Welcome, I am Blake Kassel and I am the creator of The Bodylastics strength training gym. Our unique super system is a complete exercise or fitness center membership in a 2 pound bag, for less than the cost of one month at most better equipped clubs. Click here to compare us to Bowflex and Soloflex

Exercise bands also known as resistance bands are not just for aerobics classes anymore! Our unique and adjustable design will enable you to effectively work all of the same muscles as Bowflex and Soloflex but for 100's and even 1000's less!

Come inside and see who we are. Take a look at what we do. Discover what we offer.  

Men, Women, Children, Elderly, Athletic, what we have was designed for you whether you are professional, just starting, need rehabilitation or want something so you can free up extra space in your home. Our friends in Japan where living spaces are quite limited really love us for that reason!  

I know I personally regret leaving home for business because that means I must actually go to a gym when I travel. I have to look for one, call them for directions, you know the routine.... 

Friends of mine even use Bodylastics to warm themselves up before they go on stage or head out to the playing field. The uses are endless.  Try to stick a Bowflex in your suitcase!

I truly LIVE for your emails!
Blake Kassel

Bodylastics complete home gym has been featured in several national publications: Glamour, New Woman, Delta Sky, The New York Post, Woman's World, Jane, Men's Exercise, Prevention, "You Gotta Read This", Essence, Self and Fitness. And many more exclusive articles are on the way!! The Bodylastics fever is catching on! Our testimonials are amazing even us! Isn't it about time that someone looked out for your financial fitness and better interests? Something that actually delivers and something that you can afford is finally here. We are Bodylastics Int'l Inc.

In recent years there have been many, many exercise fads that have come and gone. However, The one which has survived over the decades even centuries is strength training. Strength training is so vital to every day life because it can help maintain the muscular balance of the body. The human body is very similar to a car, if one wheel or component of the car is not working correctly it negatively effects the entire system. This especially becomes important as we age or when we compete in sports. Click here for an article about strength training benefits for kids and teens. Click here to read an article about the specific strength training benefits for women.

Strength training can easily be performed with the old standbys, free weights and machines. However, there are several problems with these two types of equipment. They take up space, are not portable and in many cases are extremely expensive. Just look at the Bowflex, do you have $1000 to spend right now? Well, there's great news! Recently, there have been advances in effective workout systems, specifically resistance bands. The new generation of resistance bands are versatile and effective. They are perfect for strength training. Click here to see the different types.

You will certainly get the positive motion of the exercise and even more of the negative (this is the strength building part of any movement). You see, with free weights you can just drop the weights. This is not so with elastic tubing, you MUST perform the negative under control.

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

Who am I and why should you listen to me? My name is Blake Kassel and simply put, I have already tried it all. Strength training has been a part of my life since childhood. I had my first set of free weights when I was 13, a Soloflex when I was 15, and joined a hard-core bodybuilding gym in NYC when I was 16.

I once tried to calculate all of the collective time that I had spent in the gym and I was shocked to see that it worked out to several years!

Although I had access to heavy weight equipment there were so many many times that I wished I had a strength training machine that I could use in my room, on the road, or even outside. When I was in college (those were the days when I was competing in Bodybuilding) someone told me about these new great resistance bands that I could use right in my room.

There was one problem - they did not have enough resistance to challenge my muscles - and back then I WAS STRONG.

The newer resistance band systems enable you to combine bands so that you can create the equivalent of a 45lb dumbbell or barbell. This 45lbs feels like 60 lbs though because you must actually perform the negative movement of the exercise.

How does the muscle work?

Before we go any further, let's talk about strength and how it relates to your muscle. Do you know how a muscle works? It's actually a great question. Your muscle has many many fibers that run along it's length. When your body tells your muscle to shorten something, happens called crossbridging (this is very complicated so I won't bore you) which in turn causes the muscle fibers to contract and shorten. When you work your muscle against resistance microscopic tears in the muscle are created. This is why you get sore. When the tears heal it generates a stronger and many times a slightly bigger muscle.

How will my muscles get stronger with anything but weights?

It's pretty simple, really. When you overload your muscle with resistance your muscle will have to adapt. How's it going to adapt? It is going to have to become stronger. How will it become stronger? It will have to get bigger. This is the principle of adaptation.

The greatest fact about working your muscle against resistance is that your muscle does not know the type of resistance it is. Yes, your muscle is blind. It will not know whether you are working with free weights, machines or elastic bands.

I have met many bodybuilders and powerlifters who have added muscle and strength using resistance bands. As I said just make sure that you can add enough resistance with your elastic set so that the muscle is struggling on the last rep of every set.

How do resistance bands work?

Resistance bands have been around for a long time, although they have really become popular again in the last 4 to 5 years. Jack La Lanne sold elastic bands as an exercise tool in the 50's!

How do resistance bands work? The first fact to remember is that your muscle is blind. It only knows that it is working against resistance not what type of resistance. Resistance bands create resistance (tension) as you stretch them. Believe it or not they actually have an advantage over free weights. Elastic Resistance bands create more resistance as you stretch them as opposed to free weights where the tension is constant. Why is that an advantage? When your muscle is just starting to shorten it will be using less muscle fibers (fibers actually are what make up your muscles) - this is when you want less resistance. As it shortens further the muscle will recruit more and more muscle fibers - this is when you want the muscle to work harder against more resistance. This is very similar to the "cam system" which you will find on the $1000 machines in the best gyms