As a former ballet dancer turned personal trainer, and member of TRX Training’s Master Instructor cadre for almost 15 years now, I’ve been participating in bodyweight training for most of my life. It’s my favorite form of training for a number of reasons because it’s what gets me and my clients results the fastest.
Because it’s both effective & efficient, it plays a huge role in my business as a TRX-based fitness studio owner. When clients come to me in search of a way to improve their fitness levels, bodyweight training is where we start.
It’s a funny thing though, the term “bodyweight training.” It will elicit one of two polar opposite responses from people when I suggest it as a workout option. They’ll say it’s either “too easy” and therefore not worth their time, or “too difficult/complicated” and therefore unattainable, as if I’ve just asked them to perform one-armed handstand push-ups. The fact is if you have a body that’s able to move, you’re able to do bodyweight training. And with the help of the Suspension Trainer, you can leverage your bodyweight to load or unload exercises to make things more or less challenging, depending on where your strength is at the moment.
Bodyweight Training Isn't New To Us
Raise your hand if you participated in sports, dance, gymnastics, swimming or martial arts as a kid. If so, you’ve already learned how to use your whole body to complete a specific performance-based task. Sports and play already involve the 7 foundation movements TRX Training focuses on in their programming philosophy - plank, push, pull, hinge, rotate, lunge, and squat.
As a kid, you may have been focused on getting a jump ball to get possession during a game, but your body was hinging into a squat to preload for a vertical jump. Similarly you may have been winding up to strike out your opponent from the pitcher’s mound, but you were actually using that elastic energy to drive rotation from the hips and up through the torso for maximum power and speed for your throw. Even if it wasn’t a sport for you, sprinting to your friend’s house, climbing fences to retrieve a ball from a neighbor’s yard, and/or attempting to get to the other side of the monkey bars (forward and backward) required all the elements of fitness - muscular strength, endurance, cardio, and flexibility. The point is, full-body movement is completely natural. It feels good to us because it gives us access to do fun things.
When it comes to working out, bodyweight training can be optimal because it feels like it’s getting us back to our roots. TRX Suspension Training can be the perfect companion.
Is It For You?
If you’re interested in bodyweight training, I can’t recommend TRX Suspension Training enough. No matter your current fitness level, you’ll be able to find an appropriately challenging level for each exercise. Simply stepping closer to the anchor point will add resistance to a move, while stepping back away from the anchor point will take some resistance away.
We know that it’s just as effective at building strength as traditional methods and its single anchor point will be there to challenge balance and stability in the major joints. Not only will the functional movements give you that great full-body workout that we’re all looking for, they’ll also prepare you for whatever activity you want to be in shape for.
Always Learning More
Even though I’ve been using these straps for years, I still love learning new moves or seeing new variations or combos other trainers are creating. The TRX Training Club is an online community of virtual Live and On Demand workouts. This is a place I go to get my own workouts in. As somebody who creates workouts all day every day as part of my job, I love when I don’t have to think about programming. I get to see what other trainers are doing, hang up my trainer hat for the day, and get a great workout in. If you’re somebody that doesn’t want to think about what to do for your workouts, this is the way to go.
If you’re new to TRX, I’d recommend starting with the Let’s Learn Together workout with Louis Lopez. It’s a 10 minute starter workout where you get comfortable using the straps and experiencing some of the ways TRX can enhance your workouts. So break out your straps for the perfect complement to your fitness routine. You’ll build strength, improve your performance, and you might even have some fun.
Start your FREE TRX Training Club 30-day trial today!
