This weekend is the Move for Health Festival at Minoru Park put on by the Richmond Sports Council. The interactive event marks Move for Health Week, a City of Richmond and community initiative, which aims to promote positive lifestyles and physical health.
One person invested in moving, in more ways than one, is 57-year-old fitness instructor Murray Phillips, a 30-plus year veteran of exercise programs and training methods.
Over the past few years, Phillips began noticing an aging population that was working just as hard, if not harder, but not finding the time to get its daily dose of exercise. One of the biggest concerns he heard from people who came to him for help at his office at West Richmond Community Centre was that they travelled too much or worked too many hours in an office to find the time to exercise.
Cue Phillips' simple and convenient innovation - the Mobi-X Mobile Gym. The fitness kit is as small as a backpack and uses light materials and water weights that fit neatly together, allowing it to be easily carried around.
"The idea was always in the back of my head. I knew what needed to be in a kit. I didn't want something that would just sit in a garage. It has to be totally functional and portable."
Mobi-X is a step above doing push-ups and sit-ups by allowing someone to expand their in-a-hurry exercise routine.
"The thing I'm most proud of is the components in the kit."
The trick to the kit's portability is the water fillable devices. To work the upper body Mobi-X comes with two plastic dumbbell handles and eight water-fillable dumbbells that weigh up to about five pounds each. Also included in the kit are three-and five-pound water-fillable medicine balls.
"Aqua bells aren't new but what this does here is it puts it all together," said Phillips.
Also, three rubber exercise tubes with clip-on handles can provide for a wide-range of workout routines for the entire body. A special clip for the door allows someone to use the tubes practically anywhere. The clip also allows a person to use one to three tubes, which will fluctuate resistance.
An instructional DVD shows three 20-minute workout programs and explains how to set up the basic workout routines.
Phillips displayed his kit to the Richmond News and while it does take a few minutes to fill the dumbbells it's far less than what it takes to get to a gym, Phillips said. What's more is the fact it can be taken anywhere there's a tap, including the park where Phillips demonstrated a number of exercises with the weights and tubes.
