Make Your Body Your Machine : bodyweight training

Flexibility Matters- Functional Stretching on the TRX

Fitness Anywhere — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:34:00 GMT

Every movement you make in the real world outside of the gym demands that your body work as a complete, inter-related unit. Your muscles and joints work together in chains, not as isolated, unrelated masses of tissue. In recent years ‘functional training’ has become the dominant paradigm in strength and conditioning because research and anecdotal evidence demonstrate that the best way to build a more fit, strong body is to tax it with complex movements that treat it as an interdependent system, not a sum of isolated parts.

The TRX is designed for functional training. Every movement on the TRX engages the entire body, builds strength, improves balance, and allows you to adjust resistance on the fly by simply changing the position of your hands or feet relative to the anchor. These same attributes make it a standout tool for building functional flexibility that directly corresponds to your fitness and training needs and the demands of daily life, not just the ability to grab your toes while you’re sitting on the floor.

“We’ve begun to understand that the result of an injury or a muscle being tight isn’t isolated. It affects several muscles because we move as a unit, not one muscle at a time. It’s a domino effect,” says Schell. “Fitness Anywhere’s approach to stretching and flexibility is similar to the approach we take to strength training. It’s more time efficient and makes more sense for the body.”

Now we’ve established an understanding of the principles underlying functional flexibility as showcased in the TRX Essentials:Flexibility DVD and Guide. The TRX Windmill stretch (showcased below) is an example of functional flexibility for golf. Next, we’ll explain how to safely implement a flexibility training program. Until then! FA

Flexibility Matters-Using the TRX to Improve Flexibility
Flexibility Matters-Why you should stretch

Dips TRX-style

Fitness Anywhere — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:05:00 GMT

If you thought you needed a dip station at the local park or gym to incorporate this classic bodyweight exercise into your training, then Fraser Quelch, FA’s Head Coach and Director of Training and Development, would like you to think again.

This video shows an easy way to do dips on the TRX. TRX dips build tremendous tricep and pectoral strength like normal dips, but they also improve shoulder stability and mobility at the same time. This fundamental move is suitable for all levels of fitness, but as Fraser Quelch demonstrates in this video, the TRX Dip can be made more difficult with a few simple adjustments in body position. So click below and get ready to burn!

Wounded Warrior on the TRX

Fitness Anywhere — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:42:00 GMT

As a Wounded Warrior and an above the knee amputee, this individual soldier utilizes the TRX to strengthen his core allowing him more stability during Activities of Daily Living (ADL), whether walking, lifting, bending, twisting, turning, etc.

One of Fitness Anywhere's core missions is to keep soldiers fit - for combat and for life, on deployment and after they return from service. The Fitness Anywhere Wounded Warrior Fund provides equipment, training and encouragement to injured soldiers. Five dollars from the purchase of every TRX FORCE Kit sold through FitnessAnywhere.com goes to support this effort.