Strong people are not always mobile, and mobile people are not always strong. We all have that friend who is super mobile or super strong, but few people are both and can endure for a long time. The goal for high school students and all people should be to tap into the infinite potential that 656 muscles have been working together as one. Pound-for-pound strong means that each muscle can perform its function in conjunction with the rest of the muscles. Or in other words, they can move individually yet as one. Think; an orchestra rather than one instrument playing your favorite song.

Increased awareness of the body’s position and movement provides the athlete with increased coordination strength, mobility, and resilience.

The pandemic changes lives and undoubtedly changing the way we train and condition our bodies. On average, people have been sitting longer due to the recent pandemic and thus quarantined into a confined space. This confinement, directly and indirectly, impacts the performance of any athlete at any level.

TRX Suspension Trainer

The TRX Suspension Trainer is unique since it creates instability from the top down while encouraging stability from the bottom up to stimulate the coordination and innervation of muscles and movement. The Suspension Trainer is also portable, washable, and touted as the best piece of pulling equipment on the planet. With the TRX Suspension Trainer, you stand to train, to recognize that you are much more than muscle groups, you train movement, not isolated muscles. The ability to train your muscles as one cohesive unit is transferable to sports and keeps athletes injury-free. Now there is synergy in movement, much like a symphony from an orchestra playing the most beautiful music and not just one instrument at a time.

As a child, you learn how to write your name one letter at a time. You write letters, then words, and finally, learn how to form sentences. The most shared equivalent to that writing analogy in movement comes from a quote by Gray Cook, “Move well, then move often.” as well as TRX-ism, “Quality over quantity.” Movement is a skill you practice, and since the TRX Suspension Trainer trains movement and not individual muscles, we can earn the right to progress one movement at a time. The ability to train strength, mobility, and conditioning while maintaining the focus on quality and a set of bio-mechanical checkpoints will keep a young athlete resilient and injury-free. Staying out of the injury cycle also means proper sleep, nutrition, and hydration, on top of a total body exercise regimen that is timely, safe, and effective.

The “TRX daily 8” is a combination of exercises comprised by some of the world’s finest coaches under Dr. Chris Frankel’s tutelage. These exercises encompass a 3-D approach to movement in addition to strength, mobility, and conditioning for a well-rounded athlete. These exercises do not require dedicated gym space; however, the bare essence needs an anchor (a door) and 6X8 ft. of workout space. These exercises are accessible to all as you can check a move down or step it up to meet the young athletes where they are. Do them at home in under an hour for general conditioning and strength, before, during, or after the season. (A TRX Suspension Trainer is required)

7 TRX Suspension Trainer Workouts

TRX Squat to Row:

1. Adjust the Suspension Trainer to mid-length and face the anchor point.
2. Start with your feet in an athletic stance, like you’re about to play tag, with thumbs on your chest and eyes gazing at the anchor point.
3. Brace your core and as you inhale, extend your arms and bend your knees, so your hips are lower to your heels.
4. On the exhale, drive feet into the floor and stand tall while squeezing your butt, pulling your elbows into the floor, and reconnecting your thumbs to your chest.

To make this move harder (step it up), move your feet towards the anchor point and check down by walking away from your anchor point. If you can not bring your thumbs to your chest, then you might have to modify the move.

TRX Atomic Pushup:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-calf, go toes into the straps and make sure you’re ground facing away from the anchor point.
2. Start in a high plank, hands placed directly underneath your shoulders with a straight line from ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and toes.
3. Make sure your toes are pointing towards your nose. Bend your elbows to lower your body down towards a push-up, and as you extend your arms, bring your knees under your hips simultaneously.
4. Exhale as you extend your arms, inhale as you repeat this exercise, and lower your body towards the floor with straight legs.
5. Maintain a braced core (Active plank). To check it down, break the moves apart. To step it up, move away from the anchor for increased resistance.

TRX Hamstring Curl to Hip Press:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-calf and place your heels in, ground facing the anchor point.
2. Lay on your back with your arms next to your body, palms facing the sky.
3. Dig into your heels and raise your hips off the ground, brace your core, drag your heels in so your knees end up above your hips, then drive your heels into the straps to extend your hips to the sky for the hip press.
4. Return to the starting position in a controlled manner and repeat.
5. To check this down, move into the anchor point or break the two movements apart. To step it up, move away from the anchor for increased resistance.

TRX Power Pull:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-length, standing facing the anchor point.
2. Hold on to one handle with your right hand, placing your thumb on your chest, and your left arm reaches up the TRX main strap towards the anchor point.
3. Move within a circular motion as you extend your right arm and rotate the free left arm toward the ground.
4. Return by driving your working elbow straight back while rotating the free arm towards the anchor point. Check down by widening your base of support and step up by walking into the anchor point. Your body is straight like a surfboard the entire time, be a rotating plank.

TRX Forward Lunge with Hip Flexor Stretch:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-length, standing facing away from your anchor point.
2. Start by standing tall with feet under your hips and arms extended out in front of your shoulders, hands at shoulder height.
3. Take a big step forward with your right foot; your left leg that stays behind remains long as you drive the left heel toward the floor.
4. Your left arm is up high, think bicep by your ear, and drop your right hand back, which your eyes follow—creating a long line from the fingertips on your left hand down to the heel of your left foot.
5. Return to the start position as your right arm comes back by your ears as you give it a slight bounce to press both your arms down and stand tall. Repeat on the other side.

TRX Y- Deltoid Fly:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-length, standing facing your anchor point.
2. Start in an offset stance since it is the most stable position. With your arms up in a Y position, your ears are between your biceps. Lower yourself down as your body maintains a solid plank.
3. To return, pull your arms apart back into the Y position while holding your plank. Hide your ribs and squeeze your glutes to make sure you do not end up doing the worm and keep a tall posture.
4. To check this up, you can move in toward your anchor point to make it heavier or change your feet to a wide or narrow stance. To check this down, step away from your anchor point to make it lighter.

TRX Cossack Lunge:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-length and stand and face the anchor point.
2. Place your feet in a wide stance outside of your shoulders, place your elbows on your ribcage with bent arms. Both toes point towards the anchor point.
3. Rotate your right leg off the ground and point your toes up towards your nose as you simultaneously bend your left knee and lower your hips behind your left heel (keep your heel on the floor) as you lengthen your arms out. Maintain your eyes on the anchor point and return to the starting position.
4. Repeat on the other side. To check this move down, minimize your range of motion, and to step it up, lower your hips more as you maintain a braced core (active plank).

TRX Body Saw:

1. Adjust the TRX Suspension Trainer to mid-calf, place your toes in the foot cradles as you are on the ground facing away from the anchor point.
2. Start on elbows, placed underneath your shoulders, creating a line from ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles in an active plank.
3. Pull yourself forward, toward your fingers, then push yourself back toward your anchor for as long as you can maintain the standard of your plank. Note: You should not feel this in your low back. To check this up, perform on your hands.

Young athletes should implement these moves to remain injury-free daily as part of a strength and conditioning regimen. The TRX Suspension Trainer provides young athletes with the unique ability to offload their body weight into the straps and improve their mobility like no other.

Read More

• The Best TRX Core Exercise You’ve Never Seen
• 4 TRX Exercises That Build Strength and Core Stability