Watch trainers Maria Callanta and Dennis Codrington create a breathtaking ViPR flow.
If any piece of fitness equipment could serve as a metaphor for an ideal relationship, it might just be the ViPR: It strengthens your individual weaknesses, corrects your long-held imbalances, allows you to move more freely and powerfully in the real world, and—provided you’ve invested time and laid the proper foundation—inspires you to create quite the beautiful flow.
Hence real-life couple and New York City-based Tier 3 trainers Maria Callanta and Dennis Codrington, also a PTA Global- and ViPR-certified trainer, make this hollow rubber cylinder a staple of their training (and training-together) regimen. “The ViPR can be used as a warm-up to correct dysfunctional movement patterns as well as strengthen and tone the body in the full spectrum of motion, meaning the saggital, frontal, and transverse planes,” says Codrington. “It challenges our bodies to find stability and mobility in positions not commonly trained in the gym atmosphere but seen countless times in sport and the real world.”
That real world-readiness is one of the ViPR’s principal payoffs. No matter your training background or goals, because the ViPR recruits multiple muscle groups to work synergistically, your body is trained in balance so you can perform better everywhere. “I came from dance and tennis, and Dennis comes from football and track,” says Callanta. “But loaded movement, and especially loaded movement in a way that we have demonstrated, promotes ease when you are out there in the field, whatever your field may be, unloaded.”
That being said, the sequence that you see in the video above requires a sophisticated and advanced mastery of the tool. Codrington and Callanta have spent hours working with the ViPR, practicing more basic movements, before piecing them together in what could pass for an athletic ballet. “At our level now, we find it more beneficial to flow in a fluid sequence,” says Callanta. “It gets the mind involved and it’s really fun. But for those beginning with the ViPR, I advise that you really own your movement first, working on lifting, slamming and shifting, for both safety and longevity.”
To increase your inventory of movement, we asked Codrington and Callanta to share a few of their favorite basic ViPR exercises. “When you have the inventory of movement and you own the basics, creating a sequence is that much easier,” says Callanta. “All that’s really left is to flow and get lost in the music.”
Check out the his-and-hers ViPR workout below, and watch the video for more inspiration.
(1) Plank with ViPR Lift (Dennis)
Assume a plank position with the VIPR placed on floor, horizontally, alongside left or right hand. While stabilizing with one hand and both legs, grab the end of the ViPR and lift it to a high position as you rotate your torso. Drop slowly and repeat.
(2) Frontal Plane Shuffle with T-Spine Mobilization (Dennis)
Start with the ViPR placed horizontally on the floor. Position yourself at the end of the tube and grab it with your opposite arm. Shuffle left to right and swing the free arm open as you rotate at the t-spine (mid back). Repeat as you shuffle back to the other side.
(3) ViPR Uppercut (Dennis)
Start in a standing position holding ViPR outside of thigh at waist height. As you lunge with the opposite leg, swing ViPR up and across the body. Step back and repeat on other side.
(4) Cylinder Lift (Maria)
Assume a squat position in front of a standing ViPR. Grasp it with two hands, keeping elbows in. Push through the heels and toss the ViPR up as you explode to the top position of your squat. Repeat until you get to the end of the tube (approximately 4 positions). Once at the bottom of the VIPR, squat the cylinder back into its original position (approximately 4 positions).
(5) ViPR Plank and Drag (Maria)
Place ViPR horizontally on the floor. Position yourself over the tube in a plank position. Grab the handle with an underhand grip and slide out (maintain neutral hips and spine). Repeat on the other side.
(6) ViPR Skater Pattern (Maria)
Hold ViPR with neutral grip. Hop to your right and swing left arm across your body as you stabilize on one leg. Repeat to the opposite side.
Directed by Mike Rosenthal; Art Directed + Styled by Ashley Martin