Harvest Haven Health - The ROM Machine

The ROM Machine

What is it?

The Range Of Motion (ROM) machine is a uniquely designed and precision-crafted whole body fitness machine that takes just 4 minutes per day. It has two components: an upper body rowing machine with resistance back and forth and a deep stair-stepping machine for the lower body. This is not, however, just another exercise machine. The simplicity is highly deceptive, because both stations together effectively challenge all principal muscles through a full range of motion (ROM), thus the name.

The ROM incorporates the three fundamentals of exercise into both of these high intensity, low volume workouts: endurance exercise for cardio-fitness, resistance exercise for muscle strength, and stretching for flexibility.

How does it work?

The ROM comes with an adjustable fitness level, a sliding scale from 1 to 10 which is set according to the user’s physical condition. An on-board computer gives a continuous readout during the workout and a performance score at the end enabling you to track progress and determine when to move up to the next fitness level.

Both the upper and lower body components of the ROM are integrated with the 80 pound flywheel and centrifugal brake. The faster one spins the flywheel, the more resistance is provided by the brake and the harder the workout. The resistance from the brake will always match the performance of the user. This way anyone can get a complete workout, from the out-of-shape person to the trained athlete. In fact, the better the shape a person is in, the harder the workout.

Comparisons to other types of exercise

Exercise	Flexibility	Muscle toning and strengthening	Cardio-vascular	Summary
ROM	Equivalent to 20 minutes of conventional stretching for muscles, tendons, and joints through a wide range of motion	Equivalent to a 20 – 45 minute strength training of all major muscle groups	Equivalent to a 20 – 45 minute aerobic workout	Extremely time efficient (4 minutes a day), non-impact, involves brief initial instruction Complete cross-training exercise
Yoga and Pilates	Strong emphasis on stretching	Good for all muscle groups	Good for lungs due to breathing routines Moderate cardio work-out	Very time consuming Requires substantial instruction
Weight training	Minimal benefit and potentially adverse effects	Good results, but only through limited range of motion	Minimal, unless repetition is frequent and without pause	Lacking in flexibility and aerobic elements
Swimming	Good results if a variety of different strokes are used through a large range of motion	Beneficial for several muscle groups	Good results depending on intensity and duration	Low impact One of the best all-round exercises, but quite time consuming Negative health effects associated with chlorinated water and public pools
Bicycling	Slightly better than walking or running Non-impact	Toning and strengthening in leg muscles	Beneficial for heart, lungs, and leg muscle metabolism	Not very time efficient Upper body muscles will atrophy if not exercised separately
Walking, Jogging or Running	Minimal results Damage to joints/connective tissue from too much repetitive movement and jarring	Good for leg muscles only through a limited range of motion	Beneficial for heart and lungs	Very time consuming No benefit to upper body muscle No flexibility results High impact

Benefits of the ROM

Time, time, time. Few people have the time or self-discipline for a daily hour long (or more) work out. If this entails driving to and from a fitness club, add another half hour. Research shows that 92% of people who own exercise equipment don’t use it!
Combines the three major components of a complete workout:

a. Cardio training (20 – 45 minutes worth)
b. Resistance training, i.e. muscle strengthening (20 – 45 minutes worth)
c. Flexibility training, stretching (20 minutes worth)
Non-impact
Superior fat burning to conventional exercise—due to the large number of muscle cells stimulated to a higher metabolism, calorie burning continues long after the workout stops
Is actually used by those who own one! 85 - 90% of ROM owners take the 4 minutes daily; contrast this with 92% of those with conventional exercise equipment who DON’T use it!

Summary

It was believed that at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise was necessary to achieve any appreciable benefit in cardio-vascular conditioning, but recent research has shown that High Intensity Interval Training (HIT) is equally effective to conventional endurance exercise at a fraction of the time. Research from University of Southern California, Laval University, and Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports Research confirm that involving greater muscle amounts with optimum resistance, plus full range of motion greatly reduces the complete workout time. HIT is associated with “increased muscle oxidative capacity,” a fancy phrase for being in better muscular and cardio-vascular condition. So if you really want to get in shape, you have a choice: stretch for 10 minutes, go for a 35 minute jog, stretch for another 10 minutes, lift weights for 30 minutes (total 85 minutes) OR spend 4 minutes on the ROM.

Further information, FAQ, testimonials, articles, and studies are available through ROM’s website: www.fastexercise.com