TRX TEAM has set a milestone, expanding its reach across the Atlantic to launch TRX’s total progressive small group fitness program in Sweden’s Balance, a gym Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, founded. With the support of two nights of red carpet events, TRX rolled out enough equipment and education to prepare all of Balance’s clubs to unleash TRX TEAM Training on the fitness-crazed masses of Stockholm, and the classes are already packed.

“We are very proud to have been selected as the first clubs in Europe to introduce TRX TEAM,” said Balance CEO Anders Svensson. “I’m convinced this will be the standard in all clubs in the future.”

For gym members, the TRX TEAM program provides a progressive multi-week workout program taught by expert TRX trainers in a small group environment. Participants don’t just show up and tune out. Instead, they are personally invested in the progress of the group as well as in their own results.

For clubs, TRX TEAM is a full scale commercial solution that maximizes member retention and non-dues based revenue. TRX’s commercial experts run a full diagnostic on your facility and provide you with the equipment, education and support you will need to develop your own personalized progressive TRX small group fitness classes.

For this kickoff, TRX creator and CEO Randy Hetrick flew out to oversee the implementation of TEAM across all three of Balance’s facilities. It wasn’t all work, of course. After a full demonstration and presentation on the benefits of TEAM, there were two back-to-back nights of red carpet gala events hosting over 3,000 guests. Among them were appearances from the A-list of Sweden’s fitness industry.

TEAM has demonstrated repeated success in international markets with Goodlife Fitness in Australia and Canada. With the help of our Swedish distributer Concept, TEAM’s maiden voyage in Europe is looking like a huge success.

Check out the video above (in Swedish) to see what all the fuss is about.

To learn more about TRX TEAM, click here.

The TRX Plank is the cornerstone position for any exercise on the TRX, and should be the core of any core training program. It is the single most important exercise to master because it applies to almost every physical thing you do.

Start with your knees, palms and forearms on the ground and your feet directly under the anchor point. Drive up into a plank with a solid core contraction. Your contraction should drive this movement. You’ll know that you are in the correct position when your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles are all in line. This is the position you need to hold for the entire duration of this exercise.

Take mental note of the way this position feels, how engaged your core, glutes and back are, and remember it. There will be a test later. This position plays a critical role in almost every movement on the TRX as well as in just about every kind of strength training you will perform. Think about your position at the top of a dead lift, squat or hard-style kettlebell swing, if you have done it right, you will feel the same type of core engagement as you do when you execute a TRX Plank.

Now plank up and get after it.

For an expansive exercise library featuring over 50 different TRX exercises and a 12-week progressive workout program, check out the TRX FORCE: Tactical Conditioning Program .

This is the first installment of a new series of free monthly workout programs built around our Instant Video Downloads. The TRX Total Strength and Conditioning Workout Program is a six-week progressive training regimen (in PDF format) that will build your cardio endurance, strength, core stability and flexibility.

Results are a combination of diligence and hard work, combined with appropriate rest, recovery and nutrition applied to a well designed training program. For many of us, the hardest part of fitness is not the will to execute, but the right strategy. We may have the drive to succeed but lack the direction. Here is your road map to results, complements of TRX.

We built this program with the workouts found in the TRX Essentials Bundle, three real-time workouts designed to get you the results you want in the time you have. Stick to this plan and in six weeks, if you put the work in, you’ll see a positive change in the way you move, feel and look.

This one is on us. You’re welcome. Download it here.

If you want the full Essentials Bundle, purchase it here, and come back next month for the next free workout program.

Last week Brian Stann, TRX-sponsored UFC fighter and former Marine Corps infantry officer, spent a day with the Marines at Camp Pendleton. During the day, he spoke to the troops and led TRX FORCE workouts. In the evening, he hosted the TRX Mission Readiness Challenge Championships, which served as the undercard for the Armed Forces Boxing Championship in the Paige Fieldhouse.

In a heated contest that saw the top performers from the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard square off for the title of TRX Mission Readiness Champion, Jay Acaa (Navy), Michael Espiau (Coast Guard), Viridiana Lavalle (Army), James Like (Marines) and Layne Mayerstein (Air Force) went head-to-head in the finals to see once and for all which military branch reigned supreme. The lone female in the competition, Lavalle crushed all comers and won with a truly Army Strong performance that yielded a Herculean score of 261 reps and netted her the TRX Mission Readiness Challenge grand-prize: tickets for two to see Stann’s next state-side UFC fight. During her moving victory speech, Lavalle gave a special shout-out to her unit, Delta Company 701st, in the 341st Military Working Dog training school.

Earlier that day, Stann addressed more than 200 Marines at the School of Infantry-West, Infantry Training Battalion. Stann spoke with the troops about his experiences in the Corps and how he trained with the TRX Suspension Trainer both while in the service, and as a UFC fighter. Stann then went on to lead PT sessions based on workouts from the TRX FORCE Kit: Tactical’s 12-week Tactical Conditioning Program at the Semper Fit Gym at Camp Horno and the 21 Area Fitness Center.

TRX was honored to be allowed to sponsor the Armed Forces Boxing Championship and to get to spend the day watching Stann inspire service members and civilians alike, and to sweat through the Mission Readiness Challenge under his watchful eye. We send a special thanks to all the Marines onboard Camp Pendleton and our good friends in the Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) organization. Thank you to all the participants and competitors in the Mission Readiness Challenge, and stay tuned to find out what’s coming next from TRX FORCE

Get mission ready with the TRX FORCE Kit: Tactical .

1. TRX Inverted Row with Single Leg Bridge
Begin with the Suspension Trainer over shortened with your hands underneath your armpits. Walk yourself underneath the anchor point, maintaining a bridge position with the hips. Extend one leg straight while keeping the other foot on the ground and the knee bent at 90 degrees. Hips should be neutral at this point. Slowly lower yourself down by straightening the arms and maintaining the neutral hip position. Once the arms are fully extended, hinge at the hips and touch the glutes to the ground. To return, drive through the heel of the down leg to push the hips back to the neutral position. Then, bend the arms, performing a row back up to your starting position.

2. TRX Split Squat with End Range Shoulder Flexion
Begin with the Suspension Trainer at the mid length position and one hand in both of the foot cradles. You will be facing the anchor point with the palm of the hand also facing the anchor point. Set the shoulder at end range shoulder flexion with pressure in the back of the hand to maintain tension on the straps. Position the opposite foot forward from the elevated shoulder wide enough to perform a lunge. For example, if the right arm is at end range flexion in the strap, the left foot will be forward for the split squat. While maintaining tension through the straps and reinforcing postural control through the shoulder and back, slowly drop straight down into the split squat. Return to the starting position by driving through the heel of the front foot and maintaining pressure through the hand.

3. TRX Mountain Climber
Begin with the TRX at mid calf position facing away from the anchor point. Your head should be directly under the anchor point as you start in a plank position. With control, drive one knee into hip flexion while limiting movement through the trunk and pelvis. Perform several repetitions at this level. Maintaining your plank position, walk your feet up to decrease the load on the straps. At this position, you should be able to drive the knee into hip flexion with more power. Again, perform several repetitions at this level, maintaining the solid plank position through the torso and pelvis.

To learn more about using the Suspension Trainer in your practice or to download our White Paper, visit our Sports Medicine page. Have you used the Suspension Trainer for injury prevention or rehabilitation? Share your story in the Forums.

Dr. Jennifer Reiner is the chiropractor for Water and Sports Physical Therapy providing sports rehabilitation services to Todd Durkin’s, Fitness Quest 10 facility. She is also a TRX Sports Medicine Instructor. Dr. Jenn obtained a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Florida and went on to pursue a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic West. As a member of the Palmer West Sports Council, Dr. Reiner focused her studies on sports injuries and rehabilitation. She is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

The biggest day in football is just around the corner. As the Patriots and Giants prepare to do battle in Indianapolis, football fans worldwide will take time to reflect on season highs and lows, especially the fate of their favorite teams and players.

As far as seasons go, Drew Brees had a banner year. In 2011, the New Orleans Saints QB set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2 in a stunning display of aerial prowess and great follow up to his championship 2009 season. These accomplishments are made all the more impressive when you know a little bit about Brees, most notably the fact that he came back from what was nearly a career-ending shoulder injury in 2005.

How does Drew stay motivated to continue pushing himself physically and mentally each season? “When setting training goals, I always say: ‘Have a purpose,’” says Drew. “If it’s, ‘I just want to lose 10 pounds,’ then that’s your purpose. How can you do that? Make a plan. Work out 30 minutes a day and then think about short-term goals and how to meet them. Map it out. You can’t lose all 10 this week, but maybe you can lose two this week and two the next. So map it out and feel good about your short-term goals.”

Drew also feels there is a difference between exercise and training. “You can’t just exercise and hope to see results, you have to train with a purpose,” says Drew. “Have a goal in mind every time you start to train.”

When setting his fitness goals for the year, Drew knows there’s no substitute for the real deal. “All of us set training goals, to lose weight and tone up and get stronger, etc,” says Drew. “The TRX helps me do that.”

Drew isn’t the only NFL pro who uses TRX Training to maintain durability and reach peak performance. A staggering 26 of 32 NFL teams use TRX for strength and conditioning, including 2011 playoff teams like the Giants, Patriots, Niners, Saints, Packers and Steelers.

Of all the major sports, football demands some of the most intense strength and conditioning training. Accordingly, the pros who battle on the gridiron are among the best conditioned athletes on the planet—strong, agile, powerful gladiators who must prepare their bodies to explode and cut in the quest for peak performance. But at the same time, football players must maintain the durability to withstand car-wreck force impacts play after play, game after game, season after season. With the TRX Suspension Trainer and TRX Rip Trainer, you can train for all of the above… and more. TRX Training is the best way to ensure players are at their very best when they step onto the field.

Are you ready for game day? Before you hunker down on the sofa this Sunday, take the TRX Game Day Challenge (see video above) featuring Drew and his trainer Todd Durkin and share your results with the TRX Community below.

Grab a partner this Valentine’s Day and get after this TRX lower body workout. Here, TRX Group Programming and Development Manager Dan McDonogh takes you through a four-exercise, lower body sequence designed to be performed in tandem with someone you love. . . to compete with.

TRX Lunge
TRX Overhead Squat
TRX V-Sit-up
TRX Elevated Hip Press

Perform 14 reps of each exercise (get it?) and make sure to perform the lunges on both sides. Challenge your partner with the pace and progressions of each exercise and match your partner’s pace. This sequence challenges the quads, glutes and hamstring and should light up the anterior core (your abs) as well. Have fun with this lovely training session.

For more partner workout ideas, check out this series from TRX Director of Human Performance Chris Frankel: Tag in 1-on-1, Plus 1, Ladder and Stack Set.

If you don’t have two TRX Suspension Trainers, grab another one here.

Super Bowl: It’s the second biggest eating day of the YEAR (behind Thanksgiving). What are we consuming?

• 1.25 billion chicken wings
• 28 million pounds of potato chips
• 325 million gallons of beer

Heart Health Month: Heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women.

We’re not here to rain on your parade and say never eat any of the above foods again. The key is that these are “once in awhile” foods. In this article, sports nutritionist Chris Mohr explains how you can reduce your risk of heart disease (or any disease, for that matter) by making small, manageable changes with your diet and exercise. Small, simple dietary changes can make a large impact.

First, low fat is not the answer. There was a point where we all thought it was. When we’re looking at heart health specifically, some types of fat actually IMPROVE your health. Omega-3 fats, for example, can drastically reduce your risk of heart disease. There is certainly enough data suggesting everyone should be taking a high quality omega-3 product. Team Mohr all uses Nordic Naturals, including their two-year-old who asks daily for her “3s.”

The other switch to be made it switching from a primarily solid fat diet to a more “liquid” fat diet. Notice we didn’t say “add liquid fats to your current diet.” Olive oil is healthy. Canola oil is healthy. Flaxseed oil is healthy. WHEN these are substituted for less healthy fats that are solid at room temperature, like butter or shortening.

So, Step 1 is include healthier fats in the diet, particularly fish and fish oil.

Step 2. Replace fiber free carbs with higher fiber, quality carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are NOT bad. Fiber free junky carbohydrates are. Enjoy loads of high fiber veggies, have some fruit daily (particularly berries, which are super high fiber/low calorie) and include some grains.

Step 3. Reduce your portions. Even foods like pasta and bread, often demonized in the media, aren’t “bad.” The portions most people eat are. If you actually had a true serving of pasta, which is not the six to eight cups served at most Italian restaurants, you’d be fine.

Step 4. Exercise, obviously.

Step 5. Sleep more. Yes, this is JUST as important as eating well. Just as important as exercising.

Work on each of these five steps daily, and we can assure you that you will be a new person and heart health month will have a different meaning come 2013.

Dr. Christopher Mohr, PhD, RD, is a consulting Sports Nutritionist for the Cincinnati Bengals and is the Sports Nutritionist for Under Armour’s Training Council. He also consults for organizations such as Gatorade, The Dairy Council and Nordic Naturals. He is on the Advisory Board for Men’s Fitness Magazine and has written over 500 articles for consumer publications from Men’s Fitness, Weight Watchers to Men’s Health and Shape. Dr. Mohr has Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Nutrition and a PhD in Exercise Physiology. As a leading authority on dietary supplements, he created the most comprehensive tool reviewing and helping sort through supplement confusion. Learn more at www.DietarySupplementU.com.

S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely.

S = Specific: Do you know exactly what you want to accomplish with all the details? Goals must be well defined. They must be clear and unambiguous.

M = Measurable: Can you quantify your progress so you can track it? How will you know when you reach your goal? Define specific criteria for measuring progress toward the accomplishment of each goal you set so that you can measure and keep track of your progress.

A = Attainable: Is your goal a challenge but still possible to achieve? Goals must achievable. The best goals require you to stretch a bit to achieve them, but they are not impossible to achieve.

R = Realistic: Is your goal realistic and within your reach? Are you willing to commit to your goal? Almost certainly your goal is realistic if you truly believe it can be accomplished.

T = Timely: Does your goal have a deadline? Goals must have a clearly defined time frame including a starting date and a target date. If you don’t have a time limit, then there is no urgency to start taking action towards achieving your goals.

Whether your goal is to lose 20 pounds, log a PB on your daily run, rehab an injury or bench your own bodyweight, this is the year your goal will become reality. Below are some common fitness goals and the TRX Training tools that will help you reach them.

Get Stronger

Is everyone else around you getting just a bit faster and stronger? Or are you just heading in the other direction? Get the full body fitness system (including TRX Essentials: Strength DVD and TRX Multisport Strength Workout Download) that helps you to build the strength and stamina you need to keep up with – and pass – your competition.

Improve Metabolic Conditioning

Are you looking to put your metabolism into overdrive? Do you want a workout that will give you more energy, burn more calories and turn you into a lean, mean machine – even if you only have half an hour? Get the fitness system (including TRX Performance: Team Sports DVD and TRX Winter Sport Conditioning Download) that Men’s Health calls the “best total body tool.”

Increase Flexibility and Balance

Has it been a while since you could touch your toes? Do you want to be limber like a dancer and steady like a gymnast? Or do you just want to feel more balanced in your everyday life? Get the fitness system (including TRX Pro Kit and TRX Essentials: Flexibility DVD) that builds core strength and improves flexibility to help prevent common injuries.

Lose Weight

You try to stay fit, but life gets in the way. You need a workout that’s quick and efficient and a smart, focused nutrition plan. If you’re looking for a healthful lifestyle without being totally inconvenienced, the Get Lean Bundle is the optimal combination of DVDs and nutritional guidance. This trio of cardio and strength workouts will help you burn calories, blast fat and stay fit for the long run.

So what’s your goal going to be? Make sure it’s S.M.A.R.T. and get after it! This is one year your fitness goals won’t fall by the wayside.

THE PROS

THE REST OF US
But few of us get paid to train and it’s often impossible to find a single, uninterrupted hour to train on any given day. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. On days when you watch your training time get sucked into a black hole of meetings, errands, social obligations, family time and all the other unplanned chaos life drops on your plate, stay on track with a different twist on two-a-day workouts for the time-crunched.

REDUCE SCOPE
On a day when you anticipate you’ll be time-challenged, don’t give up on achieving your training goals. Instead, pick a workout you’ve completed before that you know will take you about 30 minutes to complete.

You can apply this technique to any TRX Training workout whether it’s TRX Boot Camp: Ropes + Straps or Train Like the Pros. But let’s take a look at one of my favorite TRX Training programs, the Tactical Conditioning Program available as a standalone guide that’s also included in the TRX FORCE Kit: Tactical.

I know it takes me roughly an hour to complete the workout on Week 11, Day Three in the Tactical Conditioning Program. On a time-crunched day, I can plan to perform the Mobility Module and one circuit through the three specified rounds in this workout, which will take me about 30 minutes to complete.

SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE AGAIN
The next step is to split that 30-minute chunk into two smaller, 15-minute workouts. It can be challenging if not impossible to find a full hour to train on a busy day, but we can almost always find two 15-minute gaps in our schedules, and the Suspension Trainer and Rip Trainer allow us to set up and workout just about anywhere to take advantage of these valuable minutes. The beginning and end of your day or lunch often serve as the best times to schedule these mini workouts, but any time you have the time is a good time to get after it.

EXECUTE
Now all that’s left to do is complete the workouts. When you reach your first scheduled 15-minute mini-workout, hit it. Later in the day when you hit your second 15-minute chunk of free time, complete the second half of your workout. Free time has a strange way of disappearing, so if your second 15 minutes of free time doesn’t materialize don’t freak out. Instead, reward yourself for making the most of your time and getting in that first 15-minute session. If time allows and you complete your second 15-minute workout, hats off to a job well done. Something is better than nothing.

NO TIME? NO EXCUSES
TRX Training can get you the results you want, improve your health and looks and enhance your performance. But unfortunately, it doesn’t give you the ability to control time and space. Try this two-a-day approach to TRX Training to make the most of the time you do have.

Purchase your TRX Suspension Trainer here.