suspension training
Suspension training caters for all levels, right up to large and diffi cult movement patterns that challenge even highly conditioned athletes
CrossFit also booming at the moment, this would be a great way to maximise suspended training. Combining suspension exercises with
other functional tools such as the ViPR would also be great to see. Imagine performing a wood chop pattern with the ViPR while having one leg in a suspension strap foot stirrup, giving you just enough support to perform an exploding jump pattern every time you drive the ViPR through its upward wood chop phase – fantastic! The versatility of suspension training
also means that this is a fi tness product that can be used by a wide range of special population groups, which should be an increasing focus moving forward. For example, lifting your own body
weight as your resistance load allows us to train young exercisers in some very challenging movements, providing suitable overload for great development but without placing undue stress on bones and joints; at this age, the skeletal frame may not be fully developed. This same train of thought also allows
a suspension trainer to be seen as a suitable training tool for a population group at the other end of the age scale; older people who want to increase both their mobility and strength can perform very effective workouts, achieving appropriate intensities without risking injury. Suspension straps can be used as partial weight-bearing supports, allowing the exerciser to achieve full range of motion movements while also
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appropriately loading these to help the user safely and confi dently increase muscular adaptations. Exercises like one-handle supported pistol squats and suspension strap Bulgarian split squats are brilliant examples of partially supported, yet well-loaded, compound movements to include in programmes for this type of client. Suspension training therefore allows
us to achieve an optimal functionality for the older client: developing maximum potential strength abilities through the active range of motion our joints will allow. This is a fi tness skill that is easily lost in the ageing process. The majority of current suspension
movements focus on strength and conditioning effects, but other fi elds where suspension trainers may be used more in the future might include postural/ corrective exercise, along with specifi c mobility-focused fi tness programmes. Even just leaning against the support
of the straps can help improve mobility. Meanwhile, exercises like a traditional lunge and rotate can be exaggerated well with the suspension straps – by starting with both hands on the straps at a full arm’s length to your sides and then lunging forwards, you would feel the straps pull your torso into a high amount of rotation as you focus on keeping strong knee tracking on your leading/ forward-landing leg. Movements such as this allow relatively immobile exercisers to access a range of mobility that might normally be beyond their means.
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital Another training demographic who
may not currently see the benefi t of suspension training is the hypertrophy market, and here we may be missing a trick. By simply using a pair of handles between two exercisers, you could perform a medley of total body manual resistance activities where you are resisting against each other. This would be fantastic for tough eccentric loading patterns, and the hypertrophy-specifi c market would see some great muscular adaptation from these exercises.
endless possibility Hopefully your imagination is running wild now with a mass of fantastic exercise possibilities waiting for you to get stuck into as part of your own training – whether that be to support a specific sports conditioning plan, general total body vitality or just for fun. Suspension training has always been
around, but now it’s with us in a very big way. I predict it will be here for a long time to come as we see progression after progression, not only in the vast range of equipment available but also in the functional training possibilities it offers.
About the author
Steve Harrison is national lead tutor at Premier Training International, which has recently launched a CPD Suspended Movement Training course.
may 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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