Review: The Vitruvian V Form home resistance trainer
The Vitruvian V Form home resistance trainer brings intelligence to home fitness workouts.
‘Remember guys, pain is your friend.’
If there’s one thing the Vitruvian V Form home resistance trainer can give us – withstanding the hope that your average Joe can work up a pair of abs from the comfort of home – it’s a small window into the gyms of the future.
Compacted inside a small machine slightly narrower than your average boogie board is the ability to deliver more than 200 hundred exercises with as much as 180kg of resistance thanks to a motorised system. Not a bad option for those who don’t favour working up a sweat in public.
Of course, for those who do enjoy a more social workout, the trainer is already on deck at a handful of gyms around Sydney including CBD outfit Soma.
Unlike Zoom yoga or body pump, working out with the Vitruvian V Form feels a little more personal given the user has complete control of the workout via their mobile device.
Having an on and off switch takes away that added pressure while simultaneously giving the user the ability to say, “oh, I’ll get to that later”.
Like any new hobby, it does require a little patience. In a bid to keep fitness enthusiasts safe, a user is only allowed to increase their weight after successfully performing a set.
While that may sound a little off-putting initially, it’s safe to assume the decision was made with the best intentions in mind, especially if you’ve been trapped at home for the past 14 weeks as much of Sydney has.
A saving grace to the initial limiting weight factors is the style of training on offer. Each workout isn’t simply a push or pull affair, rather Vitruvian tailors the exercise to one of six available modes.
In the focused mode, a user can add weight by pausing at the top of each repetition, progression mode increases each repetition by 1kg, pump mode works by getting heavier as the user moves faster and in eccentric mode, there’s zero weight on the lift and only weight added as the user lowers the weight.
The ability to workout in eccentric mode is one of several edges the machine has, says Vitruvian Head coach Wiebke Hensen.
“We think that eccentric training is going to be the future of training,” she said. “Studies show that negative training will actually make you stronger in concentric training and based on the science behind it, you are always stronger in the eccentric movement.”
Ms Hensen likens it to using a bench press at a gym. You may be able to lower a 50kg bar but only be able to push up 35k, she said.
“So with the V Form, in both of the phases of the lift you’re actually getting challenged.”
In terms of training, Vitruvian holds users to account in the sense it records every workout, detailing how many repetitions have been completed alongside how much weight was lifted.
A user’s profile page also shows how many points they have earned and a breakdown of their workouts into body groups —so if you’ve been skipping leg day, Vitruvian will know your secret.
Vitruvian aims to combat any training insufficiencies via a small prompt. The Australian’s, for example, read: “Looks like you haven’t spent much time on your arms and core. Give these exercises a try.”
For the competitive types there’s also a daily, weekly and monthly leaderboard.
Training data is one thing many fitness enthusiasts are keen to know, Ms Hensen said.
As for classes, there are several trainers offering prerecorded virtual workouts from the likes of a power pump to “dynamic” and ”cruisy” warm ups, ”booty power” and ”booty-focused classes” and even the “hot girl summer”. These range from a few minutes up to full 20-minute workouts.
For the novices, there are tutorials covering how to do a sumo dead lift to squats and a clean and press. For those with a little more experience, the added benefit of being able to create your own workouts choosing from over 200 exercises is a plus.
While some exercises involve using the platform as a step, most revolve around the device‘s retractable cables that can connect to the body via a bar, ankle straps, a belt, cables and more.
For The Australian it wasn’t an entirely seamless experience. There were a couple of occasions when the machine seemed out of synchronisation with what was being displayed on screen.
Much of this was to do with casting the workout onto a smart television and may have been an issue with the Wi-Fi connection. The ability to cast the workout in front of you, yet control it with your mobile is definitely the edge Vitruvian has over other online options … so when they two were not quite in sync it was a little off-putting.
During the trial period the app received two upgrades which worked to Vitruvian’s benefit.
Pleasingly for those conscious of storing large fitness equipment in the home, the machine, which weighs about 40kg, is easily moved thanks to wheels at one end of the device. Just roll it out and plug and play when ready.
Interested users could start by purchasing or renting the machine via subscription. Upon arrival customers meet virtually with a trainer, as The Australian did, via Zoom for an onboarding and pre-trial.
You can pay for the trainer outright ($2950) or alternatively take out a membership ($49/month). For a fitness enthusiast in lockdown, it makes sense to purchase the monthly membership.
Better yet, it would be good for those in shared accommodation to split the fees.
