Matrix Training is a highly innovative and unique form of weight resistance exercise created by Dr. Ronald Laura, Professor in Education of The University of Newcastle.

 

The Matrix System is based on a patterned series of partial movements, designed to activate muscle fibres at multiple points not otherwise worked very effectively in conventional exercise.

 

This being so, the variant Matrix routines can exploit the body's potential to produce gains in muscle size and strength or body toning much faster and more efficiently than conventional weight training.

 

Because Matrix Training does not rely on heavy weights to achieve maximal intensity, the risk of muscle strain and injury is greatly reduced when compared to the injury rates associated with conventional methods of weight training.

 

This is one reason why the Matrix System is ideally suited for a wide range of users, from nine to ninety, including many people whose injuries would normally prevent them from weight training.

 

Being an intensity-based system, rather than a system based upon the amount of weight lifted, Matrix training requires considerably less time than other systems.

 

As incredible as it sounds, anyone pressed for time can complete a highly effective workout in just ten to twenty minutes a day, depending upon fitness levels, either in a gym or at home.

 

HOW DOES IT WORK ?

 

The physiology of Matrix training has been described in detail in a number of my books published since 1991.

Put simply, Matrix stimulates muscle fibre intensively by patterns of full and partial movements which inhibit the use of momentum in the ‘up-phase’ of a lift and resist gravity in the ‘down-phase’.

The peculiar patterns of movement are also designed to confuse what is known as the ‘neural adaptive effect’, thereby encouraging muscle responses which deliver maximum effort even with the use of a light weight.

 

Although no other system of exercise, apart from Matrix has so effectively exploited the concept of neural adaptation, there is no 'mystery' about the science of the process.

 

The Matrix Principle simply reflect an application of well established physiological ‘laws’ in order to optimize the body's own capacity to respond adaptively to the resistance offered to the muscles by a weight or other force.

 

 

HAS IT BEEN TESTED ?

 

Professor Laura originally developed the Matrix System more than three decades ago, but has continued steadfastly to refine the program and design new exercise techniques, thus continually improving the efficiency of the overall System and affording even more amazing results for Matrix trainees.

 

During this period, a large number of people have taken part in clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of a wide variety of new and highly innovative Matrix techniques.

 

The results of the early clinical trials have been set out in The Matrix Principle (1991) and since its publication, further development of the physiological basis of the

Matrix System has assured its enormous potential to accelerate the mechanics of muscle-building and bodytoning.

 

Interestingly, the success of the original series of three volumes has been due mainly to word-of-mouth recommendation by those who have enjoyed the remarkable benefits of the system.

 

Despite minimal promotion by publishers, sales of the wider range of Professor Laura’s Matrix books have remained high over the years, with The BEST SELLER –

The Matrix Principle now going into tenth print, convincing testimony to their ability to 'sell themselves' by the personal recommendation of users.

 

 

MATRIX TRAINING IS FOR YOU

 

Matrix can be used by a much broader spectrum of potential trainers than conventional exercise.

 

Because it does not rely on heavy weight, it can be (and has been) used safely by….

·        Children (Under Supervision)

·        The Aged

·        The Unfit or Overweight

·        People who have never exercised before

·        People undergoing Rehabilitation after Illness or Injury

·        And others who would normally not be advised to undertake weight training.

(See photo gallery of the many different age-groups from which

Matrix Trainers have been drawn)

 

 

Both men and women, young and old, can benefit significantly from the Matrix System.

 

One of the primary reasons why this is so depends upon the special adaptability of Matrix Principles to suit the physical condition of its users.

 

 

Those who are out of condition, injured or even the very young can under supervision undertake this form of exercise, as it requires little or no weight to perform.

 

Many people begin by using a broomstick or merely their body’s own resistance instead of the usual weights, while those who are more advanced need use only light weights (or improvised weights) to provide sufficient resistance to get phenomenal results.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, Matrix weight training has been used, and is currently used, by professional bodybuilders and by professional and representative sporting teams as part of their training program.

 

Obviously, trainees at this level of strength and fitness use heavier weights than beginners, but the basic principle remains the same: that of maximizing the intensity through carefully tested patterns of partial movements, not by maximizing the weights used in the exercise.

 

 

WHAT CAN MATRIX TRAINING DO FOR YOU ?

 

Whether you are trying to……….

·        Build Muscle

·        Tone Up

·        Stay in Shape

·        Develop Strength

·        Lose Weight  

·        Get Fit

·        Or even if you feel too old to be doing an exercise program….

 

Just look throughout this site, view the wide array of Matrix programs available and read the unsolicited testimonials by people of all ages and see for yourself the way in which Matrix Training has transformed not only people’s bodies but their lives.

 

 

 

Professor Laura’s new and complete Matrix System effords you a unique opportunity to change your life by changing your mind about how to live happily, about how to eat for health, about how to exercise for life.

 

Remember……….

·        The Matrix System can be used by anyone at virtually any age to improve their health, vitality, body shape and fitness.

 

·        You will find the system interesting to use and mentally stimulating, because the routines are continuously changing each week, with the new challenges provided by different Matrix exercise techniques.

 

·        You will reduce your risk of injury quite significantly, as the light weights used will minimize the stress on the back, joints, ligaments and other connective tissue.

 

·         The time it takes to do a Matrix workout for beginners is only 10-15 minutes,

once-a-week, and approximately one hour for advanced trainers.

 

·        The results you get from the concentrated 10-15 minute once-a-week workout has been shown to be comparable to, and in a number of cases, far more effective than conventional training sessions of an hour or more, performed three to four times a week.

 

Even the advanced Matrix workouts have been proven to give astonishing results three times as fast as conventional training.

 

This means that in 4 months of Matrix Training you can achieve gains or other desired bodyshaping changes to your body that would otherwise take a year.

 

 

 

You not only save money on gym memberships and  transport, but you save precious time.

 

These factors combine to give Matrix a remarkable advantage over conventional exercise. It can be accurately described as the most important advance in weight training since the invention of the adjustable-weight barbell (in 1902).                                              '

 

 

WHAT DOES A MATRIX TRAINING PROGRAM LOOK LIKE?

 

A typical Matrix set (of any exercise) begins and ends with a number (usually 5) of conventional repetitions.

 

Between the beginning and closing repetitions, however, there comes a whole range of diverse patterns of partial reps which have been carefully trialed by Professor Laura

to provide increasing levels of difficulty.

 

The intensity of the movement will vary according to how advanced the trainee is and the specific goals of each individual.

 

At the beginners level, for instance, the 'Matrix' or core of the set is made up of  5 repetitions half-up, and down, followed by 5 half-­down and up movements (that is, the weight is moved 5 times through the top half. 5 times through the bottom half, of its full range of movement).

 

So the 'Conventional Matrix' set (the easiest to perform, and thus the starting point) consists of: 5 full repetitions, 5 repetitions to the  half-up position, followed by 5 half-down from the top position, and 5 full repetitions to complete the set.

 

As the trainee becomes more advanced, the pattern of the sets becomes more complex' (and challenging to perform).

 

One of the variations, called Iso-Matrix, involves holding the weight at specified points for a number of seconds (anything from one to five or more seconds, depending on the exercise): Iso-Matrix exercise augments the proven efficacy of the normal Matrix pattern with the addition of the strength-enhancing qualities of isometric exercise.

 

Of the hundreds of different exercise patterns which have been tested in clinical trials, Professor Laura has now developed 48 techniques which have been selected for their effectiveness in stimulating muscle fibre activation. Of these, the final dozen or so are intended for advanced trainers and present a considerable challenge to the muscle system, even with light weights.

 

At the other end of the scale, the introductory techniques are readily mastered and most committed trainers are able to advance to the Intermediate level of 24 techniques after a year or so of training.

 

The intermediate stage of training is followed by the addition of the next 12 techniques, thus making 36 patterns of variation which comprises the advanced program. The final 12 techniques are given in the Elite Program so the trainee can work with 48 patterns of movement.

 

The variety of different techniques, and the trainer's progression to ever greater levels of difficulty by combining the techniques differently, add to Matrix Training a level of variety and mental stimulation which is often lacking in conventional weight exercise.

 

 

IS IT HARD TO FOLLOW ?

 

It is sometimes thought that Matrix Training requires the trainer to have the exercise manual constantly open in front of him/her, and to follow complicated patterns of movements which are hard to remember.

 

This is very far from being the case. In fact the various Matrix techniques each have their own 'internal logic', and are readily committed to memory, much as a pianist recalls the notes of a solo piece, or a singer recalls the words of a song.

 

In the case of Matrix Ladders, for example, it is merely a matter of remembering the sequence: one-fifth up, two-fifths up, three-fifths up, four-fifths up, all the way up; followed by one-fifth down, two-fifths down , three-fifths down, and so on.

 

Even the most complicated techniques are governed by a logical sequence which is readily committed to memory.

 

On the other hand, Professor Laura has deliberately designed the patterned sequence so that the trainee has to focus carefully and be aware of what is being done. This form of ‘Matrix Mindfulness’ (See his Matrix Mindpower) brings the mind into the muscle in such a way that the outcome of the exercise is enhanced.

 

Simiarly, the principle of ‘muscle confusion is also at work here, in the sense that the continuously changing positions within the arc of motion through which the weight is carried help guarantee that the body’s capacity to reduce the work load of a muscle group by forming adaptive neural patterns is minimized.

 

 

CAN MATRIX BE USED ALONG CONVENTIONAL TRAINING ?

 

Matrix exercise is entirely compatible with conventional weight training (which relies-on the resistance of a relatively heavy weight, and is usually based on sets of five to ten repetitions).

 

Some trainers engage in a regular 'conventional' regime of 10 to 12 weeks, interspersed with 4-week periods of Matrix Training.

 

Competitive bodybuilders often shift over from conventional to Matrix training in the run-up to a competition, to help give better shape and quality to the muscles.

 

While some devotees of Matrix training have been so impressed by its results that they prefer to use it exclusively, others who derive enjoyment and satisfaction from their conventional regime will find they can actually improve their performance by adding a monthly Matrix week as an alternative to a conventional week.

The benefits of high-intensity training (such as Matrix) as an adjunct to heavy-weight training are well documented.

 

 

 

  HOW MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE IS MATRIX TRAINING ? 

 

Matrix exercise is not another new gimmick in the world of health and fitness, where fads come and go with confusing regularity and a new "fitness guru" emerges every couple of the initial months.

 

On the contrary, Professor Laura first devised the 21 system of partial movements as a young boy and later published his first Matrix routines in Muscle and Fitness magazine in the late 1970's.

 

Since then he has continued to trial new principles with students at Newcastle University and at Harvard, along with weight trainers from the general community in Australia and the U.S.  

 

Each of the 48 Matrix Techniques or principles has been carefully tested to provide, by way of their special conjunction, a complete 4 year training system of progressive resistance. As intimated at the outset, the 48 Matrix techniques are set out in a four volume series on Matrix Training.

 

The first twelve or introduction techniques are introduced in the book titled The Matrix Principle. Matrix for Muscle Gain provides the next 12 of Matrix Techniques, then another twelve advanced techniques are introduced in the third volume the Ultimate Matrix System, with the final twelve techniques introduced in the book, Elite Matrix Training: the Complete 48 Techniques.

 

Multiple groups of trainers were measured and their strength levels tested when they began the Matrix trials and were constantly monitored for changes in their size, strength and muscle tone over at least a 12 week period in each case.

 

Their results were compared with those of "control groups" of similar age and fitness, using conventional weight training methods.

 

Some gains in lean muscle made by the Matrix group at the end of the course were as much as three times those of the conventional group, while average gains in strength surpassed those of the control conventional group by a factor of 2 to 1.

 

Over the years of testing his Matrix System, Professor Laura has refined routines for each major body part, ranging from a simple sequence of movements through to more complex patterns of moving, with isometric holding of the barbell at various points within the total range of motion.

 

Beginners start with the simple sequences, and more complex ones are introduced as their proficiency improves.

 

In fact, most of the subjects in the Matrix trials and most of those who are enthusiasts about the method are ordinary men and women, sometimes in their  forties and fifties who want to improve their muscle tone and recapture the youthful figure they thought had disappeared forever.

And there is no shortage of success stories. (see the Matrix Testimonial Page)

 

"In the years I've been running Matrix training clinics, some of the most spectacular successes have been women who had begun to see their bodies degenerating, particularly after the birth of their children and who had tried various kinds of conventional exercise without much visible result.

 

Once they got the hang of Matrix exercise and with a little perseverance, they began to see their body fat diminish with amazing rapidity, along with the emergence of a more lithe, athletic appearance”.

 

These women don't want to appear "muscle" or masculine - an image often associated with female weight trainers.

 

They realise, though, that there's nothing particularly feminine or attractive about excess body fat or sagging flesh.

 

That's where Matrix exercise, with it's light weight workouts, comes in.

Women response to this form of weight training is typically different from men.

 

Whereas men tend to become more visibly muscular, women tend to look firmer and more toned. Relying as it' does on the concentration of exercise movements rather than on long sets of repetitions, Matrix exercise doesn't require a lot of time.

 

THE MATRIX SYSTEM'S UNIVERSAL APPEAL

 

·        Injured people who need to rehabilitate muscles around injured bones and tendons, or the rehabilitation of injured muscles. Because of the gentleness of the exercises and the unique ability of Matrix exercises to work with little or no weight, it serves as an ideal form of exercise while nursing injuries.

 

·        Younger children. It is important to train our youth early to be fit and healthy so there is no reason why your children can't join you in a workout - it promotes a fast metabolism and increased bone density (stronger bones) and encourages strength of will and mental discipline.