Studio 5 Health and Fitness Expert Melanie Douglass shows us how to get a great workout with a Body Bar.

1. Why a Body Bar?
A Body Bar is a one piece solid steel, weighted fitness bar encased in high quality, easy-grip rubber for a secure, comfortable grip. Body bars are user friendly, cost effective and versatile. You can do basic, beginner strength training exercises -- and with the exact same weighted bar (so you only buy one), you can perform the same exercises at a much harder level. This is because a body bar utilizes "long levers" to increase the demand on your muscles. Holding a 4' bar with a one-arm bicep curl is much harder than dumbbells, because the long level requires more balance, strength and stability from the target muscle group -- and the same is true for every muscle group you target in a body bar workout.

2. What do you do with it?
Almost anything you can do with dumbbells... you can do with a bar! Bicep curls, shoulder presses, chest presses, etc., all work perfectly with a bar. If you perform these exercises with both arms holding the bar it's easier, whereas, if you perform the exercises with one arm holding the bar at a time, it's much more challenging (which is my favorite way to train with the Body Bar).

You get an amazing level variety and versatility with a Body Bar -- making this a piece of equipment you can train with for years to come. Watch the Studio 5 clip to review some of the fun, different exercises you can try, or buy a Body Bar DVD (link below).

3. Where To Find A BodyBar?
You can buy a Body Bar at www.bodybar.com - they cost $30 - $40 and the shipping is FREE!! I recommend a 9lb bar for beginners and a 12lb bar for intermediate to advanced.

Yes, it's a small investment, but strength-training (something we ALL need) requires a small investment. It's easy to do cardio exercise for free -- but gaining strength, tone, and balance requires additional weight or resistance. It's $30 bucks that will benefit you for the rest of your life... and that's quite a return for your investment.

Body Bar also has instruction DVDs available; here is one of my favorites:

Body Bar Definition DVD with Rob Glick

And if you don't want to buy a DVD, you can download a wall chart with basic Body Bar exercises for free at www.bodybar.com > Body Bar Exercise Chart, or peruse a wide array of exercise options @ Body Bar Nation > Body Bar® Moves