Kranking is fun, intuitive, and easy to learn. It can be used alone on the cardio floor, with a Personal Trainer, and can be performed in a group setting. It represents an unprecedented opportunity for physically challenged individuals and welcomes a wide range of “special populations” with open arms.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.– Interactive Fitness Holdings® (“IFH”), announced that it has delivered a summer package of new software features to all networked Expresso bikes worldwide.

“IFH has upgraded the systems and servers connecting the bikes”

The summer package includes wild new terrain and motivational community-oriented features for Expresso riders. The terrain, in four new courses, is more surreal than most current Expresso courses and offers the best animation yet. Enhancements to the “ghost rider” feature now allow riders to race themselves or any other rider. The summer package also includes “My Facility” leaderboards, allowing rider to see where they stand among their local peers.

“No feature has been requested more than local leaderboards. Riders love both supportive and competitive interaction with their immediate peers,” said Mark Urlage, Vice President of Global Sales at IFH. “I’m already hearing about the positive energy this feature is creating among club members.”

The summer package is available to all users who log in when they ride a network-connected Expresso bike. Owners need not take any steps beyond making sure their bikes have network connectivity. IFH has committed to provide network services (called “expresso.net services”) free of charge to all Expresso bikes through the end of 2010.

“For thirty years, people who exercise indoors have been seeking distraction from the boredom,” noted Bill Stensrud, Chairman of IFH. “The Expresso bike changes that completely by delivering an experience that engages and excites the rider. Expresso further motivates the member by automatically tracking, displaying and reinforcing the individual rider’s progress.

Darcy Conover test drives the Expresso Bike at Jean-Robert’s Gym with JR as her personal trainer. She is "chasing her ghost." The ghost is her from her previous ride and she shows how powerfully competitive she gets when she is chasing herself.

With over 20 different rides the Expresso Bike is an amazing piece of equipment for cyclists and workout enthusiasts alike. You will push yourself to new limits and never you believe you were on a stationary bike.

Chain drive: Using a chain means we don’t have to compromise on bike performance. A properly treated chain can last as long as the bike frame doesn’t slip and allows more resistance with less component stress.

Belt Drive: belts require a greater amount of tension than a chain does. This can create stress on the bike components and add significant drag to the system. While they are quieter, they also can stretch become brittle over-time, and have a tendency to slip under heavy loads/resistance. Belts are gaining ground and will only keep getting better.

Click here for a feature comparision of Schwinn, Livestrong, Vision Fitness, and Lemond Indoor Cycles.

Kettlebells are essentially iron balls with handles, and they have been used in Russia for over 100 years to train athletes, military personnel, police, and students of the martial arts. The key to the success people have with kettlebells is due the types of ballistic exercises that they enable. Ballistic exercises are fast moving and work through the combination of a high number of reps and the integration of multiple muscle groups. This recruiting of muscle groups working together to complete the rep, is the reason for the success of this type of training. This allows the average person to work their entire body in a shorter amount of time than through traditional strength training, and you gain the benefits of a cardiovascular workout as well.

Some of the same exercise that have been traditionally performed with dumbbells are more effective when using kettlebells because of the way kettlebells are made. The weight of the kettlebell is not centered, which makes you work much harder to do the moves properly. In addition to giving you a more thorough, effective strength training exercise, kettlebell training also trains your body to produce sudden decelerations, essential in many sports as well as in daily activities. Kettlebell training also helps keep your back and shoulders healthy and allows you to build strength and lose weight without sacrificing flexibility.

Kettlebells come in different weights ranging from 5 to 100 lbs.

Check out the kettlebells and instructional booklet at the HealthStyles Exercise Equipment store nearest you.

Kettlebell Videos

Basic Kettlebell Circuit Video

Kettlebell Exercises for Women Video

Weight Loss Kettlebell Workout Video

Stationed amid legions of ellipticals, treadmills and stair steppers, the KRANKcycle is a hand-powered exercise cycle that lets your fingers, not your feet, do the pedaling.

Industry experts are welcoming the KRANKcycle as a versatile and inclusive device, and "kranking" as a calorie-burning cardio challenge as well as strength training for the often neglected upper body.

"We have 12 KRANKcycle machines at our largest club. They’re awesome, amazing and our members love them," said Erica Ingham, program director of Club One, a California-based fitness chain.

"You feel so much more vital when you’re able to work upper and lower body," said Ingham, who was in charge of launching the equipment at Club One’s 18 fitness centers.

"We made it mandatory for spinning instructors to learn how to incorporate the KRANKcycle into class," she said, "so maybe after an eight-minute hill climb the instructor will cue a switch to the KRANKcycle. And in small group classes it’s used as a (circuit training) station."

The KRANKcycle is another brainchild of fitness guru Jonathan Goldberg, also known as Johnny G., whose stationary bicycles brought the mega-trend of spinning classes to gyms everywhere.

This time he modified a physical therapy tool called the Upper Body Erometer (UBE), which is used primarily for injured individuals who need to engage the upper body, to allow exercisers to stand as well as sit while cranking their arms.

A recent study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) found that the KRANKcycle provided an effective workout that can build upper-body muscular fitness, boost aerobic capacity and burn calories.

"The KRANKcycle burned about nine calories a minute for the average participants in the study," said Cedric X. Bryant, ACE’s chief science officer. "That’s a reasonably vigorous workout."

Bryant said it could prove particularly useful for women, who tend not to go in for weight training.

"This could be a nice way for women in group classes to see some improvements in their upper body fitness levels. Women tend to feel more comfortable in a cardio environment than in a traditional resistance-type environment," he said.

"It’s also a great cross-training alternative for runners and cyclists because emphasis with those activities can be lower-body," Bryant said.

Andy Speer, a personal trainer for Equinox Fitness in New York, says he uses the KRANKcycle for all his clients, regardless of age or skill levels.

"They’re near the cardio equipment on the gym floor," he explained. "I use them to incorporate some high intensity interval work for the upper body. I’ll combine it with a lower body exercise like a squat or kettle bell swing."

Ingham says the machine allows more people to experience the gym.

"The nice thing about KRANKcycle is there’s a removable seat so a wheelchair can wheel up," Ingham explained. "So someone who could not previously attend a group fitness class because they’re injured or paraplegic now can."

She added that it is the only thing that is inclusive in that way.

"Our industry is not rapidly changing but this has been the biggest change I’ve seen in the industry in the last 10 years. That’s very cool."

Cycling from the waist up, it produces significant cardiovascular and strength gains. Athletes with tired legs can continue to aerobically train by using the KRANKcycle.

Recommended Exercise Equipment:

Matrix Johnny G KRANKcycle 

Recommended Exercise Equipment:

Matrix Johnny G KRANKcycle