An East Nashville gym are embracing mechanical resistance exercise equipment that allows them to give their customers a full-body workout in just 10 minutes, once per week.
Sound too good to be true? You're not the only one to think that.
Josh Jarrett, the founder of Quantify Fitness in East Nashville, said that since starting his new business, he's had plenty of non-believers.
"When people walk by, they look at 10 minutes per week, and they probably think of some of the old infomercials about stuff, and that's not what this is, this is real science," Jarrett explained.
The exercise uses Adaptive Resistance Exercise equipment, or ARX, to give customers an intense and quick workout that will take them 4-7 days to recover from.
Most workouts consist of three different exercises that last about two minutes each.
"The whole drive home, I'm feeling it. Sometimes I go home and take a nap," Rick Williams, a customer at Quantify Fitness, said.
With each repetition, muscles are pushed to their limit thanks to the ability of having both positive resistance, which is comparable to lifting something, and negative resistance, comparable to putting something down.
"What this equipment allows you to do is max out on the negative," Jarrett explained. "Unfortunately, when you go to the gym, you have to pick a weight that you can life. You can pick a weight that you can lift once, but you're really a lot stronger no lowering that weight."
According to Jarrett, that negative resistance is what sets the ARX technology apart from all other workouts, allowing muscles to reach a whole new level of exertion.
"We're all about the minimum effective dose. What do you have to do to get the maximum results in the least amount of time," Jarrett said. "This should replace the hours you'd spend at the gym. With ARX, you can go as hard as you can right out the gate, so it's recruiting your muscle fibers in reverse."
Essentially, instead of having your muscle fibers reach their maximum output after multiple lifts, the muscles reach their maximum output on every single repetition you complete.
"The equipment uses adaptive resistance, so you don't have to pick a weight," Jarrett continued. "It's basically adapting the resistance perfectly to the user for the entire range of motion."
"Of all the workouts I've had in my life, this has been the most intense, most painful right afterwards, but it's good painful, it's a good burn," Rick Williams, a customer since June, said of the workout. "You're not throwing weights around, this is very smooth."
Amy D'Angelo, another repeat customer, agreed. "My legs are stronger, my upper body, which hasn't been strong, is now strong."
D'Angelo would always get bored at the gym, so when she heard about this quick workout, she knew she wanted to try it, and not only has it shown results, but it has allowed her more time to spend outside of the gym.
"It's done so fast that I have the rest of the day," D'Angelo said, adding that she doesn't feel like she's cheating her body, because she goes all-out during the workout. "If you're here and it's not long, you might as well do ti your hardest."
The beauty of the workout is that it works for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes.
Due to the fact that it is all dealing with resistance, people recovering from injuries are able to complete workouts without risking further injury.
People who are healthy and in good shape are also able to push their bodies to their limit.
"I will admit, I was skeptical before starting this," Tiffany Santilli, a previous collegiate athlete said prior to her first workout. "I usually workout on my own, usually do an hour or an hour plus in the gym, because I feel like you have to do that much time to actually get results."
After the three exercises which lasted about 2 minutes each, Santilli was convinced.
"I'm definitely a believer," Santilli said. "I am really exhausted. My legs are jello, my arms are too."
Jarrett hopes that the ARX technology will help bring more people into an active lifestyle, as the number one reason people don't exercise is lack of time.
For people who are hesitant to try the workout, Jarrett still encourages people to come out. The first two sessions at Quantify Fitness are free for new customers, all in hopes that people will realize that this is a workout that can save them time, and help them get in shape.
