TACFIT Rope Review

What is suspension training

Simply put, suspension training is using a suspension system to create instability in bodyweight exercises to challenge the body even more than if the body is supported on a solid surface.

What is normally easily done on the floor (eg. push ups) would be harder done if the hands or feet are suspended on a rope.

My background and rings

My first exposure to suspension training was when i was in artistic gymnastics. The high school teams in Singapore did not compete the rings so it was just a novelty training equipment at our gym. Sometimes we would try some movements on the rings and find out how extremely difficult just to swing on them.

Fast forward a few years to National Service. My unit did not have a gym, so i made do with bodyweight exercises.

So after a few years of not having regular access to gyms, i have grown accustomed to training bodyweight only or with minimal equipment.

Then i discovered that there are people selling rings out there. I recalled the good old days in gymnastics team when we would play with the rings. So i bought myself a set and an instructional DVD for the rings.

Great exercises for building extreme strength and stability in the shoulders. However, the rings are somewhat bulky and heavy (mine are the original Power Rings, made of steel). And the training methodology is not that portable. I mean would you train max strength most of the time, with a high degree of instability and narrow margin for error. Not practical to be trained often especially in highly fatigued state. So they stayed in my closet for a few years.

Enter the TRX

Since the TRX was released several years ago, it has become synonymous with suspension training.

My first exposure with TRX was at an SnC gym in Singapore. I didn't give it much attention since i am not a fan of foam padded handles. And if unconditioned people like it, it must not be hardcore enough.

What can be harder than exercises on the rings? Hardcore gyms use rings, not TRX.

Only after the release of TACFIT R.O.P.E. did i pay more attention to TRX.

After looking at it in more details, the marketing of TRX says something to this effect:

-You don't want to train for hours at the gym.

-You can have a great workout anytime, anywhere.

-There are hundreds of exercises that you can do with it.
-Of course the usual stuff on attributes like strength, endurance, cardio etc.
-You can lose weight, gain muscle and the usual physique stuff.

Why i am not sold on TRX

Well, i have no doubt on the effectiveness of the program. What is holding me back is everybody seems to be saying the same things on their fitness programs. Everybody says their program and tools can help you save time, do hundreds of exercises, lose fat, build muscle, build strength etc. You could effectively substitute the name of their product or program with another and it won't make a difference.

I have had enough of the marketing of attributes and physique. Even the most simple program (eg, Pavel's PTP, ETK etc.) can achieve these things. Nothing special. Btw, i am not saying that simple is bad. These simple programs are much better than a complicated program made of ten variations of isolation exercises. But what i am looking for is complex skill development.

I don't train for hours at the gym. If you do, that is the problem of your program design. You need to rethink how to design your training program. The solution is not changing the tool to TRX.

I don't need TRX to have a great workout anytime anywhere. I have this through bodyweight exercises. I already had kettlebells and clubbells so i can have a great workout using them anytime, though not fully anywhere (if you don't have a car).

I don't need hundreds of exercises. Yes you can know many exercises, but how many are you going to do in a workout? The magic of program design is in knowing when to do what and how much.

If you don't know, kettlebell sport, International Clubbell Sport, Trial By Fire, has only two to three exercises and practicing them in exclusion to other movements can make you stronger than a lot of people who do more than a dozen ineffective exercises.

And lastly the TRX cost almost 3x as much as a set of rings. Crazy pricing. I have no doubt about their quality, but i am not going to spend my cash on them.

Why TACFIT R.O.P.E.

What got me sold on TACFIT R.O.P.E is this:

"Suspension training gives us the ability to use gravity in new dimensions. The suspension aspect of ROPE builds strength in all 6 Degrees of Freedom."

That simple. The unique thing about CST is the movements. We are taught and encouraged to train more complex movements. To become more neurologically efficient. Because in real life, movements are never only one dimensional.

You can keep your movements simple and basic, increasing the difficulty and intensity through resistance, time, reps etc. But it is boring. To keep progressing you need more complex movement patterns that covers more than one or two dimensions, ie in the 6 Degrees of Freedom.

If you haven't known TACFIT yet, you should get acquainted with it and CST. It's not the tool that does the magic, although good tools definitely make things easier to do, but it is the program design. Everything from the protocol, exercises and tools play a part in creating the perfect program.

Alright, i think i have said enough on how good this program is. Click here to get your own copy now: