TRX has been a leader in the fitness industry the last several years. Its no wonder so many elite athletes turn to TRX for their in/off-season training. Each piece of equipment is very versatile and costs less than $300 ea.
Core muscles (hips, abdominals, pelvis, low back, and obliques) are what initiate every athletic move. In order to have a strong athletic core, you must be able to perform movements in many different directions, and if you want to get to the elite level, you have to do the movements very quickly and with power.
These exercises I am sharing will challenge every muscle in your body and get the heart rate pumping on all cylinders. You will need a TRX Suspension Trainer as well as a TRX Rip Trainer. The exercises train the body in 3-dimensions, so you will be moving in many different planes of motion.
You can do each combo for time or for a certain number of reps. I prefer to do them for time so that I don't need to worry about counting reps. Aim for 30-45 sec per combo with 15-30 sec of rest. You can do all as a stand-alone workout, or add one of these combos at the end of your regular strength workout.
Here are MyTop 5 TRX Combo Exercises for a strong athletic core:
I have been busy beating myself up lately with a great Kettlebell challenge. I love challenges because they are always difficult and make me push harder than I would otherwise. As I say to all of my athletes/clients, "getting outside of your comfort zone will only make you stronger" (both mentally and physically).
So three weeks ago I decided to try Dan John's 10,000 Kettlebell Challenge. Dan John if you don't know, is one of the premier strength coaches in the world, is a former athlete himself, and knows a thing or two about designing effective programs. No way around it, doing 10,000 Kettlebell Swings over the course of one month is going to hurt.
In the video, we are on Day 12 doing our 4th set of the KB Swings w/ Barbell O/H Presses
Here are the details of the challenge from the T-Nation website...
In four or five weeks, you're going to perform 10,000 proper
kettlebell swings. These will be split among 20 workouts. You'll do 500 swings
per workout.
Between sets of swings, you'll perform low-volume, basic
strength exercises. You will train 4-5 days per week. Train 2 days on, 1 day
off, and repeat. Men will use a 24kg kettlebell (53 pounds). Women will use
16kg (35 pounds).
Use an undulating rep scheme to reach 500 total reps per
workout:
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 15 reps
Set 3: 25 reps
Set 4: 50 reps
You've now completed 100 reps or one cluster. Repeat the
cluster 4 more times for a total of 500 swings. Between sets, experienced
lifters will add a low-volume strength movement.
Here is a sample workout for one of the days
10 Swings
O/H Press 1 rep
15 Swings
O/H Press 2 reps
25 Swings
O/H Press 3 reps
50 Swings
Rest 30-60 seconds; repeat 4 more times.
I am doing the challenge with my friend Gordon, and I would highly recommend finding a friend to do this challenge with. Having someone else to suffer with will make it just a little easier than doing it by yourself.
We are performing the workouts 5 days a week; Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. The Fri workout is only the 500 KB Swings, no other strength exercise. It feels somewhat like a rest day, but not really.
The goal of this challenge is to start week 1 with a heavy but manageable strength exercise for each workout and have it become easy in week 4. The strength exercises we are doing are
Day 1 Barbell O/H Press (115 lbs)
Day 2 Dips (with a 45 lb weight)
Day 3 KB Swings only
Day 4 DB Goblet Squats
Day 5 Chinups (with a 25 lb weight vest)
The first week my hands and forearms got completely trashed. Since then, however, the Swings have become easier, I don't need much rest between clusters, and my grip strength is a heck of a lot stronger.
We are timing ourselves for each workout to measure progress. Our first couple workouts were in the low 40 min range. We are now on Day 12 and our time to complete the workout is in the low 30 min range. We also took body composition measurements before we started the challenge.
Here are the results of our body fat composition before the start:
Gordon Sloane
200 lb 185 lbs
14.7% body fat 6.9% body fat
170.5 lb of lean mass 173 lbs of lean mass
29.5 lbs of fat mass 12 lbs of fat mass
It will be interesting to see what changes we see after the 20 workouts.
Here are the results that Dan John and other coaches/athletes saw after the 20 workouts:
1. Everyone got leaner, dropping a waist size or two, in 20
workouts.
2. Every coach or athlete made visual muscular improvements in
their physiques, adding lean body mass.
3. Every lifter increased his grip strength and greatly
increased work capacity and athletic conditioning. They could all train longer
and harder when they went back to their normal training programs.
4. After the program, every lifter saw a noted improvement in
his core lifts. PR's fell like dominos. Full-body strength and power shot
through the roof.
5. Abs were more visible. Glute strength was tremendously
better. The abs and glutes "discovered" how to work again, leading to
athletic improvements in sport and in the weight room.
