By Brian Diaz
The TRX Saw is one of my favorite exercises for core activation. When done correctly, it stimulates all the essential stabilization muscles, such as the transverse abdominus, obliques and multifidi – as well as the muscle that we all want to see in the mirror, the rectus abdominus.
With your feet in the straps and just under the TRX anchor point, facing the ground, come up onto your elbows into a modified plank position. Holding this position, feel all of the core activate by slighting pulling in the stomach and going into a small posterior pelvic tilt. Once you have this position mastered, you can add the movement.
Shift your body forward, maintaining the pelvis in the same position without letting it drop. You upper torso will extend past your forearms as your elbows bend. Hold in the new finishing position for a couple of seconds before returning to the start.
The major mistake that most people make when holding a plank-like position is they think that a flat back is the best. While in theory this is true, most people cannot hold a flattened back position and one study showed that more than 90 percent of the people sagged in the low back, losing activation of the core stabilizers. For this reason, I suggest pulling the stomach into a slight posterior tilt as described above to maintain the core stabilizers in an isometric contraction while you move through the saw. This should increase your strength and prevent low-back injury at the same time.
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Brian Diaz is the head physical therapist and sports specialist at ActivEdge Fitness & Sports Performance. He is a Level II Certified TRX Suspension Trainer and a USA Triathlon Certified Coach. Follow him on Twitter (@JediTriathlete) or go to his website at ExperienceTheEdge.com for more exercise ideas.
