As a part of my home workouts, I love TRX suspension training! If you are like me and do most or all your workouts at home, I highly recommend adding the TRX strap to your gym. You get in a full body workout with these simple yet effective straps. What I love is no matter where you are in your fitness journey, you can modify exercises and make them work for you! Whether you are a beginner, more advanced or even pregnant, like me, you can modify the straps and exercises and make them work for you.
Check out this is a simple, beginners workout that can be done when pregnant (or not pregnant). It incorporates some very basic moves – squats, hamstring curls, rows, and pushups. You can adjust your body angle and/or the length of the straps to make these moves more difficult.
Start with 3 sets and 15 reps, resting in between sets, grabbing a sip of water and catching your breath. If you want to increase or decrease the amount of sets, that is perfectly fine! Go with how you feel! Give this workout a try and let me know what you think!
Do 3 sets and 15 reps of the following exercises:
Squats:
1. Hold the TRX handles so that there is slack and they are level with your belly button
2. Stand with your legs just over shoulder width apart, toes pointing slighting outwards
3. Sit back as though sitting into a chair.
4. As the TRX becomes taught, use the tension to help with balance.
5. Keep your back straight and lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, ensuring your knees don’t go over your toes.
6. At the bottom of the squat, push up through your heels and squeeze your glutes to return to the starting position
*G-Tips: Be sure your knees don’t go over your toes at the bottom of your squat. You also want to focus on using your lower body muscles, trying not to pull with your arms as you are returning to the starting position.
Hamstring Curls:
1. Lay down on your back and place your heels in the TRX stirrups
2. Make your legs straight and lift your hips up off the ground.
3. Bend at the knees and bring your heels into your bottom.
4. Extend your legs back out and repeat exercise.
G-Tip: Keep your mid section engaged and focus on going slow and steady. Keep all the tension in your hamstrings, not using momentum to bring the your heels in towards your bottom.
Rows:
1. Start standing holding the TRX straps out in front of you, as if you were in a vertical plank position.
2. While keeping your arms straight, walk your feet forward until there is tension in the straps. This is starting position.
3. Make sure to keep your palms facing each other throughout the exercise.
4. Now, pull your body towards your hands keeping your elbows hugging your body.
5. Lower your body back to the starting position and repeat.
G-Tip: Before you begin the exercise and throughout each rep, be sure you focus on keeping your shoulder blades back and down and chest out.
Push ups:
1. Start holding the handles of the TRX, in a push-up plank position with your feet together, your back flat and core tight.
2. Lower yourself down until your chest is parallel or just below your hands.
3. Press yourself back up to the starting position making sure to keep your back flat and core tight.
G-Tip: You can play with different positions of your feet to help with stabilization of the exercise. Being pregnant, I often like to keep a wider stance. Be sure to listen to your body and if you need to ease back on the depth of the push-up, that is perfectly fine!
