Get dynamic with Dad; TRX ups the intensity

Cori Uddenberg Evergreen reporter

A workout fit for a Navy SEAL must be suitable not only for patrons of WSU’s University Recreation Center (UREC), but also for their parents.

Joanne Greene, director of University Recreation Programs, chose to feature resistance training workout TRX as one of this year’s Dad’s Weekend activities at UREC.

“(TRX) is a strength training format promoted as a higher intensity form of exercise,” Greene said. “It was developed by a man who was in the military, who developed it so he could stay fit while he was in the field.”

TRX’s growing popularity in recent years encouraged UREC to adopt it as part of their fitness schedule a few years ago.

“It’s a popular group fitness format that not everyone has,” Greene said. “We thought it’d be a good chance for our students to show something a little bit different. And it’s fairly popular with men, too.”

Though originally meant for Navy SEALs, TRX is also adjustable to the abilities of the participant.

“You should be healthy enough for exercise, but we provide options for different experience levels and different abilities, and also those who are training with injury,” Greene said.

TRX does include some more common exercises, like squats, lunges, plyometric work, bicep curls, and chest presses, but it is still a dynamic workout. Greene said.

“TRX makes the activities more challenging and more of a full body workout because you need to be stable,” Greene said.

However, the need to be stable in the given exercises does not preclude newcomers from participating.

“Participants will do a warm up while they’ll be introduced to the types of workouts they’ll be doing,” Greene said. “We’ll set everything up so people know what they’re going to be doing, and we ask them to listen to and take care of their bodies.”

If planning to attend the class, Greene said students and their parents should come about 10 minutes early and dress for activity.

“Students can just bring their dad to class, there’s no pre-registration,” Greene said. “We just want the dads to come out and see what their students have available to them.”

Parents can also purchase a $10 University Recreation Center Dad’s Weekend pass that will last through the three days of Dad’s Weekend.