January 2026 – ABARAGAMBI

5 Tips That Can Help You Pack on Strength and Muscle

There are many reasons people go to gyms. Some want a healthy lifestyle, some want to lose weight, and others need to gain muscle mass or bulk up. If the latter is your goal, you’ll want to make sure your gym routine is tailored specifically for that purpose.

Otherwise, you’ll likely be wasting your time, or worse, harming your body. Remember that it’s harder to build muscle than to lose weight, so don’t be discouraged if you do not see …

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The Ultimate Total Gym Holiday Gift Guide

The Ultimate Total Gym Holiday Gift Guide: Must-Have Accessories for Every Fitness Level

Maria Sollon, MS, CSCS, PES

Holiday wish lists aren’t only about cozy comforts. They’re also a chance to choose something that supports your health and enhances the way you move.

If you’re aiming to feel stronger next year, the Total Gym is an incredible place to start. And if you already have one, the right accessories can expand what you’re capable of. Each one brings added versatility and comfort to your workouts, making them standouts for any wish list.

Let this “Top 5” accessories list give you some gift ideas for this holiday season, even if it’s a gift to become a better you!

Top 5 Total Gym Accessories for Your Wish List

Extra‑Large Squat Stand Total Gym Extra Large Squat Stand
- What it does: Creates a stable platform with a larger surface for your feet.
- Why it matters: Adds stability and versatility for total-body strength, supports joints and limbs, and increases your range of motion for legs.
- Best moves to try: Squat variations, single-leg squats, glute presses, bridges, cardio drills.
- Good for: Anyone looking to develop strong, balanced legs or maintain mobility, especially when cross-training for sports. Taller individuals will also find the extra surface more comfortable.

Padded Squat Stand + Toe Bar Combo Total Gym Padded Squat Stand/Toe Bar Combo

What it does: Provides a cushioned foot platform for squats, hops, or foot-based exercises; the toe bar adds versatility for functional strength and flexibility moves.
Why it matters: Protects joints, provides leverage for deeper movements, and supports low-impact cardio, strength, or Pilates-style exercises.
Best moves to try:
- (Padded Squat Stand) Squat variations, single-leg work, squat hops
- (Toe Bar) Footwork and Pilates-inspired lower-body or core moves
- Good for: Users seeking comfort, joint protection, and functional lower-body conditioning.

Press Up Bars Total Gym Press-Up Bars

What it does: Lets you train upper, middle, and lower back, shoulders, and core muscles.
Why it matters: Using different incline levels, you can perform challenging exercises that are scalable for all fitness levels and allow room for progression.
Best moves to try: Assisted pull-ups, chin-ups, plyo pull ups
Good for: Anyone wanting to build upper-body strength, tone arms, back, and shoulders. Ideal for athletes or those focused on functional strength.

Leg Pulley System Total Gym Leg Pull Accessory

What it does: A versatile tool for lower-body strength, mobility, and rehab exercises. With an ankle cuff attachment, you can perform leg, hip, glute, and core movements through various ranges of motion.
Why it matters: Provides resistance in multiple planes to strengthen legs, glutes, and hips.
Best moves to try: Side-lying leg extensions, inner/outer thigh abductions, hip/glute activation, leg circles, or Pilates-style leg movements.
Good for: Anyone focused on lower-body toning, flexibility, hip/glute balance, joint mobility, or rehab. Also great for Pilates or mobility-focused users.

AB Crunch Accessory Total Gym AbCrunch

What it does: Facilitates controlled core work to support stability, posture, balance, and overall strength.
Why it matters: Provides precise abdominal engagement for all fitness levels. Strengthens deep core muscles from the prone position without straining the neck, while stabilizing the upper body.
Best moves to try: Knee tucks, oblique tucks, hip pikes
Good for: Anyone wanting a strong, stable core. Perfect for beginners building foundational core strength, advanced athletes needing core stability, and Pilates enthusiasts.

Why the Total Gym + Accessories Make a Perfect Holiday Gift

Versatile total-body system: Total Gym accessories expand the versatility of your workouts. Train strength, mobility, cardio, Pilates, core, stretching… you can do it all!
Space-efficient and home-friendly: Accessories are easy to attach and detach, making setup simple and storage effortless.
Suitable for all levels: Workouts can be scaled for beginners through advanced users, allowing for progression and continued growth.
Convenient and at-home: No commuting, no crowded gyms, no waiting for equipment. Just turn on your favorite tunes, and start moving on your equipment.
Pilates-friendly: Perform moves similar to a reformer, giving you a Pilates-style experience at home.
Entertainment-ready: Replace “TV time” with “Total Gym time,” or combine both with the Total Gym TV App (TGTV App) for guided workouts. Total Gym TV Premium Annual Subscription | Total Gym
A gift that grows with you: As your strength, fitness level, or goals change, these accessories will continue to enhance your workouts!

This holiday season, put the Total Gym and these must-have accessories on your list. It’s your one-stop fitness shop for strength, versatility, and fun for all levels… all in the comfort of home!

Total Gym® Official Store | Home Gym Equipment & Workouts|

Total Gym Workout Accessories and Attachments | Total Gym

Happy Holidays!

Maria

Let’s Connect: @groovysweat

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Yoga with Friends: 7 Great Reasons To Do Yoga With Your BFFs

Friends make everything better. Any activity that you do with friends is not only more entertaining, but it also ensures that you complete the task, which you may not be able to achieve if you do it alone.

Involving a friend is a fantastic idea if you have trouble staying consistent with your fitness routine.

If you practice yoga but face trouble sticking to it, getting a friend to join you may help.

A friend can make you feel more …

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Resistance vs. Strength Training

Let’s Compare Resistance Training and Strength Training. Which One Should I Be Doing?

3 Objectives we’ll uncover in this article:

Define Resistance Training and Strength Training to Compare and Contrast them.
Uncover Which One is Best for You
Explore the Methodology That Will Provide You with the Maximum Benefits!

By Definition:

Resistance Training:

Any exercise where your muscles contract against an external force.

A fairly vague definition, as well as a pretty low bar for a description of an “exercise,” wouldn’t you say? When your mom swaddled you tightly in a blanket when you were a newborn, and you struggled against that “external force” to get your little arms and legs free, you were performing Resistance Training!

Ok, a little cheeky on my part. But what’s important to know regarding resistance training is all the different objects that qualify as “external force”, including your baby blanket. And in today’s fitness-crazed world, the list keeps growing.

Here are just a few:

Free Weights

Dumbells

Barbells

Weight Plates

Kettle Bells

Medicine Balls

Machines

About 30 to 40 different machines for just about every muscle in your body.

Resistance Bands/Tubing/Cables

These are great as they are safe, easy to use, and cheap! They also take up very little room, so they are great for your home gym or to put on your suitcase if you travel a lot.

Wearable Resistance

Weighted Vests

Ankle Weights

Wrist Weights

Weighted Gloves

Weight Belts

And My Favorite Category: Body-Weight Equipment

Suspension Trainers like TRX and Gymnastic Rings

Total Gym – Utilizing your body weight and good ole’ gravity

Plyometric Jump Boxes

Ab Wheel

BOSU & Stability Balls

Balance Boards

Pull-Up Bar

The Earth! For Push-Ups, Squats, Planks, and a ton more…

Why is Body-Weight Equipment my favorite? Because they are safe, on the cheaper side, and are all great for your own home gym. Most importantly, they all encompass Functional Training. I’ll save this definition and discussion for another blog.

For now, use your visual imagination and picture the physiques of athletes who use their own body weight as resistance:

Gymnasts

Swimmers

Dancers

Rock climbers

Track and field peeps

Martial artists

Not too shabby of physiques to emulate, wouldn’t you agree?

Back to our Definitions:

Strength Training:

Resistance Training with a specific goal – gaining strength.

You are using any form of external force, including your own body weight, to get stronger. Just like money or love, who doesn’t want a little more strength in their life?

As you can see, all Strength Training is Resistance Training, but not all Resistance Training is Strength Training. If you’re going to take the time to do Resistance Exercises, let’s ensure you’re getting stronger in the process. Strength Training is what is best for you. Now let’s focus on how to make it happen!

The Rule of 10:

A huge part of helping my clients achieve the goal of getting stronger and reaping the maximum number of benefits is to keep things simple. The Rule of 10 does just that. Simplicity = Easy Adherence.

Here tis: any exercise that you are doing, add enough external force so the muscle you are targeting hits fatigue in 10 repetitions or a few less. Think around the 7,8, or 9 mark with good form. That’s it, team! Now you will forever know the answer to the question: “How much weight should I be using in this exercise?”

As I’ve told you, using your own body weight is my favorite flavor of Resistance Training. And my favorite machine for that is the Total Gym. The machine is brilliant in its simplicity. You are simply using gravity and a percentage of your body weight, which is determined by the incline you choose on the machine.

My Total Gym has 12 levels, with 12 being the hardest (the largest % of my body weight working against gravity). So let’s explore an example.

The Golden Rule of The Rule of 10: Every time you do an exercise, go until you hit fatigue. This simply means you can’t do any more repetitions with good form.

Let’s say I’m doing a Chest Press Exercise and I have no idea where I will achieve fatigue, so I just start on level seven. I focus on safe, sound form, and I actually do 17 repetitions until I hit fatigue. Well, I now know that I need quite a bit more external force, so I aggressively bump it to level 11 for the second set. This time, I barely get to six repetitions before I hit fatigue, so I’ve overshot the mark.

Finally, on the third set, I choose level nine, and I ironically hit fatigue and have to stop right at the ninth repetition. Voila! Level nine is my perfect level – today – to achieve the maximum benefits from my strength training program. I emphasize the word – today – because remember, correctly adhering to The Rule of 10 will make you stronger. Yeah! Hell Yeah! Next month, you’ll probably have to bump it up to level 10 so you keep progressing.

Now that you 1. Know the definitions and, 2. Know which one you should be doing and, 3. You know how to accomplish it, go to ChatGPT and ask it, “What are the benefits of strength training?” This should motivate you to keep crushing that Rule of 10, and reaping all the juicy, healthy benefits!

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2026 Prep: Build Your Strength Baseline

2026 Prep: Build Your Strength Baseline on the Total Gym

Maria Sollon, MS, CSCS, PES

Preparation is everything. Before the New Year begins, lay a foundation of strength, control, and confidence with this Total Gym Prep workout. Each movement primes your muscles, builds stamina, and establishes a solid baseline of strength and stability that will give you the foundation to achieve your 2026 fitness goals.

Get ready to move intentionally with movements that challenge your body, and prepare your muscles to step into the New Year strong, capable, and prepared for whatever comes next!

Prep with Purpose

This Total Gym routine isn’t about exhausting yourself. It’s about preparing intelligently. By conditioning your muscles through full ranges of motion and maintaining consistency in your training, you develop muscular stamina, control, and functional strength. This routine supports overall fitness, primes your muscles for more advanced movements, and keeps your body active through the busiest time leading up to the New Year!

The best part of this routine is that it’s adaptable to your schedule and your fitness level. Perform these moves as a standalone workout or integrated into an existing program.

You can also adjust the intensity to match your fitness level:

Incline adjustments based on the exercise
Tempo variations (slow for control, faster for endurance, or a tempo mix)
Range of motion tweaks (full range, pulses, or shorter movements)
Reps and sets modifications (based on your workout timing and how you feel)
Incorporate extra exercises to challenge specific areas (exercises you love)

No matter how you tailor it, the goal remains the same: smooth, intentional movement that feels as good as it works.

Directions:

Warm up before starting the workout to insure your muscles are prepared to move.
Aim to perform each exercise for 10-20 reps and 1-3 sets based on workout timing.
Option: time each exercise for 1 minute, then move on to the next exercise with minimal rest.
End with a set of stretches that help recover the muscles worked and prevent injury.
Check out the video to see a demonstration of these Total Gym Exercises.

Set Up: AB Crunch Accessory, low-medium incline level (adjust accordingly)

Key: GB = Glideboard

The Moves

This quick Total Gym workout is designed to do a lot in a little time. The sequence focuses primarily on strength and core movements, but performed in a non-stop cadence. It challenges your stamina and muscular endurance… so much so that it might feel like a cardio session. In just a few intentional moves, your body will be conditioning strength, core, and cardiovascular endurance, all at once! This builds a solid foundation for your New Year goals.

BODY WEIGHT + GLIDEBOARD (GB)

Burpee Slide Out
A low-impact Total Gym take on the classic burpee. Stand at the bottom of the GB to perform each move in steps; (1) squat down, (2a) place hands on the GB and glide out to a plank, (2b) hold for a moment or option to push-up, (3) glide back to close the GB, and (4) stand up. Repeat!

Targets: muscle stamina, core, shoulders, and lower body
Tip: Focus on maintaining fluid movement.

Saw (Forearm Plank)

From a forearm plank, open and close the glide board with your forearms (“sawing” motion), while maintaining the plank; straight line from head to heels.

Targets: core, shoulders, lower body strength, and spinal stabilizers.
Tip: Keep movements deliberate. Precision matters more than speed.

Lateral Lunge + Repeaters
Stand at the bottom of the glide board facing one side. Place one foot on the GB (foot position will depend on individual leg length). Perform a lateral lunge (supporting leg on floor squats while leg on GB remains straight). Perform Repeaters to challenge stamina, balance and mobility while reinforcing lower-body strength. Perform on both sides!

Targets: glutes, quads, and adductors
Tip: Focus on executing proper lateral lunge form by keeping the nose, knee, and toes in the SAME line on the lunge.

AB CRUNCH ACCESSORY

4. Knee Tucks
Keeping shoulders stacked on top of elbows, tuck the knees in and out toward your chest.

Targets: abdominals, hip flexors, shoulder stability, and muscular endurance.
Tip: Adjust the incline and explore different ranges of motion to match your fitness level.

Oblique Tucks (Right / Left)
Using the same set up as Knee Tucks (#4), angle the knees to one side, perform the same tucking motion towards the chest to target the obliques. Repeat on both sides.

Targets: obliques, hip flexors, shoulder stability, and muscular endurance.
Tip: Maintain steady, controlled movement for maximum benefit. When changing sides, keep the knees tucked to chest and then change the knees to the other side or rest for a moment and rest completely.

Prep work is about setting standards, not just for how you train, but for how your body performs. This Total Gym routine builds strength, stamina, and control through purposeful movement, creating a solid baseline your future workouts can build upon.

Use this workout as a standalone session or layer it into your existing routine as you plan your daily movement and begin mapping out your 2026 fitness goals. A strong foundation now allows you to progress with confidence later.

If you give this workout a try, tag me on social media. I’d love to cheer you on as you move into the New Year feeling strong, prepared, and ready!

Wishing you a healthy, active holiday season,

Maria

@groovysweat

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Ways to Lose Weight During Lockdown

Lose Weight During Lockdown

Due to our busy lives, many of us are unable to take care of our health and weight as we seem to never have time. But now even though the pandemic has many negatives it also has some positives and one of the positives is much more time.

Now that we are at home and no longer have to worry about getting ready and travelling to work or school, we have much more time to focus on ourselves, so …

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Workout Program Design: 3 Important Variables

workout program design

When we work out, it is important to have a plan of what we are going to do. This way you make sure you are training efficiently, progressing, and not overtraining or doing too little. Thus, we need to monitor and plan different variables for our workout program design. These include tempo, rest periods, and frequency.

In this article, we are going to explain each variable and how you can use them when designing your workout plan.

Tempo for

…

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