So I bought myself a TRX kit off some dodgy character on the internet this week.
TRX is a fitness system invented by a former Navy Seal to allow him to train consistently in a career that required constantly changing locations.
The Kit arrived in box that was so testosterone soaked that my wife had to put it down to have a chamomile tea whilst fanning herself like Mrs Bennett from Pride and Prejudice.
It’s camouflage-drab packaging was covered with inspirational quotes from General Patton (I kid you not), Churchill and Sun Tsu and with motivational phrases like “Make your body a machine” – yikes!
By coincidence we’ve had fleets of military choppers flying back and fore overhead and I started to worry they were searching for their lost package (it felt like “Apocalypse Now In A Minute” but turns out it was a Nato exercise running nearby).
Also I guess it doesn’t help calm my wife’s fears I’ve joined the marines that I recently had a haircut that unintentionally makes me look like Walker Sobchak – Smokey my friend you are entering a world of pain.
So anyway , what is TRX? I hear you ask. Basically it’s a hefty webbing strap in an inverted “Y” shape with handles and “stirrups” at one end and various anchoring options at the other.
The idea is that all you need is some sort of solid anchor point, a tree, fencepole, door frame and you can quickly set up an impromptu gym and do a session.
A session can consist of many and varied exercises all based on bodyweight. So it could be inclined press ups, rowing, tricep dips, bicep curls. Or feet in the stirrups for “mountain climbers”, atomic press ups, pikes, planks squats, strides etc
So far I’ve used it twice so it’s very early days but my impression has been really favourable. The best video examples I’ve seen on YouTube demonstrate a sort of fluid yoga on steroids but that’s a long way off for me.
What I like about it is that it adds a couple of new facets to a weights session. Firstly there’s an element of stretch so instead of bulking up it feels like the muscles are being extended as well as strengthened. And secondly it can be made quite dynamic, so exercises like “mountain climbers” can intoduce a burst of dynamic energy giving the sessions more of a circuit-training feel.
Oh and many of the exercises help build a strong core because there’s a rotational stress to them. And to make any particular exercise harder you can do it on one foot (or hand) so that the rotational stress gets more difficult to control. The straps also help a little where an exercise usually requires a little more balance (than I can manage). For example I could never normally achieve a yoga-crow pose but feel it may be obtainable with some practice and the help of the TRX straps
So early days but very promising.
So far a big recommendation from me
Eat see hear Cardiff 