Flex Trek Bars get Thumbs Up

I was contacted recently by the folks at Body Bar asking if I'd be willing to try out one of their products for them and write a review. The BBFlex-355 bars (Flex Trek bars) are two 14" light weight, flexible bars filled with copper pellets - total weight is under a pound each. The bars are designed for use when power walking and add a new dynamic over a regular set of light hand weights.

I love the subtleties in muscle activation involved when you use the bars. The shifting weight of the

copper pellets, combined with the flexibility of the bars themselves, causes resistance that you don't get with traditional hand weights. Muscles work concentrically and eccentrically to move and decelerate... and we don't often think about the amount of muscle activity that's involved in

deceleration. Core muscles seems to work harder to stabilize as well.

The bars are very comfortable to handle, and when you adjust your grip to the top end they mimic using walking poles in a sense, without potential ground reaction forces being transmitted through the elbow and shoulder joints. The fact that you can change how you hold them adds an interesting dynamic to the walk and you can feel the difference in movement/muscle activation simply by changing the position of your hands or moving your arms in a different way, such as over your head or out to the side. Of course, you’ll also feel as though you’re your own percussion section due to the sound of the pellets moving, which adds a bit of fun to your walk! I give them two thumbs up!

- Nancy Ehle, Owner, Witness 4 Fitness

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For more information on this product, visit: www.bodybar.com