Five months into this COVID-19 chronicle of shutdowns and testings and masks and re-openings, there now appears to be minute amount of light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, things will be moving back to 20,000 fans at Ohio Stadium for Buckeye Football. The New York Yankees game but no fans in attendance. The NBA in Orlando. Seems hard to grasp. But now reality.
Lucky for me, I have tons of archived training footage and photos, and I'll be adjusting with more ZOOMed ASAP~Podcasts.
But for the strength and conditioning professionals out there, art and science is approaching a collision course. Coronavirus testing formats have changed the strength training groups and the way the training is assembled is the first noticeable change. Facility cleaning is in hyper mode. Every crevice in a training center could hold in germs.
So, now's the time to take a closer examination of the tools that we use in training our athletes. Just the other day, I was able to connect with Tom Grace, a long time strength and conditioning equipment professional who is presently located in Vancouver, Washington with his wife, Juanita . Their business is known as Black Iron Strength and they may just have one of the most time-relevant, innovative products available to the strength and conditioning industry. A complete line of antimicrobial copper strength training equipment. This is the wave of the future. Check it out:
Recent studies have shown that copper alloy surfaces kill E coli O157:H7. More than 99.9% of E. coli microbes are killed after just 1–2 hours on copper. On stainless steel surfaces, the microbes can survive for weeks. ... Copper's antibacterial effect was found to be intrinsic in all of the copper alloys tested.
What is Antimicrobial Copper CuLEAN® by CuVerro®?
Many ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, recognized the inherent antimicrobial properties of copper. Copper-lined vessels were used to sterilize drinking water. Copper compounds were used to treat wounds and infections. With the recent outbreaks of untreatable infections including MRSA, which is often traced back to the work out facility. Black Iron Strength® took the ancient technology of copper and applied it to strength equipment. With this patented technology, Black Iron Strength® is the only equipment manufacturer to offer to offer free weight equipment with copper touch points. Copper surfaces by CuVerro® has been shown to kill more than 99% of bacteria within two hours of contact. Given that bacteria can survive on surfaces for months, Black Iron Strength® prefers to use CuLEAN® Antimicrobial Copper on their products and equipment. It is simply the best material for all surfaces as bacteria cannot thrive or survive on it.