LATEST NEWS - November 2007

We are pleased to announce that we have been granted a US trademark for Powerbags. We have also been told we are to be given a NATO stock number, this is obviously very important if we are doing work with the armed services. We have also been given Notice of allowance on our European Patent - basically this means that the patent rights have been granted on our patent application and we now need to file for where we wish this to apply.

BRITISH MILITARY ADOPTS POWERBAG - September 2007

After rigorous testing in one of the world’s leading military facilities Powerbag has been formally endorsed as a fitness training and rehabilitation product by the UK Armed Forces.

Having already proved an invaluable conditioning and performance enhancing aid for elite sportspeople across the world, Headley Court (Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre) has recommended that Powerbags should be widely adopted throughout the three arms of the British Forces. Hundreds have already been sent out to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Powerbag passed an intensive three-month trial period during Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan where they were a key element of Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment physical training resources. The official written report from Headley Court observed Powerbags ease of transportation, space efficient qualities and multiple exercise applications enabled soldiers to undertake all elements of their physical rehabilitation programmes. 

The report highlighted the ease of transportation of Powerbags either en mass to operational theatres or individually by troops and it also picked up on the product’s remarkable versatility in a variety of locations and environments.

Powerbag creator Dr Mark Bellamy observed “The beauty of the product is that all the same attributes that make them ideal for children’s PE lessons, international rugby training programmes or gym classes are the very reasons they’ve passed the sternest military testing and have been taken on by our troops. Powerbags are safe, convenient, versatile and – above all – effective in providing maximum strengthening, mobility and coordination exercise options. They have proven to be ideal not just for the playground, gym or sports field but also the extreme environments of modern military life”.

From its earliest days of development by Dr Bellamy’s company Performance Technology Ltd Powerbags caught the eye of all branches of the Forces including Britain’s most elite combat units. “We’ve always had a presence in this field and terrific feedback from various regiments and individual soldiers, however this Operational Report from Headley Court, which is perhaps the leading facility of its kind in the world, is really is the ultimate endorsement”, he said.

The report concluded that Powerbag’s combined attributes made it the ideal tool for the military’s physical training and rehabilitation work.

The vinyl covered sand filled bags are compact, hardwearing and available in weights from 3kg-25kg (30-50kg available on special order). Tough and durable Powerbags are ideal for use on any surface indoors and outside – ideal for the changing environments in which the military operates.

Mark Bellamy concluded, “Our increasing involvement with all branches of the military is just another example of the versatility and importance of Powerbag to the widest range of applications. From the giant forwards of international rugby union to school children in PE classes, first time exercisers and older users”.

ULTIMATE WORKOUT IN A SINGLE BAG! - May 2007

Powerbag, the training device that has proved invaluable to top athletes around the world, is now available to all workout fans.

Already a key training aid to some the biggest individual names and leading teams in world sport, Powerbag’s uniquely effective and comprehensive workout properties are set to revolutionise individual and group exercise.

Available through Performance Technology Ltd Powerbag is versatile, effective, practical, comfortable and safe and harnesses the best qualities of medicine ball and free weight work. Unlike solid weights however its natural instability and pliable nature make it superbly efficient for core strengthening and stability work.

Powerbag’s creator Dr Mark Bellamy - a top sports psychologist and human performance expert - explained, “I developed Powerbag to improve the quality of high level training whilst enhancing quality of movement and importance of technique. Used correctly the quality of movement is never compromised leading to greater balance, coordination, power and conditioning gains.”

Initially Powerbag was placed in the toughest elite sporting environments including England’s World Cup winning rugby squad. Glowing reports emerged and the rest of the world’s top international rugby teams and clubs have followed suit. Powerbag has also been adopted by leading: football clubs, athletes, cricketers, tennis players, golfers, squash players, racing drivers, boxers, martial artists and many others. The products have also become integral to the conditioning of all branches of the UK’s armed forces and have been shipped out to many of the world’s current trouble spots including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Further practical application and input was gained from Loughborough University and numerous British sporting academies and centres of excellence where athletes and coaches have made Powerbag a central component of conditioning and performance training.

Four times UK Fitness Champion and regular Women’s Fitness contributor Joey Bull has been an advocate of Powerbag since its earliest days and is delighted to see it launched onto the wider market. “It’s a genuine breakthrough. Powerbag is one of the simplest ideas I have come across and unquestionably one of the most effective. I have no hesitation in using them myself and with clients from athletes to schoolchildren.”

With a vast array of resistance, flexibility, stability, endurance, balance and hand-eye coordination based exercises Powerbag’s physical applications can be applied to many day-to-day activities as well as specific sports and training based disciplines.

Available in weights from 3kg-25kg (30-50kg available on special order), Powerbags are constructed of tough, easy to clean vinyl and durable webbing handles. Ideal for indoor and outdoor use on many surfaces Powerbag is also safe. Unlike a conventional freeweight, even the heaviest can be dropped without fear of damage to feet or floor!

Word has spread quickly and Powerbag is already gaining rave reviews as far a field as USA, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

DEVELOPMENT OF POWER THROUGH CORRECT MOVEMENT - February 2007

At Performance Technology and through the creation of Powerbags and Powerbag Training System, we have shown that resistance training is about far more than the development of strong, powerful muscles. We have focussed on the end goal and desired performance outcome and then refined our training to utilise Powerbags in the most appropriate ways. In so doing a comprehensive spectrum of movements and exercises are outlined to ensure high quality movements are drilled and power is layered onto this enhanced technique. With correct training judgements improvements in conditioning and performance are significant. 

The premise is simple. Learn to move correctly through all plains, ensure form is consistent then bring in the power moves and intensity.

Adding muscle and explosive strength to a frame that suffers from poor movement, poise or posture is akin to sticking a supercharged engine in a car with an inappropriate chassis and suspension system. It might look OK at first glance but closer inspection will reveal an ineffectual machine with long-term performance and mechanical problems.

Even if all you are looking for is aesthetic development and are less concerned with physical performance, should you still not move, stand and hold yourself correctly in balance and with poise? After all it is these extra dimensions that separate the great from the masses. They also guard against the kind of joint and tendon niggles that seem to afflict so many.

It is imperative to develop effective movement patterns at the origin of any resistance training programme. If a golfer ‘grooves’ a flawed swing the results are always going to be disappointing. Similarly the gains in resistance work are far greater and provide long-term benefit only when executed with control and accuracy. The huge variety of Powerbag based exercises can then effectively add strength, power and muscular endurance onto good movements, utilising: throwing, lifting, rotational and diagonal actions, catching, movement drills and patterns.

Through attention to variation in training the process becomes a continual development with focus on high quality throughout every aspect of each session. It is through this approach that the possibility of reaching and even exceeding performance and functional training targets will occur.

Resistance training must be about far more than how much weight one is able to lift in a restricted number of exercises. It should be about how your training work impacts on your life in terms of performance, activity and health. When you create this mind set through your training, each decision made about what exercises you include within your programme, the form and precision with which you execute them and the attention and rigour you apply to each exercise or movement determines whether your efforts elevate you from a plateau to the next level of performance.

It is self evident that to develop excellence you have to input quality and part of this means you don’t limit what you are able to achieve by missing out important or critical stages in your training development. Many coaches agree a key physical attribute defining elite performance is the ability to harness and execute power and performance through technique. If you accept this it seems obvious that the training and preparation that you undertake should make this as likely as possible.

Coming from a background of working with high-level performers we use many elite sporting analogies, however the same concepts hold true for anyone who does anything physical in their lives. In the same way a great sprint athlete needs to move with power and precision to excel and win, an 85-year-old slipping needs to regain his balance before the slip becomes a fall with the possibility of injury. In effect both parties have to impart a precise quick, powerful movement if they are to be successful, not a slow strong action. We are talking then about the development of power and control over a wide variety of movements rather than the limited range of movements we often see performed in typical training environments. We are not just talking about machine-based training here, but also the potential limitations of using bars and dumbbells or any system where the link between training approach, application and desired results are not fully recognised.

Some of this may not sound too far away from the language used in disciplines such as yoga or Pilates. And indeed their focus on the ability to control and position the body in flowing movements with poise is certainly reflected in our philosophy to training and exercise.

In concert with yoga practitioners, we believe your training and preparation should become part of a fascinating education where you will continually develop, set and reach new goals. It is something to be enjoyed rather than endured.

Powerbag training might not offer all the answers to effective training, but it is based on principles that create the optimum chance of improvement and success. The responses we are getting to our training approach and the tools we have developed from elite performers in many sports, the military, rehab patients and schools indicate we are providing significant improvements over many resistance training systems. Our approach to training has been developed through years of working with elite performers, observing first hand what works and what does not. Powerbags linked to the Powerbag training philosophy has provided an important part of the answer to genuinely successful training.

POWERBAG IN DEMAND FOR TELEVISON - January 2007

Powerbags are rapidly becoming stars of the small screen!

The training tool that has been a global success with all exercisers from the sporting elite to schoolchildren has recently featured in two exercise based TV shows. Powerbag has been seen playing a key role in the fitness of participants in ‘The Biggest Loser’ with 2006 Personal Trainer of the Year Angie Dowds and ‘Saved By The Ball’ with football star Razor Ruddock.

Powerbag’s creator Dr Mark Bellamy explained, “Saved by the Ball concentrates on people who have had a hard time in life and attempts to help them shape up physically and mentally through football and all the training and preparation involved in the sport. I’m delighted they chose Powerbag as a key element of the physical training.”

Powerbag is widely used throughout the professional football ranks as well as by the world’s leading international and club rugby teams amongst many others. Mark Bellamy added, “Powerbag is fast becoming the training tool for people of all standards, aims and pursuits. They provide genuine functional training for all users whether they are in the military, a professional sports environment or the school playground.

“They are also the ideal workout tool for trainers because they are straightforward to use yet fun, highly versatile and dynamic. They require no real space and because of their soft and pliable nature they are safe and comfortable to use in a way rigid weights cannot be”.

Four times UK Fitness Champion, Adventure Athlete and internationally renown PT Joey Bull commented, “I’ve been a Powerbag advocate from the very beginning and have no hesitation saying I wouldn’t have achieved some of the results I do for myself and my clients without them”.

Powerbag’s recent forays into television are certainly not its first. They were seen in England rugby’s best selling DVD ‘Sweet Chariot’ which followed the squad’s gruelling preparations for their triumphant World Cup campaign. Players such as Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Leonard were seen playing an explosive game developed specifically around Powerbag.

POWERBAG ESTABLISHES TRAINING NETWORK - November 2006

A training network is being created to ensure the best possible results are achieved through Powerbag workouts. 

After years of development by Performance Technology and extraordinary results in elite sporting environments including: international rugby, track & field athletics and golf, Powerbags are now widely used by children, first time exercisers, the elderly, elite military forces and professional athletes. And to ensure the all exercisers achieve their workout aims a training network and set of fun and informative presentations is making Powerbag more accessible than ever.

Creator Dr. Mark Bellamy commented, “Some of the best athletes on the planet as well as many newcomers to exercise will tell you that Powerbag training has made all the difference to their fitness, conditioning and performance. I’ve got pages of testimonials that money just couldn’t buy. However I’m equally aware that Powerbag can only achieve these results and attain such glowing reports if there is a training structure. Without it Powerbag is a sandbag that might be fun to muck about with but may not reach its extraordinary potential for each and every user.”

Mark has spent several years delivering Powerbag masterclasses to military forces, sporting bodies, universities, gyms, health clubs and schools. “After just one training visit people are able to get so much more out of their Powerbags and enjoy huge advances in their physical pursuits and general conditioning. It is simply about the fundamentals of training for quality, lasting results in poise, balance, coordination and increased power through technique. The full scope and possibilities only truly unfold after brief formal training”.

“We’ve worked so hard to develop a practical and straightforward product that will provide the training answer across so many and varied applications. Now we just want to release all our research and knowledge across a trainer network and out to the end user.” 

Already a team of top PT professionals connected with the LA Fitness group have become fully acquainted with Powerbag techniques and huge variety of exercises. Fully briefed experts will soon be available all over the UK and further afield to ensure exercisers enjoy the full potential of Powerbag.

Powerbags use a tough durable vinyl casing that is easy to clean and ideal for use on all surfaces indoors and outside. The products are available in weight from 3-25kg (30-50kg available on special order). 

DEVELOPMENT OF POWER THROUGH CORRECT MOVEMENT - A Feature for Combat Magazine

After many years of working with elite athletes across a wide range of sporting disciplines from speedway to golf, boxing to squash, I’ve had the benefit of closely studying their training methods and adapting them - where necessary - to achieve greater results. And the most consistent conclusion I have been able to draw is that resistance training must always be about far more than the development of strong, powerful muscles. It is about evolving and repeating high quality, precise movements with great form. And this is as true for Martial Arts as any other pursuit – probably more so!

I developed Powerbags to directly address this issue. Rigid weights (dumbbells & barbells) and medicine balls have a valuable place in training but I felt a new kind of weight would demand much more from the user, allow for a greater variety of training exercises, could be adapted for specific physical pursuits and goals and achieve very definite results. An uncluttered, hardwearing, sand-filled bag with handle straps has proven to be the answer.   

Because the sand has some room for movement inside the bag and there is flexibility in the canvas strap handles, Powerbags are inherently ‘unstable’ (unlike traditional weights) – this demands greater precision from the user and places the onus on exact movement. The instability also creates unpredictable movement through certain exercises – an element that is vital in training the body to maintain balance, power and equilibrium whilst having to adjust and adapt. Think of the way Naseem Hamed at his peak could explode a punch with immense power and total precision from the most extraordinary angles whilst appearing to be almost off-balance. If we train our bodies to maintain form even when adapting to balance and position shifts and to respond ‘with interest’ - huge strides in performance can be achieved. 

The premise is simple. Learn to move correctly through all plains, ensure form is consistent then bring in the power moves and intensity.

At the heart of martial arts performance lie the fundamental needs for: focus, form, control and execution. Frantic bursts of speed and explosive exertion count for nothing more than wasted energy if not applied correctly. Therefore it is self evident the same must be true for dedicated and appropriate training methods.

At Performance Technology we focussed on the end goal and desired performance out-come and then refined training to utilise Powerbags in the most pertinent ways. In so doing a comprehensive spectrum of movements and exercises are outlined to ensure high quality movements are drilled and power is layered onto this technique. With correct training judgements improvements in conditioning and performance in all fields have proved significant. 

Adding muscle and explosive strength to a frame that suffers from poor movement, poise or posture is akin to sticking a supercharged engine in a car with an inappropriate chassis and suspension system. It might look OK at first glance but closer inspection will reveal an ineffectual machine with long-term performance and mechanical problems.

I believe it is imperative to develop effective movement patterns at the origin of any resistance training programme. If a golfer ‘grooves’ a flawed swing the results are always going to be disappointing. Similarly the gains in resistance work are far greater and provide long-term benefit (including injury protection) only when executed with control and accuracy. The huge variety of Powerbag based exercises can then effectively add strength, power and muscular endurance onto good movements, utilising: throwing, lifting, rotational and diagonal actions, catching, movement drills and patterns. I have worked with Gordon Fearn – a TAGB TKD World Champ, current European Champion   and top MA coach, and GB Olympian Ralph Minott. Both implemented a dynamic variety of Powerbag moves to great effect.”

Gordon Fearn recently told me he is training as hard as ever and is still making significant gains in this area. He honestly believes much of that is down to his consistent use of Powerbag which has enabled him to translate his physical conditioning into direct success on the mat. 

Through attention to variation in training the process becomes a continual development with focus on high quality throughout every aspect of each session. It is through this approach and the versatility of the methods that the possibility of reaching and even exceeding performance and functional training targets occur.

Resistance training must always be about far more than how much weight one is able to lift in a restricted number of exercises, particularly when applied to an MA training environment. It should be about how your training work impacts on your life in terms of specific performance, general activity and health. When you create this mindset through your training, each decision made about what exercises to include within your programme, the form and precision with which you execute them and the attention and rigour you apply to each exercise or movement determines whether your efforts elevate you from a plateau to the next level of performance.

It is a well known tenet that in order to develop excellence you have to input quality. Part of this means you don’t limit what you are able to achieve by missing out important or critical stages in your training development. Many coaches agree that a key physical attribute defining elite performance is the ability to harness and execute power and performance through technique. If you accept this, it seems obvious that the training and preparation that you undertake should make this as likely as possible.

Coming from a background involving high-level performers we use many elite sporting analogies, however the same concepts hold true for anyone who does anything physical in their lives. In the same way a Karate competitor or judo player needs to move with power and precision to excel and win, an 85-year-old slipping needs to regain his balance before the slip becomes a fall with the possibility of injury. In effect both parties have to impart a precise quick, powerful movement if they are to be successful, not a slow strong action. We are talking then about the development of power and control over a wide variety of movements rather than just the limited range of movements we too often see performed in typical gym situations. We are not just talking about machine based training here, but also the potential limitations of using bar and dumbbells or any system where the link between training approach, application and desired results are not fully recognised.

Some of this may not sound too far away from some of the language used in disciplines such as yoga or Pilates. And indeed their focus on the ability to control and position the body in flowing movements with poise is certainly reflected in our philosophy to training and exercise.

In concert with yoga practitioners we believe training and preparation should become part of a fascinating education where you will continually develop, set and reach new goals. It is something to be enjoyed rather than endured.

Powerbag training might not offer all the answers to effective training, but it is based on principles that create the optimum chance of improvement and success. The responses we are getting to our training approach and the tools we have developed from elite performers in many sports, the military, rehab patients and schools indicate that we are providing a significant improvement over many resistance training systems. Our approach to training has been developed through years of detailed and wide-reaching work and study, observing first hand what works and what does not. And through the intelligent application of what we have observed and what we feel needs to be applied for maximum effectiveness in training meeting the needs of performance. Powerbags linked to the Powerbag training philosophy has provided an important part of the answer to genuinely successful training.

SCHOOLS PHYSICAL PURSUIT OF ALL ROUND SUCCESS

Sport in schools is currently high on the government agenda and the fitness of children is a hot topic across all media. If we are to believe all the doom mongering it would appear our youngest generations are plunging into a downward spiral of irreversible sloth and obesity. However Central Government, regional bodies and schools are making strides towards making competitive sport and participation fashionable again.

One state school in Herefordshire is a point in case. Currently over 60% of pupils at Bishops' School, Hereford takes part in extra-curricula activities. It has a wide base of 20 different activities for pupils to take advantage of starting at basic participation level the structure then builds to a highly competitive level for the school's very best athletes.

Recently Bishop's School sent an unprecedented number of pupils into the Midlands top rugby teams to play for the region in Divisional Championships. And a recent tour of New Zealand - the true powerhouse nation of world rugby - saw Bishops win four out of five matches including a stunning victory over a Canterbury side previously undefeated for five years!

Clearly they must be doing something right, but what is it and why are more schools not achieving this level of success?

Head of PE Steve Bradley described the environment that has inspired 290 of 570 boys at the 1100 pupil school to play competitive rugby. "We have a very competitive structure in place that sees nine matches taking place on any given Saturday." However the encouragement that has led to such a level of involvement is not the sole key to Bishops success.

Bradley believes it is the combination of a large base of pupil involvement linked to a handful of additional factors that makes Bishops an almost unique comprehensive school in the UK for sporting success.

"The training intensity is high enough and targeted enough to develop these athletes at the right rate for example our scrum half players will put in 20 minutes of dedicated passing practice every day. Not only that but the physical development of our players is very well controlled. We run a fitness club every morning where 100 or so pupils show up at 8.00am. They use wall bars and develop their movement skills, co-ordination and functional power by training with Powerbags.

"Our link to local business Performance Technology Ltd and Dr. Mark Bellamy has been hugely important to us. Mark has sponsored the school with 16 Powerbags and has been a wealth of support and advice regarding the physical conditioning and performance enhancement though the correct use of this tool. Thanks to Powerbag and correct training techniques we have been able to physically dominate other schools and that includes the notoriously tough South Sea Island players we encountered on our NZ tour!"

Mark Bellamy added, "In recent years there has been so much concern about leaving pupils behind who are not sporty but this seems to miss the point entirely. By providing facilities and opportunities for all, Bishop's School has proved that the atmosphere created and pride generated by a relative few - in this case its rugby teams - has an enormously uplifting effect on the whole establishment. In turn this creates an inspiring environment that allows pupils to thrive and improve across a wide range of sporting and academic activities.

"Through my work in introducing Powerbag and guiding the boys through the myriad or training disciplines it affords I've been so impressed by their desire to learn, apply and improve. If the rest of the school benefits from even a fraction of that attitude it can only be better for it."

Steve Bradley concluded, "Getting so many things right has meant that we play at a higher level than many schools and our players become used to exposure to high quality opponents, thus it is easier for them to step up and perform at county, Midlands and even representative level than for players from schools where the general expectation is lower.

“It also must be said that this motivation is not all about the rough and tumble of the rugby field. It translates into the other sporting pursuits available at Bishop's School and the classroom where results are becoming increasingly impressive. So many of our pupils are motivated to succeed in different avenues of life and we do our utmost to help them make that happen. Put simply we have put together a set of conditions that makes success a more likely outcome. Bishops Schools’ sporting achievements are living proof of what can happen when this mix comes together.