Bu Dave Golokhov Ask Men
Want to exercise like the pros? Now you can, with TRX Suspension Training. The majority of athletes in major North American sports put it to use as 27 of the 32 NFL teams employ it, 26 of the 30 NBA teams — and every MLB team. We tested it out for ourselves and also chatted with TRX CEO and former Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick to find out all of the details. If you’re looking to build up your core strength and don’t want to buy an entire home gym, this is a great option for you.
What Is TRX?
TRX looks like a very basic piece of equipment, but its versatility is impressive. At first glance, you might think that you’re using some kind of industrial resistance bands. The difference is that the TRX bands don’t stretch; they just allow you to move your body as the resistance. Because the bands stay taut, you end up doing the moves — like pushups — suspended in mid-air. That forces your core into action to stabilize yourself as you do the moves.
“The Suspension Trainer is so efficient because every movement requires the integration of core, mobility, stability, strength, balance, and coordination, among others,” says Hetrick. “Often, traditional workout programs have the participant working on isolation instead of integration, but life and human movement requires integration of the body and its systems. Performing exercises that promote more integration will lend itself to faster results!”
This is a tool that’s going to take a lot of basic gym moves that you can do in your sleep and kick them into high gear for you. Nap time is over.
How Challenging Is It?
Those who haven’t done much core work are going to find this quite challenging at first. That’s because you’re using multiple muscles in basic exercises where you’re used to only isolating. For example, let’s go back to the pushup: normally, you’re hands are stable and anchored to the ground. As you bring your chest closer to the ground, you push up. When you’re using the TRX, let’s say you keep your feet on the ground but your hands are in the handles in mid-air. You now have to keep them stable and do the pushup. Or even if it’s the other way around — your hands are on the ground and your legs are in the handles — you’ll still find it much more challenging because there’s an element of suspension and you have to keep your balance while still doing the pushup. That’s the common theme with this piece of equipment.
“At TRX we believe in mastering the basics such as planking, pushing, pulling, squatting and lunging before adding layers of complexity,” says Hetrick. “By focusing on fewer, less complicated movements, it can help the participant achieve mastery and therefore more results. Once they have achieved mastery in the basics, it allows them to perform more advanced/complicated movements with proficiency and less chance of injury. On top of this, performing basic movements like the push-up or a plank on the Suspension Trainer requires a higher integration of core than performing it on the floor.”
The moves seem simple, but the suspension adds an element of balance that you haven’t felt before. Your core is forced to engage, and that’s what makes this such a great workout. You’re building your core, stability and balance, which is why athletes love it so much.
Who Is It For?
People looking to add some muscle, tone and take their core strength to the next level.
“Traditionally, building muscle mass generally requires external load (weights),” says Hetrick. “That being said, the Suspension Trainer lends itself to increasing core strength and stability, which is incredibly important when lifting weights. So using it in combination with weight training can help anyone build muscle mass — should that be their goal — more effectively with a reduced chance of injury.”
Although you’re not likely to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1980 by using the TRX alone, Hetrick is being a bit modest here. It’s definitely great for building core strength, but I would say that those who are new to weight training will see some good muscle-building results with the TRX, even though there’s no weights. None of the exercises are easy, and by adjusting the bands, you can increase the challenge quite a bit. This is an excellent tool for someone who is new to working out and wants a challenge, but isn’t quite ready to dive into weights.
TRX is also a great addition to a lot of other at-home workouts as well. Those who are entrenched in the BeachBody series, like P90X or Focus T25, can mix in the TRX to make the basic exercises — like pushups, crunches and lunges — significantly harder.
How Does It Compare To Other Products?
Suspension training isn’t exactly a brand new concept, but TRX has refined it. There are other options that some people like to use, like regular rings (the same ones used in ring gymnastics), Jungle Gym and Freestyle Trainer. But the TRX is among the leaders, as it’s affordable, portable and doesn’t need to take up much space. It was developed with those very principles in mind:
“I created the original version of the Suspension Trainer while serving in the SEAL teams,” says Hetrick. “At a moment’s notice, my men and I would have to be ready to deploy around the globe and would often find ourselves stationed in wharf-side warehouses, urban safe houses and on ships with no access to training facilities. We couldn’t get to the gym and couldn’t bring the gym with us. The Suspension Trainer gave us an extremely lightweight, portable training solution that I could throw in my bag and set up to train, anywhere. It truly was an invention born of necessity.”
It’s arguably the best suspension training tool on the market, and if you’re looking to get lean, toned and build your core, this is worth ordering.
Source: http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybui…ng-review.html
