If you ask your personal trainer not to leave you hanging, he might not listen to you if you’re in the middle of a TRX Suspension Training session. The workout leverages gravity and your bodyweight to perform a wide variety of exercises. Developed by Navy SEALs, suspension training develops strength, balance, flexibility and core stability by allowing you to exercise while one or more of your limbs remain suspended in mid-air, attached with an easy-to-use ergonomic device. Powerhouse Gym, in Tampa’s Channelside district, offers TRX classes, and its instructors have received positive reviews for their measured approach and easy-to-follow instructions. Be warned, newbies: The gym caters to a buff, uberfit clientele, so leave your self-consiousness at home. Repeat the oft-used aphorism of SNL self-help guru Stuart Smalley: “Compare and despair.” Then again, you don’t necessarily have to stifle your embarrassment in gym classes. You can purchase the equipment yourself and do it at home, wearing your ugliest, most comfy jelly-stained warm-up pants. That’s how SparkPeople blogger Nicole Nichols tried it out. “I liken it to a resistance band in the sense that you can do some very similar movements, hook it to a closed door (via a door anchor), and strengthen every muscle in your body with a wide variety of exercises and body positions,” she wrote, adding that “you can work out at a variety of intensity levels, depending on your fitness level over time.”
Powerhouse Gym, 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-229-1900, powerhousegym.com. Find out more about TRX training and accessories at trxtraining.com.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2014.