Cybex® equipment is a brand of cardio and strength-training machines popular in high-end health clubs and fitness centers. An international company distributing its products in 87 countries, Cybex® manufactures more than just commercial gym equipment, however. This company supplies machines to a broad range of customers, from military-grade fitness equipment for the armed forces, to training equipment for firefighters, to equipment used to improve sports performance in elite athletes.
In its cardiovascular training category, Cybex® offers a variety of machines, all designed to increase aerobic capacity and burn calories while taking up a minimal amount of space. While Cybex® makes treadmills, stair climbers, and stationary bikes, its proudest achievement is its Arc Trainer. The Cybex® Arc Trainer is an award-winning cross-training machine that is distinguished from other manufacturers’ cross trainers in that it allows for three movement patterns. Not quite an elliptical trainer and not a stair climber, the Arc Trainer is intended to place most of the work on the large muscle groups of the legs rather than on the joints. Cybex’s® claims that it burns more calories than cross-trainers manufactured by other fitness equipment brands.
Other Cybex® equipment includes several lines of strength-training machines. These can be classified according to three categories: selectorized, or pin-loaded, equipment; functional trainers, which are cable-and-pulley-based systems of strength training; and free-weight equipment, including plate-loaded machines and dumbbells. Cybex® offers three lines of selectorized equipment— ranging from its premium Eagle line to its value VR1 line — which are intended to be the most user-friendly, to take up minimal space in a fitness center, and to encourage circuit-style training.
The Cybex® equipment line of functional trainers offers two cable machines: the FT-360s and the Bravo. With its pair of arms, each of which can be swung around 180 degrees, the FT-360s allows users to perform pulley exercises from almost any angle, from chest flies with the arms straight out to either side to biceps curls with the arms straight down. The Bravo functional trainer features two independent cable columns, each attached to its own weight stack, which allow for “hundreds of movements in a single space-saving machine,” according to Cybex®. Both of these machines are designed to provide freedom of movement, so that users are not limited to single-joint exercises but rather can perform more complex motions that mimic everyday or sport-specific movement patterns.
In its free-weight category, Cybex® produces plate-loaded machines, dumbbells, barbells and various storage equipment, and equipment for bodyweight exercises, such as ab chairs. The plate-loaded machines are similar to the selectorized equipment, but they require lifting weight plates onto the machine’s bars rather than moving a pin to the desired weight, so they are popular with exercisers looking to build strength and/or mass. They are also considered unique because they allow for varying start positions that can be adjusted according to the user’s flexibility. Additionally, Cybex® sells dumbbells, barbells, and racks as well as a variety of benches for pressing, abdominal, and lower-back exercises. Finally, multi-station Cybex® equipment can be purchased, which features multiple exercises like assisted chin-ups and seated rows on a single piece of machinery.
