AUGUST 5, 2009 -- The Bulgarian Training Bag is an unorthodox workout that’s a heart-pumping, gut-wrenching, full-throttle, body-blasting mission. It’s the newest training method for the uber-fit.
Steve Nave, “The Bag Boy of Fitness,” brings to East Village an unusual approach to his workouts and challenges you to “get your grip on.” A former Navy SEAL, Nave invites all into his circle of “tough love.”
Nave came across the bag when he was looking to increase his grip strength. Originally created by U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling coach Ivan Ivanov, Nave found the design simple, yet intriguing.
Nave says the shape of the bag is designed to allow for both upper and lower body training while emphasizing grip strength at all times. You can push, twist, swing, pull, bend, rotate, squat, lunge and throw it. Most, if not all, of the exercises that can be performed with kettle bells, dumbbells or barbells can be performed with the Bulgarian Training Bag.
“The bag is a full body exercise tool,” says FIT Athletic Club GM Brandon Buzarde. “All the movements are based on momentum, like a kettle bell workout. So grip strength and technique are crucial to your performance. It’s like a pre-Chuck Norris total body gym. You can strap it to your back and do push-ups, use it for power cleans and presses and put it on your feet and use it as a counter weight for sit-ups…And if you’re near a desert, it would probably make a great camel saddle.”
How hard is this workout? According to Buzarde, who has practiced martial arts for more than 20 years and is no stranger to grueling cross-training sessions: “It’s ridiculously hard, but very effective. The movements are based on centrifugal motion, which hits intermediary muscle groups that you sometimes have trouble targeting.
“I don't know much about Bulgaria-just that their bag is friggin' hard!”
Nave's company is called Competitive Performance Strategies, Inc. Reach him at 888-995-2224. or go to stephennave.com.
(Connie Cook is a freelance writer and fitness director at FIT Athletic Club. When she's not working out she’s stomping grapes in her bath tub or laying the groundwork for an insanity defense.)