Today I went to a TRX training to become certified to instruct group classes. According to trxtraining.com their mission states, “at TRX we believe in training movements, not muscle. We produce best-in-class training equipment, workout programs, and education courses to help you achieve peak performance, reach your goals and get the results you want.” TRX bands were originally created by former navy SEAL Randy Hetrick who was inspired by the need to keep his special missions team fit and in shape on the road.
My impressions from attending the class were pretty spot on and met my expectations because I was already familiar with TRX, the history of it, and its purpose. I think that it is pretty neat the we average folks get to use the same product that our Armed Forces and elite athletes use. Now this doesn’t mean that everyone should train like athletes or Marines, but I’ll get into that in next post CrossFit vs. TRX. TRX incorporates body weight exercise movements to maximize the most out of your workout while also, “providing a mix of support and mobility to train strength, endurance balance, coordination, flexibility, power and core stability all at once with a range or resistance.” The purpose of TRX bands is to use center of mass (or the body’s center of gravity) to generate neuromuscular responses (how the muscles and nervous system react) in various body positions from the anchor point. The anchor point can dictate the starting position of an exercise and can determine the intensity level of certain exercises. For example, lets take two exercises Deltoid I fly and T fly. Each exercise may require different limits of intensity that one’s body can handle, but by bringing feet closer the anchor point your body is able to increase the intensity or reduce intensity by moving feet farther the from the anchor point.
What I expected from this class is how to program group workouts, already be familiar with main muscles in the body, functions of muscles, and really focus on cueing. From my experiences it is very different cuing in a personal training session than in a group setting because you are looking out for everyone else rather than just one person, you are counting reps, or keeping track of time, and many times members/ clients have questions or are doing an exercise the wrong way because they are at different fitness levels. And because of this it may be very difficult to manage your surroundings or, a military term I learned today, ‘situational awareness’.
One of the most important concept of trx is functional training. Functional based movements meaning the body’s movement in space; the body working to together in unicen as a whole rather than in pieces. Something that I really like about TRX is that the training emphasizes exercising the body in movements rather than by muscle groups. Every gym or fitness club has your standard weight machines where your range of motion (ROM) is set and your body is lifting a set amount of weight without leaving your body free to perform natural movements. I would only recommend doing this type of workout regularly for those who have never set foot in a fitness club or has not been exercising regularly. These types of machines are great for introducing new members to the world of exercise. Toward the end of the class we were having a discussion about hand placement when performing a chest press. The conventional way of performing a chest press is chest to ground, palms out to the sides of your shoulders making a 90 degree bend at the elbow. Instead of elbows being out, elbows are tight by the rib cages with palms facing down directly under the shoulder. The same woman who brought up the conversation agreed then asked, “wouldn’t it be just a tricep workout then?” This is a perfectly great question. The purpose of functional training (which is what is the basis of TRX) incorporates the movement of a body in space, we don’t care so much about focusing on one individual muscle group per exercise, but we care about the most effective way to utilize the body. Also, the movement that is being performed is a push so it doesn’t necessarily matter how you push, we would still be using chest muscles to perform the exercise. If you have ever watched hockey you would know that hockey players get into physical altercation quite often on the ice. Players push each other on the ice or get into fights, but you will not see a player push with their elbows out and up exposing the armpit ,instead the player will push with the elbows in and tight and push the opposing team mate into the wall where he will have more power behind the push. Since the hockey player is utilizing his back muscles in to the push by placing his elbows close to the rib cage, he will create a more explosive push rather than just using the chest to perform the push. In summary, I agree with this type of training when it comes to emphasizing movement through multiple planes of the body rather than just focusing on particular muscle groups.
After taking the course I do not feel comfortable instructing a course on my own. I plan to use my friends and family to practice with and expect their feedback before I teach my first class. For a group exercise class it definitely takes a confident and knowledgeable person to guide the class so that it is fun and free flowing while meeting the expectations of every member in the room. I would have expected that one be certified as a personal trainer or GroupX instructor before taking the course because it is necessary to be well coursed in anatomy and some physiology and programming. Overall, I would describe this experience as being a great one. I am very satisfied with the information that was given to my and the thoroughness of instruction and flow of the class.
I really enjoyed Brandon as the instructor of the class because he was very open-minded. Fitness geeks like me love people like Brandon because he is very knowledgeable in his field and has interesting opinions of other types of fitness programs out there and is willing to converse about a variety of topics and subjects on fitness. He would often go on slight but very relevant tangents involving TRX and fitness that would help us as instructors and people who work in the health and fitness field. I hope that somewhere in my career I get a chance to work with Brandon and the TRX team as I plan to incorporate this type of programing as well what I have learned.
I am looking forward to coming up with my own exercises using TRX bands for the benefit of myself and others. I think my next step will involve getting another TRX certification to make me a better professional in pursuing my athletic training and physical therapy career.
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