by Matt Crews
Hello and good day to all!  I had the great privilege of attending the 2014 TRX World Trainer Summit in beautiful Long Beach, California: two full days of lecture and praxis with the top minds in front of the room.  The minds of people like Fraser Quelch, Pete Holman, Chris Frankel, Dan McDonough and, of course, Randy Hetrick.  “Top Minds” is a term that gets thrown around but there is no other way to describe it.  There was not one of these fellows who didn’t know anatomy and physiology backward, forward and sideways.  No dumb jocks.  Fitness GEEKS.  You have to understand that in MY neck of the woods, the typical attitude toward strength training is that if you aren’t waving pieces of ferrous metal about in mid-air, you are doing “Aerobics” -read that as “girly stuff”.  It is difficult to get people to understand (let alone RESPECT) suspension training…  They may try it on their own, but without a basic knowledge of how to hang, adjust, and use the straps, they get little out of it and that is that.  I often feel like the lone Geek in a sea of meat.  As I absorbed Frankel’s opening lecture, a strange feeling came over me…   a warmth and realization…  listening to the Top Dogs, surrounded by a couple hundred like-minded trainers, my brethren….   I WAS HOME!

It was a lot to take in.  My mind filled to capacity and overflowed.  I had Critical Knowledge episodes of both varieties. From the first workout, which was equal parts TRX and RIP, I was engaged, activated, switched ON.  Through every lecture, even as I realized flaws in my technique I was confirmed in my methodology.  For years I have seen the FACEUP award mom keeps on display at at her home but I never asked what it meant.  Now I know and understand.  One thing that especially stuck with me was the “Earn your progressions” aspect of TRX…   something I have always tried to make my clients do.  Only now do I realize the ways in which I was right and also the ways in which I was wrong.  To paraphrase Cicero: those who cannot learn from the past remain forever children.  Well folks, this baby has finally graduated to toddler!  During the entire summit, the Brains moved amongst us, tweaking, advising, coaching, joking…  There was no “us and them”.  We were all “US”.  We the children, they the parents, but all of us family.  In the basic Rip class, Pete Holman said that one of his life goals is to be able to pass the gift of inspiration on to others.  Mission accomplished…  It is like experiencing my first TRX workout all over again. (See my bio, below.)  I am now a Man on Fire!

If you are into TRX and want to expand yourself, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting  to the next summit.  It is the best thing you could do to gain the Deeper Knowledge.  And if you are one of the Brains or one of the volunteers; THANK YOU!!!  I will make ruthlessly sure that I attend any similar event you fellows choose to do.  From the first workout, when you had us ricochet around like psychotic pinballs, to the final Q&A, when you answered everyone’s sometimes complex questions, it was perfect.  It was so very good to be among so many of my own kind.  Let’s do it again and again and again.   …and again.   Thank you!   -Matt Crews

P.S. : I would also like to thank the ladies of the worldwide TRX community….    I have never before seen such a collection of perfect legs under one roof! Kudos! 😉 

by Matt Crews My name is Matt and I am a Suspension Instructor and PT. I was introduced to TRX by my mother (the host of this blog).  I was mid-twenties, working out regularly and considered myself in pretty good physical condition. Mom showed me a new toy she was working with; the Mark III TRX Suspension Trainer. She put me through a 20-minute full-body workout that left me with deep tissue delayed onset muscle soreness for five days and permanently changed my ideas about fitness. I guess I’m proof that there is no fanatic like a converted fanatic….   What turned me on about TRX was that it could hit everything at once, effectively, and yet laser-in for total isolation.  The biomechanist in me found these qualities to be a HUGE TURN-ON.  I was studying medical illustration at the time. Maybe that’s why I immediately grasped that TRX, like human anatomy, is science AND art. I gave up “lifting weights” entirely, got basic and group qualified and was soon leading my first TRX class. Eight years on, I personal train (suspension only), lead a boot camp (bodyweight, primal movement, and TRX for strength) and teach TRX classes at Rome Athletic Club and Berry College in Rome, GA.  I have no doubt the 34 year old me could take the 25 year old me and twist him into pulpy knots.