elitefts is constantly adding new items to the online store. From heavy duty strength training equipment to accessories to apparel, there are new products added every single month. We believe that with intelligent training you can get strong using very few basic essential items, but we also believe you can train much more effectively, safely, and enjoyably with the right equipment. This is why we're constantly searching for innovation in strength training equipment that can improve your training. There's no one we trust more to evaluate these innovations than the members of Team elitefts, and as a veteran of the industry and long-standing member of the team, CJ Murphy fits the bill perfectly. Included in his list below is an ingenious new design for a platform, jack stands that can function as more than simple jack stands, the heaviest of heavy-duty medicine balls, the new front squat harness, and a supremely versatile cable attachment. Read his full thoughts on each item below.
So, you want to know the coolest and most useful equipment you can find on elitefts.com? Well, here is my list of the top five new toys from elitefts, in no particular order:
The Power Center “PR Platform”
Mike Bartos is well known for making very well-engineered and high-quality made-in-USA equipment that meets an unfulfilled need. That is a winning business strategy. While I need to tell you that I do not have one of these platforms yet, I will. This is one of the coolest things I have seen and, by all that I have heard from friends who have them, it is awesome. You can put about a zillion bands on this thing in all kinds of positions and get stupid strong. Plus, it has an easy attachment for the back to do Koklyaev deadlifts. No more stacking boxes and plates against the wall. Who knows, maybe the elitefts elf will ship one to me.
Jack Stands
This is another winner from Mike Bartos' Power Center and another one I don’t have yet. The jack stands are wicked pissah. That’s Masshole for "awesome." They allow you to do rack pulls and floor presses without a rack. They also prevent your bars from getting bent if some bag of dicks drops them on the pins after every rep of rack pulls. These look like something that have a ton of potential for helping you get strong(er). Any Total Performance Sports members who want to start a GoFundMe page and get us these, feel free.
XD™ Kevlar Medicine Ball
Medicine balls are tremendous tools for improving speed, strength, coordination, and conditioning, but they suck. Why do they suck? Because you spend $100 or more on a ball, and it breaks in two months. That sucks. Well, the XD balls don’t break. I’ve had a set for about a year and they are going strong. I’ve always said the members here at TPS can break an anvil. They haven’t broken these yet, and I don’t think they will. Plus, these are made of Kevlar, so I might take a few out back and blast them with a few 180-grain CorBons to see how tough they really are.
The Front Squat Harness
So, this thing is in the “when I first saw it I thought it was stupid” category. Years ago, one of the TPS members bought one from a different company and showed it to me with a lot of excitement. He asked me to try it out and see what I thought. I was 100% convinced that I was going to tell him to throw it away because it was like the 40-caliber cartridge: a solution to a problem that did not exist. I was sure I would hate it. Well, after a few sets, I was hooked. I loved it. I know how to front squat, but I hate them. They hurt my delicate wrists. So, I didn’t do them much. I also know how to Zercher squat and did them a lot, but with a three-inch bar. This harness allowed me to get all of the benefits of both exercises with none of the pain. As a matter of fact, I used it almost exclusively when I tore my bicep and got my front squat up to 405 with it. I was pretty jacked about that. I was able to maintain my strength while the bicep healed. Winner.
We just got one of these new elitefts front squat harnesses and it is as you would expect: well-designed, well-made, and bulletproof. Get one.
TrakHandle Sport Cable Attachment
Here is another one I thought would be stupid and totally unnecessary, but the guys really wanted a set so we got them. Boy was I wrong. These handles are amazing. I use them all the time and love them. If you told me two months ago that I’d get a pair of $120 cable handles and say they were anything but overpriced crap, I’d say you were crazy. I would have been wrong, though. Every gym should have a pair of these. The versatility of movement that you can do with these on all types of triceps, back, and cable work is limitless. You can’t duplicate it with an ordinary handle or strap.
There, you have my list of the top five new toys from elitefts. You don't need any one of these things to get strong(er), but they make it a little easier and a little more fun to get it done.
