stay!

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