MANILA, Philippines - Two celebrity fitness trainers and two triathletes recently tested their mettle on the fitness equipment called TRX at Pinnacle Gym in Quezon City. Chris Sports generated much buzz in the local sporting community when they became the exclusive Philippine distributor of the TRX Suspension Trainer, an innovative, harness-based fitness system that gives users a full-body workout using two ever-present sources of resistance: gravity and one’s own body weight.
Gilbert Tang, managing director of Chris Sports and the country’s first internationally certified TRX trainer, recently held a special workout and TRX certification session together with famed pro basketball coach and fitness trainer Jim Saret. Among the fitness trainers who received their TRX certificates were celebrity athletes Reema Chanco and Brent Javier, and triathletes Jojo Macalintal and Miguel Lopez.
In classic circuit training fashion, Tang had the athletes perform one exercise after the other, targeting all of the body’s muscles. Squats, presses, lunges, back extensions, and other variations on conventional exercises modified for the TRX had the participants sweating in minutes.
The celebrity athletes gave high marks to the TRX after the training session. “The TRX is a challenging workout tool that is perfect for everyone in all fitness skills,” said Chanco after the workout. “It plays up to each individual’s own resistance. It’s also perfect for people on the go because of its portability. Right now I’m teaching my friends how to use the TRX— they’re my guinea pigs!”
Javier said the TRX suits him especially because he travels a lot and he can take it wherever he goes. “Multiple joints and muscles are exercised, and at the same time, it’s also a challenge because you get to perform movements that you are not used to,” he says.