As a 20-year veteran of the fitness industry, I have experienced the evolution of the popular Jane Fonda-style aerobic workout to the latest and greatest workouts, including TRX.
I am especially fond of TRX (Total Body Resistance eXercise) because it is easy to use and as challenging as I want to make it. The TRX Suspension Trainer was developed by former US Navy S.E.A.L. Randy Hetrick, as he and his fellow S.E.A.L.S. searched for ways to stay in peak physical condition with limited access to training implements and space.
TRX started as a parachute webbing, but has developed into a well-made, portable training system that is very user-friendly. Its harness system anchors to almost anything and forces you to use your own body weight for strength training, while allowing for the explosive movement of plyometrics.
Exercises performed on the TRX are multiplaner, mimicking real-life situations that require strength. The level of difficulty of each exercise changes by adjusting body position, making it appropriate for people at all fitness levels.
You can perform hundreds of exercises using the TRX, including push-ups, planks, tricep exercises, squats, lunges, and more. By hanging on for dear life, I mean, grasping the handles, you lean away or toward your anchor point, performing exercises. Your body works extra hard to keep your balance and stability. TRX increases stability, flexibility, and works the core with every single movement. You use multiple muscles at once, unlike many weight-lifting exercises, so you feel like you’re getting a full-body workout with every move.
And now, for some exciting TRX news. We’ve had an outdoor TRX Training Center for a few months now, and now we have indoor mounts as well. From today, February 20th through Sunday, February 26th, you can enjoy a complimentary 30-minute indoor class with a personal trainer. Check out the schedule and pick a day and time that works for you.
Have you tried TRX? What do you think of it?
Midtown is known for hiring the best of the best in the fitness industry, including experienced, nationally certified personal trainers.
Members trust our trainers to rebuild, recondition, and re-train their bodies.
Pediatric Pulmonary Physician, Samuel Vazquez, knows the importance of a strong body system. He works six full days per week (not including on-call time), eats healthfully, and enjoys playing tennis. Samuel has been a Midtown member since 2001, and recently began training with ACE & NASM-certified trainer for more than 15 years, Sandor Morris.
Born in Jamaica, Sandor is a former track star and Sprinter who still plays volleyball, soccer and basketball on a regular basis. He is has two daughters and is a favorite among high-performance athletes because of his fun, energetic, and motivating training approach. When Samuel hired Sandor, he simply wanted a couple of sessions to improve his endurance during his tennis game. He specifically requested Sandor because he had witnessed Sandor working his clients hard and after speaking with him said, “Sandor knows his stuff.”
Samuel has now been training for five months and has benefitted from personal training much more than he ever expected. Samuel gets one day off per week and chooses to spend it training with Sandor.
Ever wonder what goes on when one of our trainers works with a client?
Read on.
Sandor : Samuel first came to me to improve his endurance when playing tennis. As I observed him, I realized he could barely bend his knees. He was also extremely tight in his shoulders, across the chest, and into his arms from years of strictly weight training. I needed to recondition his muscles and his mental approach to fitness. I decided to completely change up his routine. Improving his flexibility was just as critical as improving endurance to help him improve his tennis game.
Samuel: I work out with Sandor once a week and follow his routine on my own on another day each week. I play tennis at least twice a week. After one month, I noticed I could actually bend my knees again! I noticed I was in a better mood and had more energy. I have now been training with Sandor for five months and continue to see the benefits.
Sandor: I see Samuel once a week, so we work his total body in a way that will train endurance, strength, stability, rotation and core all at the same time. My favorite piece of equipment to accomplish this type of workout is the Free Motion Dual Cable machine. Although I do not do his entire routine on this equipment, I certainly could.
A session for Samuel with a focus on endurance, flexibility , stability and core may include:
Plymoterics: Step-ups on a box with dumbbell shoulder press. This works endurance, shoulders, legs, and core.
Burpees: The burpee is a full-body exercise used in strength training and aerobic exercise. It is performed in five steps:
Free Motion Dual Cable
- Single leg dead lift
- 1 leg, 1 arm row
- Squat to wood chop
- Triceps extension to squat, shoulder press
- Lunge to bicep curl with knee up
- Cable rotations
Core Focus
- V-up with medicine ball
- Medicine ball rotations
- Explosive leg lifts
Stretching
- 15 minutes of assisted stretching
Interested in your own training session with Sandor? Please call the front desk at 954.384.2582. You won’t regret it!
I will humbly admit that even though I am a 40-year-old native Floridian with a backyard pool and the ocean at my fingertips, I am
not a very strong swimmer. I can doggy-paddle pretty well, but usually feel like a sinking ship. I love to bike and run so I mentioned to Aquatics Director, Raphael Lima, that I would like to take some swimming lessons to prepare for a Triathlon with my 62-year-old father.
Raphael was eager to help me by suggesting Midtown’s Masters Swim Program.
The word “Master” alone was enough to make me steer clear from this offer. Raphael is from Brazil and Portuguese is his native language, so I thought perhaps he had misunderstood my current swimming skill level.
I said, “Raphael, I am a horrible swimmer and need to get a basic freestyle down so I don’t feel like I am drinking more water than I am swimming in.”
Again, he said, “Masters Swim is perfect for you.”
Masters Swim is perfect for anyone over 18 years old who wants to improve his/her swimming skills. We currently offer the program Monday through Friday with a variety of times to accommodate different schedules and levels. It’s only $60 for the month and feels like small group lessons.
Here’s what I learned about Masters Swim:
1. Choose Your Outfit Wisely
I purchased an appropriate swimsuit that would actually stay on and would not end up in the lane next to me. I bought goggles, waterproof sunscreen, and a swimmers cap to keep my long hair from strangling me during my lesson. With as few distractions as possible, I arrived for the 12:00 pm Masters Swim session ready to sink, I mean swim.
2. Bubble-Blowing Isn’t Just for Babies
The instructor asked me to swim a few laps so he could evaluate my form, or lack thereof. I was asked to bob up and down and blow bubbles, which I assume was because it was terribly painful for him to watch me swim.
This part was actually a lot of fun and somewhat relaxing. I later found out it was to help regulate my breathing, a very important skill when you are swimming. As a Pilates Trainer, I thought I had great breathing technique. The Pilates has helped, but I still had a lot to learn.
3. Kicking It
Following breathing exercises, he gave me a kick board and we began working on my feet and my kicking. He helped me improve my freestyle stroke. I learned you are not supposed to actually slap the water and swimming should not be painful in any way. That was a great tip! I was ready to do some laps.
You know when you are young and a room in your house seems gigantic until you grow older, and then you see it as the small room it really is?
This did not happen with the pool lane.
As I have aged, the lanes seem to get longer and longer instead of shorter. After laps, I was exhausted from completely changing my usual fitness routine. One hour of Masters Swim worked all of my muscles and I was breathing heavily, yet I was surprisingly refreshed and relaxed. The water felt great, and my coach taught me so much in just one session, it was worth my time.
Surprisingly, I already feel more confident in the pool and I am proud to tell my father I am now a Masters Swimmer. It might not be like the Masters in golf, but some of the swimmers are at an elite level. I never felt intimidated. The coach focuses on helping you improve your own skills, and they are not concerned with comparing you to anyone else.
Finally I realized this was the first one-hour workout during which my mind did not have a chance to wander. I did not think about the dog, the kids, or what we were having for dinner that night. The coach kept me focused and busy. Add the need for “survival skills” to your workout like I did and you will quickly be focused too.
Have you tried Masters Swim or any of our swim programs?
