Mixing up your workout routine is beneficial to not only to keep things interesting, but also to challenge your body and mind for better results. In this post, our Vancouver personal trainer Jonathan is giving you some ideas on how to integrate the TRX Rip Trainer into your next workout.
Fitness’s three planes of motion
In fitness, we have three planes of motion that we train in: Frontal, Sagittal, and Transverse planes. Typically most training programs stick to the Sagittal plane, which doesn’t make sense because in real life, we use ALL three!
Without realizing, you utilize these different planes of motion every day. Here are a few real life examples of using them together:
- Lifting your baby out of the stroller to put into your carseat
- Grabbing groceries or kitchen items off of a shelf
- Running on a winding up and down mountain trail
- The majority of sports include rotation, including hockey, golf, soccer, volleyball, martial arts
The benefits of training all three planes of motion
Training the different planes of fitness allows you to find out what your weakest link is, and improve your strength in those areas. Your body is a machine with many moving parts and your neuromusculoskeletal system includes all of those parts. If one part breaks down, then your body no longer works the way it was intended to and this can lead to injury. Training in three dimensions is a way to make sure that you train all of these parts! Using the TRX Rip trainer, you will work smaller core muscles that help you with every day activities.
The creator Pete Holman, being a physical therapist, understood the importance of preventing rotation through the core, and being a Taekwondo Champion he also understood the importance of creating power through rotation. He originally created the TRX Rip Trainer when he was trying to figure out a way to help his client that did Snowcross – a sport that requires you to prevent and create a lot of rotation while going over obstacles on a snow-mobile. Pete attached a resistance band to one side of a dowel, and realized how this new tool could be implemented into many different clients programs.
How to use the Rip Trainer at Function Health
Here are a few exercises that you can try that will be sure to work your core and the rotary capacities of your kinetic chain:
The TRX Rip Trainer Lunge Press
- Stand Facing away from the anchor point
- Place hands in the middle of the black handles
- Simultaneously lunge forward and press your arms out (keeping the bar parallel with the ground)
The TRX Rip Trainer Squat Row
- Stand facing the anchor point
- Place hands in the middle of the black rubber handles
- Start with arms extended, simultaneously squat while putting
The TRX Rip Trainer Axe Chop
- Stand Sideways to the anchor point
- Place power hand (nearest to resistance cord) palm up in middle of the Rip trainer
- Place safety hand (with safety cord for your wrist) palm down closest to you
- Pivot on back foot to allow hips to move freely while simultaneously extending your power arm and pulling in the other arm to create a chopping motion
Muscles involved: quads, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, triceps, pectoralis major/minor
Core muscles activated: pelvic floor muscles, transversus abdominis, multifidus, internal and external obliques, rectus abdominis, erector spinae (sacrospinalis) – especially the longissimus thoracis, the diaphragm
Minor core muscles activated: the latissimus dorsi, gluteus maximus, trapezius
Try the TRX Rip Trainer out today
Ask one of our Vancouver personal trainers to help get you started with the TRX Rip Trainer. Let us know what exercises you tried!
