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TRX - Total Resistance eXercise
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With just one piece of equipment and your body weight, you can perform literally any exercise, including cardio, anywhere.
“I love it because it very efficient,” said Carol Shuford, personal trainer and triathlete who has incorporated TRX exercises into her training regimen for the Ironman this summer. She also uses it with all her personal training clients. “You can get in all your exercises, including stretching, with very minor adjustments in no time at all. It doesn’t matter what your fitness level is or your fitness goals are.”
The TRX logo is “Make Your Body Your Machine,” and it does. I was skeptical at first. But I became curious as I watched trainers at Results Gym on Capitol Hill use the bright yellow and black training harness wrapped around a Smith machine pole move the angle of their body and use the straps to do traditional exercises.
A few months ago Carol and I decided to get instruction from colleague Gary Jackson who was certified with the TRX Suspension system equipment. After just one workout I couldn’t believe how good I felt and how easy it was to use.
TRX Origins
Navy Seal Randy Hetrick developed the TRX (Total Resistance eXercise) as a solution to the problem he and his Navy Seal teammates had staying in peak condition without traditional fitness equipment and with very limited space. It started as a few lengths of parachute webbing hand stitched together with rubber boat repair tools. In the months that followed, Hetrick and his colleagues created body weight exercises using this training harness and developed a new category of functional exercise called Suspension Training.
According to the course manual, Suspension Training refers to the unique training movements, coaching cues and program principles that have been created and systematized by Hetrick’s company Fitness Anywhere. A single anchor point supports a user’s hands or feet while the opposite end of the body is in contact with the ground, which makes these training movements different from traditional exercises. TRX provides a mix of support and mobility that enhances strength, endurance, coordination, flexibility, power and core stability all at once across a range of resistance.
In just a few years, Suspension Training is becoming the functional training system of choice for elite units in every branch of the Armed Forces. It’s moved from the battlefield to training rooms of teams in professional sports and is used in the workout regimens of professional athletes.
Why I Love Working Out on the TRX
As a trainer and fitness professional for more than 20 years, I have used most every new piece of fitness equipment. My specialty is in core training to improve movement in everyday life. I teach yoga and Pilates and have been working with the stability ball and Bosu for years. The TRX is the first piece of equipment I have used that builds functional strength, improves flexibility, balance and core stability all at once. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the TRX is its portability.
Unlike the ball or Bosu that are cumbersome and difficult to transport, I can carry the less-than-two-pound TRX in my purse to clients’ homes. I can use it attached to a door inside or outside on a pole or a tree. I’ve trained a husband and wife in their backyard with the TRX hooked to a swing set pole. I use the TRX wrapped around a deck banister to train a client who is getting back into shape after having a baby. I’ve used it to train a 60-year-old client in her living room with it attached to the front door of her condo. Anyone who wants to safely improve his/her fitness level for any reason can use the TRX. It will support users who weigh up to 350 pounds.
Why Suspension Training Works
Exercising on the TRX uses gravity and movement to generate neuromuscular responses to changes in body position and mechanical advantage. Movements integrate strength and balance into a single dynamic format that taxes the nervous system at a high level and maximizes the benefits of body weight exercise for faster results than traditional exercise machines. You can build a personalized training program by changing the angle of your body suspended on the straps. You can modify and be creative depending on your mood, time, or desire for intensity by choosing a program from among the hundreds of exercises available.
Carol has been training for her Ironman competition for months performing grueling swims, bike rides and runs. She said that since she’s been using the TRX she has been sore in places she has not felt before. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t using muscles in my inner thighs and quads,” she said. I, too, have felt an overall sense of even soreness that lets me know I’ve had a balanced workout.
The TRX has made me excited about exercising. When I’m walking my dog, I’m scouting out places I can sling the TRX and take a few minutes to do cardio, upper body or just play. If you want to try it out, email me at fitness@pattiecinelli.com. Lincoln Park or Congressional Cemetery are both venues that are perfect places to see what the TRX Suspension Trainer can do. Check out their website at: www.fitnessanywhere.com or log onto my website at www.pattiecinelli.com and click on the TRX icon. |
