What’s New in The World of Suspension Training
Published 2 Oct 2017
Author Erin Splatt
These days in the world of fitness, we’re looking for simplicity, functionality and portability. Fitness needs to be accessible and easy – something you can do from home or the local park and not have it eat into your daily schedule. Everyone these days is time poor; and as personal trainers, one of the biggest client barriers we face to training is “lack of time”. The emergence and growth of outdoor training, mobile PT, corporate on-site workouts – essentially bringing the sessions directly to the client – have helped to remove the time barrier, and in turn, highlighted the consumer need for “fitness convenience”.
As educated and trained PTs, we are well aware of the importance of strength training for overall health, wellness and results – however a battle many of us face, is the ability to progressively overload and find adequate resistance training options without lugging dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells – the entire gym around with us! As an outdoor trainer myself, I’m always on the lookout for training devices that will support functional strength training, allow client progression and overload and are transferable to both a PT and a group training environment. More recently I was introduced to the Wayflex Functional Training System and am happy to pass on my experience as I’ve found it to be a great addition to my PT training tool kit.
What is the Wayflex FTS and how does it differ from a regular suspension device?
The Wayflex Functional Training System is a functional fitness device that integrates a suspension trainer together with interchangeable resistance bands. Portable, versatile, it is literally a gym in a bag! The combination of suspension based movements with dynamic resistance band options means that you have a suspension trainer, cable device and can even pull it apart to replicate dumbbell and other free weight movements. The ability to unclip from the carabiner brings in a whole other realm of resistance band, cable style movements and the different weighted resistance bands allow you to control the intensity and difficultly of the movement. In addition to the conditioning part of your workouts, you can even pull apart the Wayflex and utilise the bands for mobility work and stretching.
What are the training benefits of Wayflex FTS?
In both Suspension and Band mode, the Wayflex allows you to use your own weight as resistance and teaches you to optimise your core and body control. Wayflex works well with multi-dimensional, compound movement patterns and is incredibly functional. Utilising your own weight as the load, it encourages clients to activate core and stabiliser muscles, and increases proprioception, balance and coordination. In other words, you’re able to progressively overload your clientele through stability as opposed to pure weighted load – a much more viable option for those working outdoors or in a mobile setting. I mean, there’s only so many kettlebells you can carry into the park at once right?!
What are the benefits of Wayflex from a PT Business Perspective?
One of the most obvious benefits is that it’s portable and light weight. Although it can take a load of up to 600kg, the device itself only weight 1.2kg and stores easily in a carry bag. Another plus, I found it easy to set up in both a park environment, and also within a client home setting as you can anchor it to a door frame. The combination of suspension and bands definitely helped to increase the volume of exercise selection, and the ability to simply unlock between movements also meant it was quick and seamless and avoiding a lot of lost time faffing around with set up. I also utilised it during a group training environment – again, this was an efficient way to add resistance training into the circuit program without having to carry weights in.
See the Wayflex in Action
The Wayflex website has a lot of great videos that show exactly what the tool is capable of in terms of exercise selection. For Resistance band movement patterns – check this link: https://www.wayflexfitness.com/suspension-trainer-resistance-bands . For more suspension based exercises, check this one: https://www.wayflexfitness.com/suspension-training
Wayflex Functional Suspension System Training
From a training and development perspective – through PD4PTs (Professional Development for Personal Trainers) I saw the potential for this fitness device to be a real asset in the fitness community. For the lovers of pure suspension training, it will take your programming to another level with a wider variety of exercise selection potential due to the addition of the resistance bands. For those that enjoy the minimalist approach to training and who advocate functional, relative strength, it’s a great training component to upskill on. Our presenter, Roger Saheli, is a master of the Wayflex FTS and delivers a detailed and inspiring course on how you can add value into both your PT and group sessions with the Wayflex. The course is a practical based session covering all beginner, intermediate and advanced movements and will get you thinking outside the box for client resistance training and overload. For course details, please click here:
https://www.pd4pts.com.au/events/wayflex-functional-suspension-system/
In summary, if you’ve been on the lookout for something new, different and convenient for your clientele, this might be the tool you’ve been after – worth checking out and highly recommend it.