TRX is famous all over the world for its unique methods in exercise and fitness to deal with health problems by inherently providing integrated movements. The concepts on which they work is to make the exercise more playful and enjoyable rather than a boring monotonous session which you are forced to do everyday, without compromising the effects of the exercise. TRX believes in co-existence of fun and the high intensity exercises to make the workout session as effective as before and the person willfully doing the workout.
TRX ‘superhero’ workouts
The idea of creating a superhero workout series came into the mind of Jonathan Ross who is the creator of this series. He emphasized the fact that even though we are adults, we still fantasize of being a superhero after seeing a lot of Marvel’s and D.C. Comics’ movies. By creating highly effective exercise moves inspired by different superheroes, Jonathan has made the workout sessions ‘punchy’ in their own way. These sets of TRX workouts are very effective against cellulite and gives the person a fully toned body.
Iron Man squats (15 reps)
Concept: When Iron Man tries to fly using his hi-tech armored suit, he comes to a squatting position for an initial thrust.
How to do: By keeping your face towards the anchor point, firmly place your feet flat on the ground. With your feet at hip-width distance, press down slowly and gracefully onto the feet while you are lowering down into a squat.
Benefits: Squats are a mixed, complete body exercise, training especially the lower area of your back including hips, buttocks and thigh muscles, quadriceps, thigh hamstrings. It also strengthens lower body ligaments, bones and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body. Squats are said to be a vital exercise to increase the size and strength of the legs and buttocks, as well as development of inner core strength.
Wolverine lunges (10 reps low and 10 reps tall)
Concept: Wolverine is a mutant with three retracting adamantium alloy claws in each hand. Whenever this powerful character unsheathes his claws, he extends his hands wide out and brings his chest to the front.
How to do: Stand facing the opposite direction from the anchor point with arms slightly bent and palms facing the ground. Extend your arms wide forming a letter ‘Y’ with your body posture, palms facing outside and lunging your body forward. Bring yourself back to the initial position and do the exercise with alternating with each foot.
Benefits: Lunges are unilateral exercises, i.e., they deal with either side of the body independently at one time. Training each side alternately improves your body balance and coordination. It delivers body stabilization and with this single exercise, you can work on the abs, butt, hips and thighs all at once. When combined with the TRX system, it also improves upper body flexibility and hand muscles.
Batman cape throw (8 reps each side)
Concept: Batman pulls his hand across his chest using his cape to hide his body, making it his signature move.
How to do: Sit in a position keeping your one knee at an angle of 90 degrees with the foot flat on the ground, thigh at a 90 degree angle with torso and the other knee and toe touching the floor. Face away from the TRX anchor point and rearrange TRX to one handle mode. Grab the TRX with the hand of the flat foot side and sweep your TRX arm over the body and return down to the initial bent position with the TRX arm crossed across the chest area, as if you are covering yourself with a cape.
Benefits: The full compound exercise mainly affects the torso area and increases spinal flexibility. Hand movements also increase upper body strength.
Neo row (6 to 8 reps each side)
Concept: Neo is a ‘Matrix’ superhero who fights with calm mind and his aerobic moves and tactics. When Agent Smith fires bullets towards Neo, he bends back his body in air with his feet still on the ground. This was an unforgettable move of Neo which is still linked to his character and the ‘Matrix’ movies.
How to do: Fully shorten the TRX length and put it into unattached handle mode. Facing the anchor point, keep your shoulders and hips aligned and then lean back while holding on to the TRX until the knees are bent at a right angle (90 degrees). Extend the other arm out and back over the head towards the ground. Drive up forcing your hip and pressing through your feet until you are back to the start position.
Benefits: Rowing exercises all major muscle groups: legs, arms, back, abdominal and buttocks. Though it’s not an imitation of actual rowing, but the body workout is similar and provides greater flexibility around major joints. It provides aerobic as well as strength conditioning.
Spiderman crunches (5 reps)
Concept: Spiderman is famous for his spider like crawling and hanging from the walls and, thus, Jonathan took that unique move and fused it with the usual crunching exercises.
How to do: Suspend your toes into the foot cradles. Form a prone plank position by slightly lifting up hips. Now you will be in the starting position of a pushup exercise. Pull both the knees wide toward the butt, but outside the elbows.
Benefits: Crunches are ab exercises which help in strengthening abdominal muscles and provide torso stability. The torso is responsible for originating all body movement. As the exercise is modified with suspended legs, one may also be benefited with hip joints flexibility and improved control of trunk motion, such as twisting and bending.
Morpheus reverse row (12 reps)
Concept: Though Morpheus (from the ‘Matrix’ movies) isn’t popular for any of his moves (as he didn’t have any), his standing posture with his hands locked behind the body made him stand out of the crowd.
How to do: Start by facing the opposite direction to the TRX anchor point. Grab on to the handles with your arms extended back in the direction of the anchor. Cross your arms behind your lower back stacking one handle on top of the other. Gently lean forward with fully extended arms and repeat the whole procedure.
Benefits: It helps in strengthening your shoulder joints, thigh muscles and bones.
Wonder Woman flys (10 reps each side)
Concept: Wonder Woman is a superheroine (superperson?) who is bestowed with the powers of flight. In this particular exercise, one has to imitate the gesture of her flying using TRX.
How to do: While facing away from the anchor point, place your wrists in the cradles in a staggered body stance. With hands extended wide out, bend the elbows at ninety degrees, turn palm inward, making a fist. Lean forward while moving an arm out away from the center of the body keeping the elbows in line with the shoulder and holding the other arm steady out in front of you. Bring the arm back to the starting position. Repeat with the other side.
Benefits: It is a full body workout mainly focused on body stretches. Your whole body will be used with all the upper joints of the limbs in a tense position which further helps in easing up your joints and giving you a great workout.
Daredevil rooftop to rooftop (6 to 8 reps each side)
Concept: Daredevil is another Marvel Comics’ character who is blind but his other senses are tremendously enhanced. He usually seeks crime from rooftops of high-rises and moves by keeping his body adjacent to the terrace surface.
How to do: Put your toes in cradles and face the ground in a prone position. It is now similar to a pushup position with tailbone at the highest point. Swing one of your legs out away from the body’s center while keeping the other still and suspended. As the leg that swings out the side returns to start point, stop it immediately and continue with other leg.
Benefits: While extending the legs, you are working on joints and muscles throughout your legs. Hands are also worked out as the upper body is in the push up stance.
Chest and shoulders like Hulk
This final addition to the series complete series of Superhero workouts is by Sean Hyson, Men’s Fitness Training team. It focuses on getting a great muscular body similar to that of the Hulk. The exercise is divided into two sections: chest and shoulders.
Chest: Take the TRX straps, and facing away from the anchor point, grab them while keeping your body tense and straight. Lower your torso with arms wide open away from the body’s center. Reverse the motion by bringing the arms right in front of you. Perform two sets of as many reps as you want and put it last in the workout list with a 2 minute rest between sets.
Shoulders: Shoulders here don’t require TRX and a set of barbells will do the job. Though this exercise can be modified with TRX by creating an upward tensile force instead of downward force (gravity) by barbell.
Grab a barbell keeping your hands shoulder width apart. Keeping the back flat, lower it down to knee level. Keep your body straight and shrugged up, and come up to your feet. Then flip over the wrists and straightaway press the weight overhead. Reverse the whole motion to return to the initial stance. That is one rep of this exercise. Do a set of 6-8 reps, rest for 2-3 minutes, and do the second set with a lighter load with 10-20 reps.