It’s hard to imagine that an exercise with no moving parts, no stacks of weights or other form of resistance could give you much of a workout. But a new apparatus developed by a local Sisters man is giving Central Oregonians the first crack at one of the most grueling workouts around.

The X-Fit Crusader was developed over the past 18 months by Todd Jutte, a former Marine who trains martial arts fighters. The prototype was tested at the Cascade Fitness Athletic Club in Sisters, and now a second Crusader has been put in at The Body Shop fitness center in Bend.

Jutte, who goes by T.J., said increasingly military units, police forces and martial arts enthusiasts have been looking for a way to get a complete body workout in less than a half-hour. He designed the Crusader to meet those needs.

“I have designed and finally built the best machine that’s around to incorporate full-body conditioning, strength and military striking in one workout,” he said.

At its core, the Crusader is a large metal frame with exercise equipment attached to four sides. Two opposing sides have hooks from top to bottom allowing the equipment to be attached at any height. One side has a crossbar with pull-up rings attached, while the other side has a crossbar with handles for performing dips. A third side has a punching bag, and the fourth side has three inclined benches fanning out from a single point.

The Crusader is designed for a small-class environment with six people working out simultaneously, or working as a team, as Jutte puts it. The participants perform three different 60-second exercises at each station, with minimal rest periods before moving on to the next station. The whole workout is completed within 24 minutes.

Each of the exercise uses only body weight for resistance, with individuals performing pull-ups on the rings, lowering and raising themselves on the dip handles, or punching and kicking the heavy bag. The three individuals on the inclined boards can perform sit-ups while tossing a medicine ball to each other, or hold a static position with their legs raised in their air.

On its own, none of the exercises seem too difficult. But as the multiple repetitions and constant effort continue, even fit athletes begin to feel the strain.

Erik Utter, a deputy sheriff with Deschutes County, works out regularly to keep in shape for the rigors of his job. But after going through a workout with Jutte on the Crusader at The Body Shop, he was surprised at the difference from what he had been doing.

“It’s a lot more intense,” he said. “You’re going all out for 24 minutes. It doesn’t allow you to catch your breath.”

Utter said the pull-up station and the heavy bag were the toughest stations.

“You’re using all your muscles to strike that bag,” he said.

Utter liked the core training elements of the workout, something he thought would translate well to many of the tasks he has to perform as a police officer.

The Body Shop owner Gary Hughes envisions that his members could add the workout once a week to their regular cardio and strength training. The Crusader is a terrific core workout, he said, but doesn’t include much lower body training. And he likes the added safety of training only with body weight, using many elements of the high-intensity CrossFit type workouts that have become popular, but with less risk of injury.

“It’s a safe alternative to the CrossFit craze,” Hughes said. “Where CrossFit may not be for everybody, this is your own body weight. You’re adding all the resistance.”

Hughes said that while individuals could do many of the exercises on their own, having a trainer lead them through the workout will likely get them better results.

“You could come close, but if you have someone guiding you through this, it takes you beyond what you would normally do,” he said. “There’s also the camaraderie” of working with five other people at the same time.

Jutte said another strength of the Crusader is that it’s a “self-spotting” system, meaning that you don’t need another person to watch over you for safety reasons. But that also allows individuals to work out longer with better results.

“Once you hit failure and you can’t do any more, our handles all adjust lower to the ground, where you can assist yourself with your legs,” he said. “Then you can go for another 30 seconds and that’s where the difference comes in. Normally you have to stop and can’t continue any more.”

Jutte did not set out to develop equipment for gyms and health clubs. He had intended the Crusader only for martial arts devotees and military personnel. But when he asked local residents to try it as a demonstration, he found they became enamored of the workout.

“After a month, they started losing so much weight and felt so good, and they toned their body up so much, that I started receiving phone calls saying, ‘If the public doesn’t have access to this, you’re insane,’” he said.

Jutte and his partners are now talking with TKO, a national manufacturer of exercise equipment, which he said is interested in building and marketing the X-Fit Crusader nationwide. Jutte already uses TKO-made attachments, such as the punching bag and incline bench, for the two Crusaders in existence.

In the meantime, Jutte will be leading four classes a week, on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays, at The Body Shop.

Interested?

Check out the X-Fit Crusader Classes at The Body Shop in Bend (61303 S. U.S. Highway 97, Suite 120).

Saturdays 7 a.m.

Mondays 10:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

Thursdays 7 p.m.

Contact: 541-388-1685 or Todd Jutte at 541-390-3070