As an industry, we’ve finally moved toward movement. In a world that has largely engineered the need to move out of life, we all need to move more and occasionally move more intensely (i.e., exercise). Given the relatively sedentary lives many people now live, any form of fitness that gets people moving with a challenge is to be applauded. But once we have helped our clients clear the first hurdle of moving on a consistent basis, it is worthwhile to consider if more “intense movement” translates to the movements required in everyday life.

As far as fitness trends go, weight training went from free weights to machines, and then back to free weights. With this resurgence of free weights, barbell training has become much more mainstream. One popular barbell exercise is the rollout, which is similar to the ab roller wheel exercise. However, the barbell features the added benefit of additional weight combined with greater stability. This movement provides a nice introduction to the featured equipment in this installment of the ACE Integrated Fitness Training^® (ACE IFT^®) workout series: the Axle.

The Equipment

The Axle is a lightweight, compact and portable barbell that lifts, rolls and pulls. It is derived from Olympic-style weightlifting and allows for full-body training, both one-on-one and in a group fitness setting. The Axle weighs 11 pounds unloaded and can accommodate additional Olympic barbell weight plates. The barbell comes apart for easier portability and storage for mobile exercise professionals. Included are Velcro straps that wrap around the bar and have a buckle to adjust to different sizes of feet, making it possible to perform unique variations of traditional exercises. Interestingly, the equipment offers a solution for crowded gyms and studios, where the competition for the power rack and barbells can be significant during peak times.

What Leaders Do

Quality fitness leaders provide clients with continually challenging workouts that follow sound principles of movement-based training. They merge high intensity with high quality. High-quality movement becomes more critical with added external load, such as training with a barbell.

Life requires us to pick things up, move them through space and put them down. With exercise machines, there may be a level of abstraction that can create a disconnect between how the client moves his or her body during their workouts as compared to outside of workouts. One advantage barbell training has over machines is that it is far easier for clients to make the connection between movements in their workouts and movements in their lives. Further, in our increasingly distracted world, barbell training requires a focus that is often unnecessary on a weight machine.

Bring the ACE IFT Model to Life

Making that connection between movement training and real life is at the core of the ACE IFT Model. The Functional Movement and Resistance Training component provides a framework for developing stability or mobility as appropriate in a specific area of the body (phase 1), integrating it into a full-body movement (phase 2), adding external load and creating a stimulus for strength gains (phase 3) and increasing movement speed to develop bodily control and power (phase 4).

The ACE IFT Model features five distinct movements:

1. Bend and lift: A bilateral hip or quad-dominant movement (e.g., squat, deadlift, glute bridge)
2. Lunge: A unilateral or asymmetrical lower-body movement (e.g., single-leg squat, lunge)
3. Push: Vertical or horizontal pushing movement, either bilateral or unilateral
4. Pull: Vertical or horizontal pulling movement, either bilateral or unilateral
5. Rotation

The following workout featuring the Axle was designed using the ACE IFT Model as a guide, and highlights each of these movements.

The Workout

This workout features four “groups,” each consisting of two movements plus a combo (three movements that transition from one to the other.) The two movements are performed for reps, while the combos are performed continuously for one minute. Each group is performed two to three times before the client moves on to the next one.

Notes on Individual Movements

Push-up (asymmetrical): During this movement, clients should try to keep the center of the bar over the same spot on the floor. Doing so means that they are rotating both ends of the bar the same amount, which demonstrates effective core coordination, or the ability to smoothly and effectively apply strength.

Barbell Row (supine grip): Use the supine grip because most people get enough prone arm positioning while using computers, cell phones and steering wheels. Take every opportunity to help your clients build strength in the posture opposite of the one in which they spend most of their time.

Oscillating Plank: Long, static planks are overused and vastly overrated. Life is movement, so we need to train for movement. This exercise features the goal of maintaining a plank while using little movement in the legs and torso while the arms create the oscillating movement. The stability of the core allows force transfer through the arms to the bar.

Reverse Plank Tuck: Clients should maintain a neutral cervical spine during this exercise, as it will help with end-range mobility at both ends. Because the brain derives a lot of sensory input on where to send the body based on where the head and eyes are directed, having the client's gaze move up and down with the rest of the torso will ensure maximal range of motion while also ensuring safety.

Crouch to Plank: Despite the presence of “plank” in the title, this movement should present more of a challenge for the quads. Of course, the upper body and torso also experience some work—a plank should always be a full-body stability experience—but the movement is created by the action of the leg muscles, so expect to feel fatigue in the quads. This is unusual for planks and may generate some questions from clients, particularly if they use a greater amount of weight on the bar.

Rolling Roll-up: Despite the efforts of the anti-crunch adherents, there is a place for a crunch in most people’s fitness plans. This variation allows you to create an additional core challenge through the chosen spacing of the hands on the bar. Placing the hands closer together will make it more challenging to produce an equal rate of roll on each end of the bar.

Exercise ACE IFT Movements and Fitness Characteristics