The Benefits of TRX Training and Its Versatility
One of the most successful fitness innovations to emerge over the last decade has been suspension training. The originator of this innovation was a former Navy Seal by the name of Randy Hetrick. He called his system TRX and it remains the number one suspension system on the planet. Today, we delve into the world of TRX training to discover the many benefits of this workout method.
What Is TRX Training?
The TRX trainer is a strap system with carabiners that makes use of gravity and the body weight of the user to provide resistance. You are able to adjust your body in an almost infinite array of angles to either increase or decrease the exercise’s level of difficulty. This system also allows you to move in multiple planes to produce a unique training effect that you do not get with traditional weight-room exercises.
TRX Suspension Trainer Benefits
Muscular Development
The TRX suspension trainer allows you to do virtually every exercise that you can do with barbells and dumbbells. However, the advantage of using the TRX is that it introduces the element of instability. With every move you perform, you are having to work to keep your body balanced. This forces your body to recruit secondary muscles.
As an example, when you do a rowing exercise on the TRX, you have to activate your core, quads, and deltoids to provide stability as you row. Compare this to a rowing exercise with a free weight or on a machine, where there are no stability issues and you are essentially only working the lats. As a result, working out on the TRX will provide you with more bang for your buck when it comes to muscle-building stimulation.
Flexibility
When you exercise on a TRX suspension trainer, you will find yourself moving more deliberately than if you were using free weights. This is largely a result of the stability and balance requirements that we have already spoken about. You will naturally move more slowly through both the concentric and eccentric parts of an exercise.
The TRX straps also allow you to get a maximum stretch on every rep of the concentric part of an exercise. You will be able to slowly stretch your muscles beyond the normal points that you would reach if you were using machines or free weights. This makes the TRX training system a far more effective training tool when it comes to enhancing flexibility and improving posture.
Core Development
Almost every single exercise you do on the TRX incorporates core activation. You are constantly having to hold your torso in position. Whether you have to support yourself to the front, back, or side, your core is constantly working overtime to provide that band of support that your body relies upon.
At-Home Workouts
Even though you will find TRX training systems in many of the world’s top gyms, they also make an awesome piece of workout equipment at home. It will provide you with a total body workout system that is safer than traditional weight training workouts, take up a minimum amount of space, and is versatile enough to be used by beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters. That means that the entire family can benefit from using it.
Investing in a TRX suspension trainer makes good sense in this pandemic-ravaged environment when gyms are vulnerable to being locked down. Even when they aren’t, being able to work out at home on your TRX will save you the expense and hassle of traveling to a gym and then having to contend with a crowded environment when you get there.
Cardiovascular Improvement
When you train on the TRX training system you will activate more muscles than if you were to do comparable exercises with free weights or on a machine. That places a much greater demand on the body. As a result, the heart and lungs need to work harder to provide the oxygen, blood, and nutrients that the body needs to do its job.
You will notice that you will be more out of breath and sweaty when you train on the TRX. This is a sure sign that you are getting a cardiovascular effect from the workout. You can enhance the cardio effect of your TRX workout by doing supersets and tri-sets, where you move from one exercise to another without any rest. Plyometric exercises such as jumping squats will also ramp up the cardio effect of your workout.
Functional Fitness
Working out on a TRX will help you develop the functional fitness that you need to be more efficient and effective in your everyday life. Because you are developing your body’s support and stability muscles, your entire system will work in coordination. This is quite different from the experience that many people who rely on free weights and machines have, where they have muscular imbalances and limited flexibility.
The TRX training system will also help to improve balance and posture.
Versatility
The TRX suspension trainer allows you to perform literally hundreds of exercises. These include all manner of movements that simulate sports actions such as hitting a golf ball or throwing a ball. The TRX allows you to work every muscle in the body while also engaging the smaller, often neglected to stabilize muscles that create functional fitness and bodily coordination.
The TRX training system also allows you to very quickly change the difficulty level of an exercise with a strap adjustment. This means that you will never outgrow your TRX; as you get stronger, you simply adjust the strap to make the exercise harder.
Having your entire workout contained in one strap system also allows you to move between exercises very rapidly. This is a major benefit when you are doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT), superset, or tri set workouts.
Portability
The TRX suspension trainer packs up into a small carrying case that you can throw into the corner of your suitcase when traveling. You will then be able to get in a great workout anywhere and anytime. The convenience of the system will even allow you to work out on the beach, so long as you’ve got a palm tree to anchor the strap to!
Conclusion
The TRX training system is a great way to get a varied, intense, all-encompassing workout. With its versatility and ability to be used anywhere, the benefits are endless, as are the possibilities.
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