Q: I’ve noticed a few gyms around town use the TRX system. Can you tell me more about it and how it works? — Malcolm Gallegos, Denver
A: The TRX was the subject of a , and many gyms are now offering TRX classes or have the system available for members to use.
TRX stands for Total Resistance eXercise. It offers a total-body workout, including the core, from a couple of nylon straps that fit into a small mesh bag. It is perfect for travel if you purchase the optional door anchor. Its inventor is former Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick.
“In 1996, I stitched some surplus parachute harnesses into something I could loop over a tree or a door and began pulling and pushing myself up,” Hetrick said. “Pretty soon other squad members wanted one, too, so we had a guy out in the para-loft making them in exchange for cases of beer.” Soon his straps became popular conditioning tools in submarines, warehouses, safehouses and anywhere else their missions took them.
In 2005, after attending Stanford University business school, he started Fitness Anywhere to manufacture and promote his concept. The TRX Suspension Trainer is being used by athletes (including professionals in the NBA, NHL and NFL), trainers, coaches, the military and in fitness clubs across the country. At a list price of about $189.95 ($199.95 with door anchor) for equipment, training manual and DVD, the equipment is affordable for most institutions and individuals.
The concept of the TRX is to train with your own body weight either standing or at assorted angles to the ground. This also forces the exerciser to utilize core muscles for every exercise. “I realized personally that by using Suspension Training, I no longer had the assorted orthopedic maladies that plagued me for years as a SEAL,” Hetrick said. “Rather than performing strength exercises from a seated or lying position, we work out standing upright — or in a position where you are at an oblique angle to the ground. Therefore, all the stabilization muscles of the shoulders, back, core, hips and knees are holistically exercised.”
Women, who often eschew the weight room — statistically preferring body-weight exercise like yoga and Pilates in far greater numbers than men — enjoy the benefits without the bother of machines and weights. Men, who shun group exercise in equal percentages, are drawn to the TRX because if its focus on strength. As a consequence, men and women, all with different objectives, can enjoy classes together. “Our class leaders are coaches, not choreographers,” Hetrick jokes.
“Functional training” is now a common fitness buzz- phrase, but what is it? In a nutshell, this means exercising in a way that prepares the body for the kinds of moves we do in everyday life, such as twisting, reaching, pushing, pulling and squatting. Every day, we move in multiple planes — sideways, backward, forward and diagonally — so it makes sense to exercise in all those directions, as well.
By pulling, pushing and rotating your body weight, from straps anchored 6 feet above, your body is forced to stabilize the joints and the spine as you move through each exercise. The core muscles of the back, gluteus and abdomen become stronger, and over time, your balance, posture and overall strength improve.
Linda J. Buch is a certified fitness trainer in Denver; linda@ljbalance.com.
Resources
TRX, 755 Sansome St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94111
, 888-878-5348
Anne Parker, TRX master trainer
2570 S. Colorado Blvd., 303-803-2438
