NIFS Healthy Living Blog

Yoga is pretty popular, and not just in the fitness industry. It’s getting lots of press for its ability to aid in living a generally healthy lifestyle. When people hear about healthy living, they often associate that only with exercise, and sometimes neglect the importance of a balanced diet and de-stressing techniques. Studies are now showing that it’s important to balance out all areas of life; not just one part should have dominance.

What Is Yoga?

By definition, yoga is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation. Yoga was developed in India up to 5,000 years ago as a comprehensive system for well-being to balance the body physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Contrary to common thinking, yoga is not a belief system but a guidance technique to enrich living and aid in attaining goals.

Forms of Yoga

There are many types of yoga you might have heard of, including Vinyasa, Hatha, Iiyengar, Bikram, Ashtanga, and restorative, just to name a few. When it comes to picking the "right" yoga class, I say give them all a try because each of them is unique. Some involve lots of moving, some involve lots of deep stretching, some involve heat, and some even involve the use of nature and animals. The whole concept of yoga is to breathe and relax the mind. If you take a class that does not bring out those feelings in you, don't give up! Try that format a couple of times and see whether it is enjoyable. If it's not, research what you are looking to get out of your class and try one that offers that. 

Yoga to Me

Yoga means so many things to me. I began my yoga journey in 2009 to relax during a tough family situation. I was in love with the way it made me feel, and every week I looked forward to my Sunday night time on my mat. In 2011, my mom’s medical condition worsened and I began going to yoga 3 to 4 times a week. In 2014, I decided I was so impressed with the way it changed my mindset that I wanted to become certified, so I spent 3 months intensively training to get my 200 hour yoga certification. My yoga journey has a lot more depth, but that was the beginning. I never knew cancer would lead me to a career path of success and happiness, which is ultimately living a daily life of yoga.

Yoga at NIFS

Yoga is a growing class at NIFS. With a wide variety of instructors, you won’t find your standard “gym yoga.” All of the NIFS yoga instructors are 200 hour or more certified. You might take a class with a “flow” to it, be in a class with a more restorative approach, or even see that Yoga for Athletes is offered for those who want a strength-based yoga class. Check the Group Fitness Schedule for classes and times.

This blog was written by Brittany Ignas, BS in Kinesiology, 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified, Stott Pilates Certified, and Fitness Coordinator. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

I want powerful legs! I want to increase my endurance! I want stronger and well-toned abs! I want toned arms! I don’t want to spend endless hours in the gym! Sound familiar? Chances are you have wanted these things at some point in your fitness journey. The great news is that all these are very possible to achieve, and you get them all in one stop.

You need Boot Camp!

What Is Boot Camp?

Boot camp is an amazing style of training that has proven to help people achieve

their strength and endurance goals all during one session. Based on the training that our brave men and women of the military complete before defending our country, this style of training is meant to push you toward your physical limits. The beauty of boot camp is that it is an hour-long session filled with challenging workout moves to increase heart rate, which improves cardiovascular health while also strengthening and toning multiple muscle groups at once to create maximum fitness results.

This format of working out is constantly varied, so you never get used to a certain physical stimulus, making this type of training session even more beneficial for constant growth and improvement. Often, when we stick to the same workout routine for an extended period of time, our bodies adapt to that form of exercise and will stay in a constant state with no change. To avoid plateaus and boredom, all fitness pros believe that changing the modes and methods of exercise is a must. Bootcamp drills are also a lot of fun, using a wide variety of equipment, including part

ner work drills, and mixing up the setting of where the training takes place. All these aspects allow for a fun and challenging workout that will lead to great results.

Come check it out on the NIFS Group Fitness Schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm with Steven! If you need a quick fix while at home, try his mini bootcamp workout below.

At-Home Mini Boot Camp by Steven Kass

• 25 Deep Squats
• 25 Push-ups
• 25 Mountain Climbers
• 25 Bicycles
• 100 Jump Ropes

“Start with 1 set and work your way up to 4” says Kass. “That’s all you need for a good whole-body workout.

This blog was written by Brittany Ignas, BS in Kinesiology, 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified, and Stott Pilates Certified. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Tabata is currently one of the trendiest workouts, due to the amazing results people are attaining. It's a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) format that consists of 8 rounds of an exercise performed for 20 seconds with a 10-second rest period.

High-intensity workouts bring the heart rate up and down through intervals. During the 20 seconds of a Tabata set, an exercise is performed at all-out effort, bringing the heart rate up to a peak followed by a 10-second recovery. The total time to complete one round is 4 minutes, but those 4 minutes will push your body to the max if done properly, leading to an increase in metabolism and fat burn while maintaining lean muscle tissue.

What Exercises Are Performed During the 20-second Push?

Body weight or light resistance training exercises are performed during the 20 seconds of work. This could include high knees, jumping jacks, plank variations, or exercises that use free-weight equipment like medicine balls, resistance bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, and more. The more variety and muscle groups engaged during a Tabata, the more benefits you will gain.

When Does NIFS Offer Tabata?

Through the summer months (May–August), Tabata can be found on the group fitness schedule multiple times through the week and is currently offered outdoors (weather permitting) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12–12:30.

The Benefits of Outdoor Exercise

When taking Tabata outdoors, you will not just benefit from the HIIT-format class, but also will experience the amazing benefits of working out outside. In a study done by ACE Fitness, those who exercised outdoors experienced more energy, decreased anxiety and depression, and a harder workout due to surface difference and wind resistance. Not only that, working out in groups outdoors is a great way to engage with your community and have accountability buddies to support you.

This blog was written by Brittany Ignas, BS in Kinesiology, 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified, Stott Pilates Certified, and Fitness Coordinator. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Creating healthy habits is a challenge for most people. Doesn't sitting at a bar with a glass of wine sound much easier than going to the gym and taking a barre class after work? In the moment, YES; but which is more beneficial for your health and longevity?

NIFS is passionate about educating gym-goers to create healthy habits, and our staff is here to help members achieve that. NIFS loves having Barre Fusion in our group fitness schedule (now online at home), and love motivating others to take this class to feel all the benefits. 

So What Is This Workout? 

Barre Fusion classes are getting a lot of hype these days for providing amazing results—not just physically, but also mentally. This workout is designed to strengthen and tone all areas of the body while also providing length in a balanced format through breath. The class aids in small movements to target the stabilizing muscles in the body, which are often untrained in a standard workout. Strengthening these muscles is proven to benefit with core strength and balance as well as prevent injury.

The pace of the class is quicker than a yoga class, creating a cardiovascular aspect through quick transitions but still focusing on the elements of flexibility and breathing that you'd find in a yoga class. By training the body in this format, you are also improving your mindfulness, which will lead to wanting to live a life filled with more healthy habits.

Lisa Williams, avid Group Fitness attendee, says, "This is one of my new favorite all-over workouts! I absolutely love it! With the small movements we do, you can feel a burn in your muscles that you know are getting stronger each class. It also helps tone, as I have already noticed a change in my outfits from it! I also like the variety of the class. Although the flow is the same, you don’t continually do the same exercises. I never leave the class feeling like I didn’t get an amazing workout! I suggest all to try it!"

What Is a Habit?

A habit is a routine or pattern you adapt to. Some habits have negative effects; and some have positive effects. It's often easy to read about what we should be doing, but actually getting out of our comfort zone to create a new habit is a challenge. 

So How Do You Change Habits? 

Create new ones, but ease into it. Stopping anything cold turkey can often just lead to reverting back to that habit. Finding a healthy habit you enjoy and slowly incorporating it into your life is key. For example, do you enjoy going to a bar after work for the atmosphere of the music and people? Maybe start by swapping "the bar" one day a week for "barre." Coming to a group Barre Fusion class will create an atmosphere of music and people, but in a healthy format. Not only that, the calories and sugar often found in drinking are proven to cause health problems, while working out is proven to lead to healthy results.

So the choice is yours! Join NIFS for a healthy option, and try a group fitness class for free! To check out the Group Fitness schedule and all NIFS has to offer, click here.

This blog was written by Brittany Ignas, B.S. in Kinesiology, 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified, Stott Pilates Certified, and Fitness Coordinator. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Technology can be incredibly good and bad for your health. It can be said that we, as a society, are much lazier now than the previous generations due to modern conveniences. These modern conveniences, some of which we might not be able to live without, allow us to circumvent exercise and work.

Knowing that physical fitness and technology are not always on the same page, there are some enlightened and engaging computer programs, phone apps, and personal devices that enable you to better monitor your health and track your progress. Here I will look a little more closely at these products are they pertain to your personal fitness.

Personal Health Monitoring

Taking a step beyond tracking your reps and sets, being able to monitor everything from calories in/out to diabetes management can be easier with software and activity tracking devices. For those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, uploaded data can provide information to doctors to better serve you and adjust the medications you require to live. Future technology might make it possible to adjust medication doses remotely, without having to see a doctor, or help in an emergency.

Weight Management and Social Media

If used as a weight-management tool, tracking nutrition with a cell phone (whether you are entering the calories manually or scanning barcodes) is much faster and easier than ever. Writing down every single item you eat can be a challenging task, so this tool gives you more time to spend doing other things you love doing (hint: exercise). Many social apps are available that help link you to other likeminded individuals; so, finding a workout buddy or getting ideas for your next WOD (workout of the day) is at your fingertips.

The NIFS App

We are proud to offer a NIFS app that enables you to manage your own fitness center experience. App users can sign in with their cell phone (so there’s one less thing to have to carry on your keychain). This can be nice on days you are running late or are trying to maximize your time at the gym.

Secondly, you can use the app as a tool to set personal goals and track progress. Recording your workout on your favorite cardio equipment is as easy as taking a photograph of the machine and submitting it. The rest of the work is on us!

Thirdly, app users have access to the NIFS Group Fitness Calendar. The calendar can be useful when trying to decide between classes because there are descriptions of each class on the site. Finally, there are monthly challenges posted on the app that give you incentives to come and exercise. The app is free to download and is geared toward enhancing the member experience.

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Technology definitely gets a bad reputation when it comes to fitness, but there are many ways it can be helpful. If you are new to apps or fitness tools such as these, please ask a staff member to help you access this useful asset. As technology advances, we can only hope that there are positive links toward a healthier and more active society. Take a new approach to fitness; download the NIFS app today! See what we can do for you!

This blog was written by Thomas Livengood, Health Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. To read more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

It happens every year. As the new year rolls around, we set our new fitness goals and get excited to get started on them and “make this year the year!” But with winter still here through the end of March, many of us end up with the goal to get fit, but with no motivating factors to flip the switch in our brains to get out of hibernation mode. It gets easier in the spring and summer, when we can start to change up the environment we work out in, the workload at the office might be lighter, and there is more daylight before the sun goes down. But what do we do until then?

As someone who used to go through this same cycle myself, let me shed some light on what seems to be a depressing beginning to this blog. Although there are multiple methods to keep your winter fitness going, that can tend to become overwhelming. So I would simply like to share five things that can help keep you on track during those dark winter days.

1. Get Your Baselines

So you have a goal to get fit, but how do you know that you’ve progressed? Even if you think you know where you are in your fitness, it’s always good to get assessed; you might be further along than you thought, or you might find something you need to address before getting started.

Assessments such as the Functional Movement Screening (FMS), which takes a look at range of motion and stability before doing exercises with a load, or the Fundamental Capacity Screen (FCS), which assesses power and strength capacity, are important before starting a workout because they help you establish where your body’s abilities are currently. Scores from these assessments can also zero in on areas to improve with corrective exercises to keep that area safe from possible future injury.

Other assessments to look into include the BOD POD, to check body fat percentage, as well as the Fit3D, to get a 3D scan of all of your body’s measurements.

2. Plan Your Workouts

This one is a game changer. How many of you have walked into the gym before and wandered around pondering all of the things you “could do” that day, or jumped on one weight machine, then meandered to the next one you saw available, then found yourself ending up on a cardio machine because that seemed like the best thing to get your heart rate up for a bit? Then all of a sudden, you look at your watch and you’ve been at the gym for almost 3 hours?

Now, for those of you gym members who already plan and are training for something sport specific, don’t fret. I understand the time you carve out to fit everything in. However, for all of you who have no idea what you should do until after you walk into the gym, this is your missing link to getting the most out of your workouts.

Whether it’s a plan as simple as attending certain group fitness classes during the week, or getting with a trainer to set up a plan for you that works during your week based on your goals, a game plan for when you get to the gym will not only make you accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, but it also eliminates the excuse of not going because there’s not as much to think about anymore. For more information on how you can sit down with a trainer to get started on your FREE strategy session and get a workout plan set for you as a NIFS member, click here to contact us. For our downloadable group fitness schedule, click here.

3. Set Up Your Environment

We all know that “too cold to get out of bed today” mentality that tends to set in during those cold winter days. To combat this, set yourself up for success by setting the thermostat timer to warm your house right before you wake up, so the need to curl up and stay warm is eliminated. Maybe make a change to a more enjoyable and uplifting tune to wake you up in the right mood rather than the normal ping. Setting out your workout clothes the night before or even having them in your gym bag and already in your car will help set you up for a stress-free day.

4. Continue to Stay Hydrated

Although it might be more appealing to drink an ice-cold glass of water during the heat of summer, the need to stay hydrated is imperative all year round. Drinking water not only prevents dehydration from the dry air that winter brings; it also helps your organs and cells continue to function well, assists in regulating body temperature, and boosts your immune system to help fight off common cold and flu sicknesses.

Tracking your water is a great way to aid in staying hydrated, and there are so many tools out there to use! For me personally, if I’m drinking it out of a pretty bottle, I’m more prone to fill it up and drink more. If you’re like me, here’s a great option one company has come up with to help you track your water intake in style! Zak Designs HydraTrak water bottle is an affordable, practical, and stylish bottle that includes bands to roll up and account for every full bottle of water you drink that day.

5. Accountability, Accountability, ACCOUNTABILITY!

I saved this one for last, because although all of the above tips are just as important, having something to hold you accountable is what’s really going to set you apart from the rest and keep you on track to reach your goals.

Accountability can be molded into different forms—whatever works best for you. Some find accountability in simply writing their progress on a calendar or taking measurements along the way. Others find it in someone else who can either coach them through their journey, such as a program, or be along for the ride and have similar goals, such as a workout buddy. That’s why gyms create programs for their members, such as the NIFS programs Slim It to Win It, Mini Marathon Training, Ramp Up to Weight Loss, etc. We know how important and how empowering it is to have that extra person there with you from day one, working to reach those same goals, among all of the obstacles that life throws at us. Even more so, your coach is ready to guide you every step of the way and check in on your progress to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success! Try telling that person you stayed home from your session because "…it was cold and I just wanted to snooze a little longer before getting up.” You might rethink that snooze option on your alarm next time!

Whatever your goal might be—weight loss, triathlon training, simply staying active for three days out of the week, etc.—we all have to deal with the business and daily distractions of life. Sometimes those distractions come with setbacks…and that’s okay. What counts is having strategies in place to help you overcome those humps and keep you from falling completely off the wagon!

This blog was written by Rebecca Heck. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

When it comes to working out, the first weeks are usually great. You are excited to get to the gym, and you love the feeling of exercising. Once the “honeymoon” stage of your new workout routine is over, it gets more challenging to get to the gym: your bed is just too comfy in the morning, or you have extra work at the office that prevents you from going in the evening.

Reasons to Find Someone to Exercise With

It’s easy to cancel your gym session with yourself. That’s why it’s important to find a workout buddy. Here are five reasons why everyone needs to go find a workout buddy.

1. Accountability: When someone is counting on you to meet them at the gym, it’s a lot harder to skip. Having the accountability of a buddy always keeps you going. On days when it’s hard to get out of bed early in the morning, you don’t want to skip because you know your partner is waiting on you.
2. Fun: If you aren’t someone who loves exercise, maybe a workout buddy is just what you need to keep you coming into the gym. Having someone with you who can make you laugh will make exercise more enjoyable. Going through an intense workout alone is never as fun as having someone right next to you working hard and making you laugh.
3. Variety: When you have to come up with your own exercises all the time, they can start to get a little repetitive. If you and your buddy take turns picking the workout, it will change things up. You both might enjoy different types of exercise, so the variety will keep each workout from getting boring.
4. Motivation: When you exercise alone, there is no one beside you cheering you on between sets. It’s encouraging to have someone with you saying “You can do it” in the middle of your set; sometimes that’s just what you need to hear to finish out strong.
5. Competition: If you are someone who thrives on a little healthy competition, you definitely need a workout buddy. You will always be competing with your workout buddy. If they move up in weight, you don’t want them to drop the weight back down for you, so you push yourself to go up. If you are running, you push yourself to go longer so that you don’t make your buddy stop.

How to Find a Fitness Friend

Having someone to work out with makes a big difference in the quality and frequency of your exercise. Ask a friend to join you, check out these apps, sign up for group fitness training, or try these other ways of finding a gym partner.

This blog was written by Kaci Lierman, Health Fitness Instructor. To read more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Our Group Fitness Class of the Month is going to PUMP (*insert handclap) you up! Les Mills BODYPUMP™ has swept around the world for decades. Scientifically proven and successfully tested, it has grown to be one of the top strength workout programs and has been in high demand for group training schedules for many clubs over the years.

Within 55 minutes, you work your entire body, core, and brain while being coached through 10 motivating tracks of functional strength exercises. As a new official BODYPUMP instructor and previous participant in this class myself, I will attest to the fact that while this class has awesome playlists of upbeat and trendy music to squat to, it doesn’t mess around when it comes to getting down to the nitty-gritty hard work! However, it was created with everyone in mind.

Background

BODYPUMP is a pre-choreographed workout program created by a New Zealand–based company called Les Mills. According to Les Mills, by definition it is “…a barbell workout for anyone looking to get lean, toned, and fit—fast. Using light to moderate weights with lots of repetition, BODYPUMP gives you a total-body workout. It will burn up to 540 calories.”

Some of the main aspects highlighted in a workout include building strength, getting lean, and working all major muscle groups. This, in turn, can lead to improved bone health, better overall body strength, and increased core strength and stability, which are all key factors in how well we function on a daily basis. The secret to this program format is in the science of what is known as the Rep Effect, which is “…a proven formula that exhausts muscle using light weights, while performing high repetitions….” This formula aids in building some of that lean, athletic muscle. So if you were reading this worrying that this program or lifting weights was going to give you crazy, bulky muscles, rest easy; it won’t.

What I love about this program, and Les Mills as a whole, is that their formats are studied and tested, and are constantly reviewed and renewed to make sure they are presenting the most functional and efficient movements to make for the most optimal results.

Workout Format

Speaking of the format, here’s what to expect when you come to a class. Classes can be presented in 30-, 45-, or 55-minute (usually listed on schedules as 60) formats. For a full class, you will run through the following tracks:

1. Warmup
2. Squats
3. Chest
4. Back
5. Triceps
6. Biceps
7. Lunges
8. Shoulders
9. Core
10. Cooldown

Tips for Your First Class

Along with what to expect in your workout, here are a few tips for when you walk into your first class:

• Talk to the instructor. They should introduce themselves if they haven’t already, and they will inform you of what types of weights you will need for class that day.
• Allow some time for setup before class begins. Some basic equipment needed for this class is used in every class, such as a step, a barbell with clips, as well as a selection of weight plates to swap out between tracks. So grabbing your space and equipment ahead of time makes for a much smoother and more enjoyable class for not only yourself (in dealing with transitions during tracks), but for the class as a whole. This is also a perfect time for you to ask the instructor questions about form if you have them, or if you are new to class to ask what to expect.
• Remember that you do not have to complete the entire workout on your first day. (See below about our “Smart Start” approach.). If you need to take a modification to keep correct posture and technique, please do so.
• Bring water and a towel. As always, water and a towel are great to have handy when attending any group class, but I will say, you’ll especially want them for this workout. I am usually sweating already by track 2!

A Smart-Start Approach

Never tried BODYPUMP (or even group fitness, for that matter) before? No problem! With any class you take here, we encourage the “Smart Start,” which includes staying for the first few tracks/songs of the workout, or simply half of the class. Then, when you feel that you’ve had enough or if that’s all you can do for now, you head out for the day with the motivation to stay for one more track next time you come back, until you find yourself completing the full class. Check out the class times on our group fitness schedule and see some of the other classes we offer.

And if you have never tried a group fitness class at NIFS before, and want to take that first step and check us out, here’s how to try a group fitness class for free!

This blog was written by Rebecca Heck, Group Fitness Coordinator and Health Fitness Instructor. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

I know what you’re thinking: PiYo…sounds like some contortionist/new yoga trend, doesn’t it? Only for the truly flexible mind-body gurus, right? On the contrary, PiYo—our NIFS Group Fitness Class of the Month—has made its mark over the last 10 years in the fitness world, and its actual format just might surprise you.

PiYo, by definition, combines the muscle-sculpting benefits of Pilates with the core-strengthening and stretching benefits of yoga. While this fusion format combines two classes that are normally slower paced, what sets PiYo apart is the speed in which the class moves. Instead of holding static poses, you continuously move from one position to the next, creating a solid flow of exercises plus a cardiovascular component that speeds up the flow of moves to more dynamically work and strengthen.

From the Beachbody Creator

PiYo was created by celebrity trainer Chalene Johnson, also known for other best-selling workouts such as Turbo Jam, Turbo Kick, TurboFire, and Chalean Extreme. She created the program after experiencing aches and pains and then later injuries after a long period of teaching group fitness classes. After seeking a doctor’s advice, she was directed to the realization that her body was too tight and that her flexibility was nonexistent.

Chalene wanted to have a workout to offer to individuals who want to work on those often forgotten yet crucial aspects of fitness that translate to our everyday life and impact our habitual mobility techniques later as we age. These aspects include dynamic flexibility, balance, stability, and bodyweight strength. Using your body as your weights, PiYo instructs you through multiple series of moves to challenge your strength, harness your core, and get you sweating within the first five minutes.

The Workout Format

The full format consists of 10 songs (11 songs as an option for more recent releases), and runs for 60 minutes, but feel free to build yourself up with a smart start approach, in which you simply start with the first few tracks and complete what you can and simply build on one additional track from there on your next visits back. Then, depending on how consistent you are in taking the class on a regular basis, your endurance will build to complete the whole class.

The track format consists of the following:

• Warm Up
• Heat Building
• Lower Body
• Full-Body Fusion
• Power
• Flow Right
• Flow Left
• Flow Fusion (Optional)
• Core & More
• Stretch & Strength
• Cooldown

A Low-Impact Workout

As a PiYo Live instructor myself, one of my favorite components of the format is that it was primarily created to be a non-impact workout. For those of you who currently experience those aches and pains, low-impact workouts are what you should be looking for.

If you have ever taken the class, you will find that there are options to jump during some of the tracks for extra intensity; but again, those are always optional, and all of the moves are derived from working from the ground up. Even a chair can be used as an option if you have trouble getting down to the floor!

What do I mean by all of this? Simple. PiYo is great for EVERYONE—for all levels, and for all ages. Plus, the music selection is always fun and motivating for each section, which in turn sets you up to finish and leave class feeling worked, fully stretched, and accomplished.

For more information on PiYo and when NIFS offers it, check out our group fitness schedule. Or click here for information on how to take your first group fitness class for FREE!

This blog was written by Rebecca Heck, Group Fitness Coordinator. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Starting from the ground up might sound like a daunting task, but with TRX it is possible. The TRX, which can be done as a group or individual, allows its user to perform various movement patterns with varying degrees of difficulty, all while using only body weight as resistance and a routine of exercises assigned to help you reach your goals.

The Equipment

The setup, designed by former US Navy Seal Randy Hetrick in 1995, is comprised of two straps, two handles, two cam buckles for adjustments, and a locking loop for safety. The equipment can be set up nearly anywhere, including but not limited to a TRX frame, a tree branch, or a sturdy piece of furniture. The unit is rather transportable and easy to set up. With that being said, it would seem to be the most ideal piece of equipment for home exercise and gym use. Although this is true, there still is a small learning curve, which you can easily overcome with some practice.

Adjusting Intensity and Difficulty Level

When you examine the exercises, you discover that the majority of them utilize angles to both increase and decrease intensity and level of difficulty. Furthermore, relying on the handles more and more can make things much easier. When it’s time to up the workload, you can grip the handles less (which requires you to utilize more body strength to get through the exercise).

When we program a TRX exercise into your routine or in a class, we would expect that at any time someone might need a regression or a progression, so there isn’t really a reason to stop or quit—just readjustments to help you keep moving!

How to Get the Most from this Equipment

Like all equipment, there are ways to best utilize this tool to get the most out of your time. When you understand that the difficulty level is determined by balance, stability, and angles, making just a few adjustments can really help you get a better workout.

Here are some tips that may also enhance your workout.

• Do not allow any slack in the straps. The constant tension will force you to be in control while working through your movements.
• Practice good form by having the straps as an aid. If you are having trouble with proper form at the bottom end of your squats due to ankle mobility or posterior chain flexibility, use it to help you move into and out of precarious instances where typically you would be uncomfortable. Once you are able to do the movements proficiently, try them again without the TRX and then eventually with a weight load.
• Add an exercise to a workout circuit. To mix it up and give you a great workout, the versatility and multitude of exercises allows you to change exercises, sets, reps, and intensity at a moment’s notice.

Most floor exercises with a TRX are more challenging due to the idea that you are using more energy to keep good form (including core muscles).

Try It in Group Fitness Classes at NIFS

What exercises have you tried? The group fitness classes offered at NIFS are for everybody. Your Fitness Specialist can modify an exercise if you aren’t ready for it or if you need a little more of a challenge. The classes also offer variety to help enhance your own “exercise library,” which will ultimately lead to more confidence. Remember that your exercises can vary from person to person, but as long as you can continue to challenge yourself, your body will continue to develop and become stronger.

Whether you are trying to improve form or get a total-body, no-nonsense workout, the TRX is an adaptable and highly useful tool you can use along the way. NIFS offers free classes weekly to help guide your workouts. If you still aren’t convinced, contact a NIFS Fitness Specialist to discuss ways we can help you reach your goals.

This blog was written by Thomas Livengood, Health Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. To read more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.