If you haven’t tried TRX suspension training before, the chances are you have seen or read about it. It involves the use of hanging bands to engage muscles using just your own body weight. By changing the way you angle your body, every muscle can be engaged in a pull or push motion also it will improve your muscle strength, but also your cardiovascular endurance.
Sometimes going to the gym can be tedious, we can often struggle to keep motivated with our fitness workouts. TRX suspension training is unlike any other workout technique and can be incorporated into your normal training to liven it up. This will keep you engaged and looking forward to your sessions.
This simple method of exercise can allow anyone to reach their desired goal, be it weight loss, improved muscle tone or overall fitness. TRX suspension training has a low impact nature to engage your whole body.
Because of its suspended nature, TRX is very low impact and means that your joints are not put under much stress. This means that there is a low risk of injury, allowing you to train as hard as you wish with less risk of causing or agitating a pre-existing injury.
The versatility of the TRX suspension training means any goal can be achieved. You may want to gain muscle strength or lose weight. Whatever your aim, regular TRX suspension training will get you there. Changing the speed at which you perform the exercise, you can increase the work out you give to your heart and lungs.
Just two adjustable bands provide a comprehensive workout to every single muscle in your body. Just by changing your body position slightly, the load can be increased or decreased on your muscles meaning that everyone can use this method of training.
Plus you can transport them easily and set up the TRX suspension system anywhere!
1. TRX Balance Lunge
- Start with your arms by your sides, holding a TRX handle in each hand.
- Place one leg back into a lunge — the knee just hovering off the ground at 90-degrees. Arms will naturally move away from the body during the descent.
- Bring the lunging foot back to meet the non-lunging foot.
- Rather than use the arms to pull yourself up, push into the front heel to return to standing.
- Complete 12-15 reps.
2. TRX High Row to External Rotation
- Start in the end range of the external rotation (palms facing the wall), straps pulled back so they are on an even level as the head and elbows forming a 90-degree angle.
- Offset the feet (one foot in front of the other), and lean back slowly with control, allow the wrists to realign with the arms.
- Keep the core engaged and the spine straight, pull your body back up to the external rotation.
- Repeat for 12-15 reps.
3. TRX Chest Press
- Face away from the anchor point and lean into the straps as if you are about to complete a push-up, arms still fully extended.
- Press your body towards the direction of the straps, descending with control.
- Press back up to return to the start angled-plank position. Your hands should stay a few inches from the body so the straps don’t scrape against the armpits or sides of the chest.
- To prevent the straps from scraping against the skin, bring your hands a little higher and further away from your body.
- Complete 12-15 reps, or as many as you can with proper form.
4. TRX Plank (Body Saws)
- Begin with the knees on the ground, feet in the foot straps.
- Pressing the body up into a plank position, forearms planted firmly on the ground.
- Hold for 30 seconds. (If 30 seconds feels pretty comfortable, challenge yourself with body saws.)
- Start in the plank position and shift your body back a few inches toward the anchor.
- Return to the starting position with control, maintaining a neutral spine.
5. TRX Knee Tuck
- Start with the body in a shoulder plank position, palms flat on the ground and feet in the foot straps (the straps should be perpendicular to the ground).
- Bring the knees in to the chest, while engaging the core and keeping the feet side by side.
- Return to your start position and repeat for 12-15 reps.
- Make sure to maintain even tension on each foot strap to keep your legs from sawing back and forth.
6. TRX Hamstring Curl
- Start by lying on your back and placing your heels into the foot straps.
- Lift your hips up, maintaining a neutral neck and spine and legs straight. The straps should be at 180-degrees.
- Maintaining total body control, drag your heels toward your butt, hold for 3 seconds and then return to the start position.
- Throughout the whole move, press the heels down into the foot cradles so there’s no slack in the straps.
- To make this move more challenging, raise the hips a couple inches higher.
- Complete 12-15 reps.
7. TRX Pec Stretch
- Standing tall, face away from the anchor, with a strap in each hand.
- Hold the arms out like a “T” but make sure they are stretched out horizontally.
- Hold for 30 seconds, maintaining tension in the straps.