In the 'high velocity' performance sporting arena, and cardiovascular output intense contact sports specifically, conditioning is the safety factor. 'High velocity' physical action and collision potential with definite actual impact require 'low velocity' resistance conditioning (weight training) to develop connective tissue bonding tensile strength, instantaneous responsive muscle flexibility, and rapid cardiac adaptability forces.   This in theory, may be one of the reasons along with time efficiency, the well known 'vortex based' circuit trainer resistance multi-exercise unit was created. And is a prominent aspect in sports oriented school gyms, fitness institutions, and exercise facilities around the world. Properly engineered training equipment is crucial to the user's natural kinesiology, and conditioning for goals focus.   JOE NAMATH, when he played Football for the New York Jets, established himself probably as the greatest dynamic quarterback of the 20th Century. Then with economics being what they were, Joe was one of the most expensive football stars of the 1970's. Namath as a team winning functional asset was worth the price.

Joe was often plagued by injuries to his joints. His knee problems were legendary. The anecdote related here took place at Joe's Football Training Camp for Boys in Dudley, Massachusetts. It was part of a personal interview by myself being done for a special magazine feature entitled, 'Joe Namath in Iron Land' for Bob Kennedy's Muscle Mag International Bodybuilding publication.
 
This had been arranged by the than New York Jets team strength coach Paul Mastropasqua, a famous Bodybuilder and physique title winner who was taking THE IRON CONNECTION (weight training for athletic conditioning) to the athletic professional playing fields.

Paul would eventually do the same for Ted Turner's Atlanta Braves Baseball team, and later for the New York Yankees Baseball team-pumping them up to win the 1996 World Series for owner George Steinbrenner.
In regards to Namath, at this time Joe was nearing the end of his vital and productive Football career. This particular summer he was using weights both on the circuit trainer and free weights to toughen his connective tissues, especially in his painful knee joints.
 
During the interview Joe remarked how he'd never cared too much for hardcore weight training, but it was helping him, so his opinion was changing.
Still, there was 'one exercise' he hated the most - the 'parallel bar dip'.

 This struck me as rather odd. After all, with the lower extremities pain Joe was chronically suffering, why the dip? Why not leg exercises? Why, one of the most natural torso movements for true Bodybuilding efficiency . . . why did dipping bother him?
 
Joe said they didn't give him pain, but he just hated them. As the photography for the magazine article was documented, the reason soon became clear.
When Joe hopped up onto the dipping station on this particular circuit unit, it was evident the parallel bar station was both too low and much too narrow - with not enough room for comfortable free dipping action.
 
This had nothing to do with Joe's relative lanky size because he was a 'passing (throwing) quarterback', who are traditionally fairly lean, fast, and must be coordinated and accurate.

The dip station almost would have been itself too narrow for anyone. So, why would he not hate this exercise, which was so simple and natural among all the others, although with some pain involved. Mastropasqua examined the unit's dip station and agreed.   Namath deplored it because the naturalness of the action was lost, robbed from him by poor design of the training unit itself. This fantastic high velocity oriented action athlete could take training rehabilitation and conditioning pain. But in an ironic turnabout couldn't stand the discomfort of that kinetic encumbering parallel bar circuit station. He'd never used a good standard dip bar with the correct hand spacing to shoulder width grip parameters .   Please be warned, that not all circuit trainers of the early manufactured variety are either comfortable or function in every trainer's best levearge interest. Every weight trainer or Bodybuilder is totally different osteo-leverage wise. Which is one reason I prefer free weights, which adjust to everyone's need automatically.   At the end of this chapter I'll note what to watch for when you train 'off a vortex' on a resistance supplying circuit trainer. Some of the older models in gyms, schools, workout rooms, colleges, and other institutions are veritable iron junk piles for irritating bone endings and joints throughout the body. A well made circuit trainer of fine design with proper leverage and tracking adaptability for most individuals is a fine multifaceted, kinetically balanced muscle and strength building unit.   WHAT IS CIRCUIT TRAINING?   Elementally, circuit training revolves around a specially designed progressive-resistance muscle-building unit made of a metal frame foundation. The matrix foundation has built into it many nonfree weight-station apparatus with pulley and leverage systems for training all the various bodyparts.   The purpose of this unit is training without lose weight or free barbells and dumbbells or other equipment in an economically small space. Some of the master units (slang: jungle gyms) of this type have more than twelve stations with up to thirty exercise purposes. England's University of Leeds physiologists first adapted this resistance training system of rapid interactive workout stations and continual exercising forward drive in 1953.   What I personally refer to dramatically as training in a vortex, athletic coaches have christened 'circuit training'. This means going from station to station for the bodyparts involved with little or no rest, for building strength and a limited amount of cardiovascular endurance.   Here's how the principle works: Circuit training, in its purest form, is interval training for obtaining limited strength with maximum circulation and oxygen-uptake capacity. The peripheral drain or oxygen debt built up working many muscles at different stations of each 'preset' circuit station builds up the heart and lungs rather than just the muscle system's energy packing alone (which is anaerobic rather than aerobic in nature).   An avid Bodybuilder would remain at a single station for a few sets for the particular bodypart being trained. Whereas, the true circuit trainer for conditioning does but one set at each station on the circuit, perhaps returning to the same station for more sets later as the entire unit is traversed.   This develops overall system efficiency, when exercising on the preset weight-load carriages, at 40-60 percent of maximum contractile muscle force.   An advanced circuit trainer unit of maximum design precision technology would contain the following stations, both for free body-weight action only, and preset weight-carriage unit training:   PWC = Preset Weight-Loaded Carriages