TRX announced that they are doing free online TRX certification for their suspension training course. The TRX is one of my favorite pieces of equipment to use. If I can use it in a class, I will. When I was teaching group fitness in California people would take my classes just because I would consistently use TRX. My favorite is to teach Barre on TRX. I have been wanting to get the TRX certification for a while, but it was in person AND in San Francisco. When I found it was FREE and ONLINE. It made my day! And during quarantine, it was literally the small things that got me through the days.
The Class
My TRX Certification class was a Saturday and Sunday for 3 hours each day. We started at 10am and ended at 1pm. It was done through zoom with 2 instructors. One instructor was Irene McCormick who I ABSOLUTELY love and adore. I actually got to meet her while I was living in Iowa. She just started coaching at the OrangeTheory Fitness in Clive. I used to work out there while living in Iowa. I was also just starting to study for my personal training test, so I would ask her and my OTF coaches all these questions. The other instructor was Renae McCloud. She is based out of Seattle, specifically Bainbridge Island. Renae’s cueing is so amazing. I couldn’t write down things fast enough.
The Format
In the beginning of the TRX Certification class, it’s a lot of the basics on how to set up the TRX, what everything is called, and the 6-6-3 method. I won’t go into too much about this method, but afterward I wish they went into this more. There is a test at the end for your continuing education credits (CEC’s), and some of the questions about this method that we didn’t go over.
My favorite section was the TRX cueing method. This is an area I could improve. I can get a little wordy, so the method they use has helped me so much. Both Irene and Renae gave us some amazing examples of how to better cue.
TRX is based on the 7 foundational movements – Plank, Pull, Hinge, Rotate, Push, Squat, and Lunge. TRX believes everything chases the plank. Renae did the this amazing active plank workshop, and I wish I could have written everything down fast enough. (Or at least recorded it and went back to rewatch.) She talked about how to activate every muscle in the plank. From taking everything in I have increased my hold time in a plank.
Before going into the learning all the exercises Irene took everyone through a quick workout on the TRX. I didn’t participate because my TRX was connected to my door. I was so afraid I was going to break my door. Instead I took a lot of great notes on setting up and execution of an exercise. And of course cueing because Irene is phenomenal.
To start the day two, Renae took us through a mobility and flexibility workout on the TRX. Then continued with the rest of exercises. We did get a little behind from day 1, so day 2 was a little rushed. The great thing with zoom is the chance to ask questions in the chat and other instructors was answering them. Towards the end of the day we went over 3 different client scenarios. I really enjoyed this section because it got into the design of the workout. I wish we wrote complete workouts, and not just 1 or 2 exercises.
What’s Next
After the training people at TRX make sure that you were actually attend the training. Not sure why they don’t do it during the webinars. I couldn’t see anyone except the instructors. The next day I got an email taking me to the exam. After you pass the exam, that’s when you got the CEC’s and go in their directory. They mentioned The CORE which I think is their paid ongoing subscription. They didn’t mention much about it, and after the exam it said The CORE will be relaunching soon. I put my email on the list to know when it opens. I’m not sure if I will get it or not but I’ll keep you posted if I do.
The Exam
The exam is 50 questions. It’s open book and no time limit. I took about an hour to finish. First, I read all the questions and answered what I thought was the answer. I wrote down the test number if I wasn’t sure on the answer. Then went back and checked those answers. Hit Submit, and we’ll tell your percentage. You’ll need to score an 80% or higher to get the CEC’s. I liked how TRX showed you the answer you got wrong. Most certifications just tell you if you passed or failed. I’m not sure if anyone else had this happen, but some of my questions were duplicates.
Overall
I am really glad that I got this certification and would do it again. It has been something on my to do list for a long time. TRX has other certifications that I hope to get in the future. I liked the online certification more than the in person. The certification wasn’t enough time to get through all the information unless they cut the workouts. With it being online currently, you’ll need to know your learning style. I learn best by writing everything down and being able to go back over anytime. During the certification there wasn’t enough time to do the exercise and write everything. I know that I learn better by writing things down, so I didn’t do as much on the TRX. (But again I was afraid I was going to rip it off my door too.)
Have you tried a TRX workout? Would you try it?
