Instructional &
Informational Posts
rut. noun /ret/: a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change.
In our column, Rut Buster, we challenge writer Valerie McTavish to climb out of the all-too-common health ruts we find ourselves in from time to time. From the running rut to the gym rut, and even the couch potato rut, join us as Valerie tosses aside the usual and takes on a variety of get-your-sweat-on activities.
If it had been darker, the straps hanging from the ceiling would have been horrifying. In daylight, they were merely intimidating.
Full disclosure: I knew nothing about TRX before I wandered naively into the beginner class. Suffice it to say, I was pretty unprepared to find rows of harnesses hanging from the ceiling.
I claimed two for my own and waited for the madness to begin. The first three minutes were easy because we abandoned the danglers and did a cardio warm up around the edges.
It wasn’t long before we became acquainted with our torture devices. The idea of TRX is pretty simple, use the straps to place your body in varying degrees of suspension and then push and pull yourself into various positions using your body weight as resistance.
As I leaned back and pulled myself up by the hanging straps I had a flashback to ropes attached to a door-handle of my youth. They were for my mother’s “exercises” but I’d never seen them do anything but drag along the shag when you opened that door. It was the same premise, but the next few positions were ones I couldn’t imagine my mother in.
Laying face-up on a mat beneath the contraption, the handles suddenly became stirrups. Feet suspended, I flopped onto my stomach. It was awkward but at least it no longer resembled a visit to the gynaecologist.
Engaging the core was not a suggestion it was a requirement as we swung and swayed while performing push ups, knee tucks and pikes.
In fact, my core did most of the work, which I didn’t realize until the next day - when I wished I had one of those harnesses hanging over my bed to help me pull myself up.
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Valerie needs your help. Email your stories about how you busted out of a rut (fitness or otherwise). Share your successes or suggest an activity for her to try. Stay motivated together.
