Release Your Boundaries- TRX!

The TRX class is relatively new to the fitness industry, the TRX suspension training kit has been around for a few years as a piece of kit that you may see hanging in the corner of the gym but no-one really knew how to use it. You might have seen the odd guy doing a few body rows and thats about it.

TRX Class at MOVE THREE SIXTY personal training studio.

When I got my first TRX I was rebuilding my body from a knee reconstruction I had about 6months prior. I had got through some of my rehabilitation in New Zealand and was heading to the UK. The problem was I needed something that was portable, could train the whole body and something that was progressive for the lower body so I could start at a basic level with assistance and build up to a point where I was fully functional and could perform my sports and hobbies such as Tennis, snowboarding, rugby, running (marathon) etc So you can imagine I needed a very solid rehabilitation program to cater for the demands I was planning to put my recovering knee through. It did all that and more!

The Sogn Fjord in Norway only hours before my friends wedding!

So I had this piece of kit that I started to take everywhere with me on holidays, parks, clients houses for jogs, you name it, it was pretty much an extension to my body... 

The exercises that you can achieve with the TRX can cater the novice untrained body to the elite athlete.
In a health club I used to work at I was hanging in the TRX one day when Daniel Craig (James Bond) started asking me what it was and what it was useful for. He happened to be sporting a sling on his shoulder due to some accident and needed to restore stability, strength and mobility as well as maintaining his rock solid abs.. next minute he was hooked and borrowing my TRX each time he came to the gym (shame he already had a trainer).

I had an amazing client who was told she'd never walk again by health professionals. She did although have a great attitude, fairly strong upper body and legs (although not cooperating fully with her nervous system). I could see potential to achieve the impossible. The machine based exercises in the gym were great for her as she built some much needed strength and it allowed her to focus on isolated movements at the beginning of her programming but then she needed the next step, the phase of building stability to the point where she could stand on her own two feet and move one foot in front of the other. The TRX offered a great deal towards reaching that level of stability it was something other practitioners hadn't tried before, even though every realm of the training including her amazing "never give up attitude" played a huge role, the TRX certainly helped bridge the gap towards her ability to walk. After only 6months of training she could walk unassisted across the gym.

Semi private TRX (train with a partner).

So apart from amazing rehabilitative programs for people with back pain, shoulders, knees, hips etc I use it in performance situations such as elite tennis athlete, figure contestant, rugby players and generally people who want a strong stomach, toned butt, thighs and arms. With hundreds of exercises and stretches so you'll never get bored. 

Performing some mountain climbers!

The TRX class itself is a hour long session which I break up into a dynamic warm up, Upper (anterior and posterior chain) /lower/core/cardio/power segments followed some unique stretches. Its usually 4 rounds of intense exercise but if you're a complete beginner you'll be offered options to descend exercises to suit your current level. The mountain climber above is one of the many core exercises you'll experience in the class.

TRX TRICEPS (great for the core also).

I've heard people say "but you can't overload to build muscle like weights" well this is coming from people who have never tried it or been taught properly by an expert. Just because you see a dumbbell with a numerical figure on the side and you feed your ego by the amount of weight you can throw around the gym it doesn't mean you're training the right patterns of muscles to do the job correctly. The TRX initiates important stabilisers with every movement and you add more resistance by changing the angle of your body meaning you're almost taking on your whole bodyweight. I supplement many other forms of training with the TRX and use it for super sets and maintenance also. So if you choose to do the bench press and have plateaued try super-setting with some TRX atomic push ups- you won't regret it!

Atomic Push up!

Many thanks for reading I'm off to set up the next class :)

If you're in West London area and wish to get involved contact me on luke.d.marshall@gmail.com