TRX exercises

Recently, I was at the playground with my niece and she was doing gymnastics on the bars. She does not go to gymnastics training, but she is pretty good, a natural gymnast.  I decided to try to teach her how to do a glide-kip.


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She wanted me to demonstrate. I haven't done a glide kip in about 15 years, but I decided to give it a go. To my pleasant surprise, I was able to perform a glide kip without that much difficulty! During the course of the afternoon, while helping out my niece, I performed about 12 glide kips.

The next morning, I knew I had made a mistake. My shoulder was killing me! I think I gave myself a minor rotator cuff tear. Damn, I should have know better.

Of course, I am trying to get myself back onto a training program to get back into triathlons next year. How the heck to I train with an injured shoulder?

Enter the TRX.

 I am a big fan of the TRX -- I've used it quite a bit for rehabing patients and also for myself. The great thing about the TRX is that it can be used to make exercises HARDER or EASIER, depending on your angle of pull.

Some of the exercises I have been doing in the past couple weeks include:

1) TRX pull-ups (easier on the shoulder than overhead pull-ups)

2) TRX triceps extension (easier with a more upright posture, harder as you move your feet back)

3) TRX lateral trunk twist (started with small movement, working up to full movement)

Happily, my shoulder has been healing nicely and I'm just about ready to transition to regular pull-ups, side planks with twists, and triceps overhead extensions. (and  more advanced TRX exercises!) 

On a related note, since my flexibility is in the crapper since my hike, I've used the TRX to assist with  pistol squats, too, since there is no way I can do them unassisted until I become a bit more flexible!  

TODAY'S THANKFUL:  I am thankful for beautiful fall foliage this year!!