Adaptive Resistance Exercise-ARX is leading market disruptive tech in the strength world. If you haven’t heard of ARX before, here’s a brief primer:

ARX is space age tech-literally-used by NASA to maintain strength and bone/connective tissue when gravity is nonexistent-rendering conventional weight training useless.

ARX is about maximal strength training in minimal time:  This high intensity, low volume training modality is facilitated via adaptive resistance exercise, or maximal strength isokinetic equipment.  The ARX technology allows for maximum overload of the muscles in key, compound and assistance movements-making necessary strength training available to your unique fitness level.

This is achieved via motor resistance which accommodates to the strength output of the individual so mitigate injury risk yet are achieving maximal resistance throughout the range of motion.  Whereas classical weight training is classified as force followed by momentum, ARX stimulates you throughout the range of motion. This isn’t to say we do not use conventional resistance training (quite the opposite), but we evolve and utilize ARX tech to complement sound exercise prescriptions.

To date, ARX has grown as a tool both in rehab settings for its safety and full ROM stimulation, as well as in the gen pop, for its obvious fitness benefits: Maximal results and minimal time investment. It’s almost like strength training that even those who hate lifting can get on board with. Furthermore, because the machine adapts to your force output, any fitness level-or fatigue level-can be reciprocated with an appropriate resistance.

Lastly, it cannot be overlooked how much it provides a dual threat stimulus of metabolic and mechanical stress. The former being the glycogen and fat (can vary) reserves it costs, as well as the ensuing hormonal cascade in the following recovery period. The latter is appropriate tissue damage that the body will have to recover from and rebuild-bigger, stronger, better.

This is revolutionary for athletes because it allows us to microdose MAXIMAL strength training so that we can focus on other, individual components of athleticism-explosive strength, speed strength, strength speed, starting strength, accelerating strength, sports-specific movements, etc.

This is critical because even if you’re in a sport mainly played in other areas of the strength curve (i.e. basketball, MMA, baseball, etc.), you STILL need maximal strength to shore up strength deficits so that you can generate the appropriate mix of force and velocity for explosive feats.

What ARX does is allows us to lay these foundational bricks without overtaxing the athlete-this means less overall CNS cost, less DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), and thus more resources are available for sport specific needs. Lastly, it affords more time to be put towards recovery-an absolute gem of a benefit when most athletes are well-entrenched in some iteration of ‘overreaching’.