Since it is the week before Halloween and we will soon be bombarded with pint sized goblins, ghouls, superheroes and princesses, this week is deadicated to those who are younger and those who are younger at heart. I was at a 5 year old birthday party at a park the other day and was talking to a mother about how her husband's job has created a sedentary life for him and how it has been effecting his back. Soon I had the TRX strung up over the jungle gym (I always have one in the trunk of my car :) ) and I was demonstrating some moves. I was surrounded by 3 foot high little munchkins hopped up on sugar all clamoring to give it a try.
TRX Games are Born!
Taking a page from Jonathan Ross's "Superhero Workout" we played an adventure game. Think Indiana Jones...
- Kids would run up to the TRX and grab it with one hand and have to drop down to dodge "bullets", then they would have to pull up to grab my hand so I could pull them up to "safety." (one arm pull) they would then run around and get back in line and we did this for a couple of rounds.
- Next they had to avoid being bitten by alligators by doing low rows.
- Finally I had them doing TRX squat jumps and I would tell them that they were being pulled by a car and they had to jump over rocks that were coming right.... NOW!
I was amazed at how willing and good the kids were at doing the exercises. They all waited in line for their turn and when they got their chance, they played with such enthusiasm, you would have thought I brought all of Disneyland to the park.
Not Just for Kids
Oh, the games don't just stop there. At our company picnic, the TRX was incorporated into the relay race. Paired up with a FitDeck, the player would have to pull a card from the deck, run about 50 yards to the TRX, do the medium amount of reps on the card and run back and tag the next person on their team. Then the process is repeated until all the players made it through.
It's Time to Play
Kids are natural exercisers because they don't call it exercise... they call it playing. For us grown-ups, the days of swinging over alligator infested swamps are over... or are they?
What are ways that you have made your workouts fun? What are some games that you come up with that utilizes the TRX?