TRX Our Game Changer

TRX Our Game Changer

TRX our game changer in 2020 and for 2021 as we head into another year of our journey and exciting challenges with our game changing TRX.  We knew as we were preparing for our longest travels to date in the spring of 2020 there would be fewer opportunities to hit the gyms around the world.  However, we didn’t think of gyms as being so shut down.  However, they were shut down and thankfully we had purchased our TRX exercise equipment to easily toss into a bag and to set it up almost anywhere, outside and inside, in a couple minutes.

As we had noted in a previous article, Five Morning Stretches and Exercises, morning stretching and exercises workout has become more and more important to the start of my day, our day.   Refer to that article for some more in depth thoughts on our stretching and exercise, and the breath!

Core Exercises

There are so many nice things about the TRX, and one is being able to do as much or as few exercises as you’d like.  To begin, I watched 3-4 beginning TRX youtube videos by TRX and let’s call them amateur health & fitness exercise buffs who you knew what they were talking about.  This was to get a feel for the various exercises and where it made sense for me to begin.  I started out slowly working on 2-3 different exercises.  The squats were an important exercise to wake up, warm up most of the body, after stretching.  Rows and biceps were nice upper body exercises.  Those 3 were good to start out and experiment with the TRX system. 

So, with that, I will start in on a little description of how I go about the exercises, at least for someone who is in proximity to my fitness level and age, early 60’s, moderate fitness level, with a knee that likes to talk to me!  But, that isn’t going to stop me. (And also, at this point, Jan 2021, this article is a work in progress, so I will be updating the various exercise as time goes on).

SQUATS

Squats are my favorite and just a great one to warm up most of the body, the core, the larger muscles.  With these being the beginning of the TRX workout, I start out slow to get a feel where the knees are, where the hips are, how the shoulders feel, legs, arms, head, everybody!  The range will vary, the angle, the number will vary, on and on until I feel good about continuing from 1 to 3 to 9, 1/2 squat to full squats.

ROWS

Rows are interesting as rows provide a couple few different alternatives, options, variations to perform on the pecs, arms and back.  After warming up the core and large muscle groups of quads and glutes, I will work some upper body.

I will work the usual row exercise at an angle and pulling up and releasing with tension.  However, I’ve added a couple variations to the standard row exercise based on my past activities.

One, standing like you’d water ski with one ski or a bit like rollerskating basically one leg in front of the other.  You can work this in all sorts of ways with angles and it’s a bit of a balance thing.

A second is adding a martial arts mid to high kick into the mix.  So, as your doing the row, one leg forward and pulling back up, angle yourself in such a way as to then throw a mid-high kick.  And, set back down with tension and repeat.  I like it!

From here I mix in a couple more squats and more rows.

Other TRX Exercises

BICEPS…oooh the burn…

STRETCHES….mmm feels so good...

RUNNING…an interesting cardio…

TIRES…high stepping a little Heisman like…

TRICEPS (Band)…mmm love it…

DELTS (Band)…I have to be careful with these…

PUSH UPS (min)…even more careful…

KICKS (front, round and side kicks)...love these added in!!

and Thoughts

You know, I haven’t really done much with the ab exercises.  They are great and I can really feel them.  They are a little trickier, and as you  might think, you do have to get down on the ground, roll around a bit, which is fine if one can, more indoors then outdoors.

And, as mentioned in the other article, you can adapt movement and range when the joints and muscles are feeling good or still a little cranky.

And, breathing breathing breathing…breathing is so critical.  Working on my breathing over the years, whether it be Taekwondo, Yoga, Pilates, swimming or biking to meditation, I’ve been working on expanding the breaths on each rep.  So for example, with squats, one rep is not one inhale and exhale breath.  I may do 2-4 reps as I complete one inhale and exhale.  As mentioned on one of Rogan’s interviews with Hamilton, humans can run and control there breath as they want, unlike animals that run.  This is why back in the day, humans could eventually run down fast animals.  So, I work on that aspect, and that provides some interesting cardio.

With the cardio in mind, eventually work into going right into one exercise after another, lower  body to upper body and back to lower body.  You can feel the breathing aspect with little rest in between versus waiting for a minute and then getting into another rep or set.  You know, if and when that is doable.

And of course, drink plenty of water!

FAQ

Do you start right in with difficult exercises or motion of exercise?

As with any workout, I warm up and…well, for example, when I would bench press, I’d start out with a 45 lb plate on each side and then work up from there.  Same with TRX, I’ll start out with squats to warm up the core and larger muscles, and then the first couple rows and curls I’ll begin more straight up and down, a bit off vertical, and then work into a steeper angle to do rows and curls.  Hope that makes sense.

DISCLAIMER

All content in this article is for informational and educational purposes only.  Especially any content that is sports or medical related, as this is not a medical office, shall not be construed as medical and legal advice.  Although I’ve been active in sports and outdoor activites 50 of 60+ years, and practiced Taekwondo for some 12 years, I am not educated in the Medical or Health & Wellness industries.