How Best To Use Suspension Trainers for Your TRX Workout

A TRX® workout, also called suspension training, uses your own body weight and gravity to make familiar exercises even more challenging. The result is a workout that can build strength, balance and core stability all at once.

Exercise physiologist Christopher Travers, MS, explains how TRX training works and why straps can turn up the heat on even a basic exercise.

What is a TRX workout?

TRX stands for “total resistance exercise.” This suspension training system uses adjustable straps anchored to a wall, specialized rack or properly secured doorway. The straps end in handles that you can hold with your hands or use to support your feet during exercises.

The concept is simple: You use your bodyweight and gravity as resistance through a single suspension point. Instead of lifting a dumbbell or pushing against a grounded weight machine, you’re using your own body weight and gravity to challenge your muscles. And because the straps move, your engagement is key.

“Suspension trainers allow you to use your body and limited space to get a full-body workout,” explains Travers.

How TRX training works

Whether you’re using a suspension trainer at home or the gym, make sure the anchor point is secure and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

In general, there are six positions for your body during a TRX workout:

1. Stand facing the anchor point to pull, squat, rotate or hinge at the hips.
2. Stand facing away from the anchor point to push, lunge or rotate your body.
3. Stand sideways to the anchor point to rotate or pull away from it.
4. Get on the floor facing the anchor point, using your hands, knees or forearms to hold your body up and plank or pull away from it.
5. Get on the floor facing away from the anchor point to plank or push away from it.
6. Get on the floor to the left or right of the anchor point to do oblique exercises or side planks.

A TRX system looks simple, but small changes in these areas can increase or decrease the difficulty:

• Your body angle: Changing how much you lean toward or away from the anchor point changes how much of your body weight you’re working against. “The more challenging the angle, the harder the exercise,” notes Travers.
• The length of the strap: Longer straps offer a greater range of motion, while shorter straps keep you in position. You’ll typically lengthen the straps when facing away from the anchor and shorten them when your body is close to the floor.
• What’s suspended: Some exercises have you hold the handles at the end of each strap with your hands. Others place your feet in the straps while you’re lying flat on the ground or in a push-up position.
• Your stability: As the straps move, your core and other muscles have to stay engaged the entire time you’re using the TRX system.

“You can use suspension systems for strength training, circuit workouts and other forms of exercise,” says Travers. “The straps also make it easy to adjust an exercise rather than jumping from one fixed weight to another.”

Muscles TRX targets

TRX isn’t just for your abs. Depending on the exercise, you can train your upper body, lower body and core — often all at once.

Here’s how each muscle group is targeted in a TRX workout.

Core

Your core does a lot of work during suspension training because it has to keep your body stable while the straps are moving. Exercises like planks, mountain climbers and fallouts challenge your abdominal and trunk muscles:

• To do a suspended plank, you’ll place your feet in the straps while your hands or forearms stay on the floor. As your feet aren’t resting on a stable surface, your core gets engaged and has to work harder to keep your hips from sagging or shifting.
• To do a mountain climber, start in the plank position with your feet in the straps and pull one knee toward your chest. Return your foot to the starting position and repeat with the opposite leg, alternating between the two.
• To do a fallout, stand facing away from the anchor with your arms straight out in front of you. Raise your arms overhead as you lean forward, keeping your body in a straight line and tension in the straps. Lower your arms as you return to the starting position and repeat.

Upper body

TRX exercises can also target several areas of your upper body:

• Suspended push-ups are a good example. They target your chest, shoulders and triceps. Having your feet elevated in the straps also challenges your core muscles.
• Inverted rows are another good option. While facing the anchor point, hold the straps, lean back and pull your chest toward your hands while keeping your body straight.

“The inverted row is a good replacement for a pullup, which can be harder to do,” says Travers. “Using the straps, with your feet on the ground, you’re not having to pull your whole bodyweight from a dead hang, but you’ll get similar benefits.”

Lower body

TRX training can challenge your legs and glutes, too. Using suspension trainers for exercises like squats, hamstring curls and lunges adds resistance and improves your balance. The straps can also give you something to hold onto during squats or lunges, which may help you focus more on control and range of motion.

Glute bridges are a great starter exercise if you want to build lower-body strength. To do them:

1. Lie on the ground with your feet in the foot cradles of the straps, facing away from the anchor.
2. Keeping your hands firmly planted at your sides, press your heels down toward the floor and lift your hips off the ground until you’ve got a straight line from your heels to your upper shoulders.
3. Hold this position for three to five seconds before lowering your hips back to the floor. Then, repeat.

Obliques and rotational muscles

A lot of traditional exercises move you forward and backward as you push or pull a weighted object. TRX also challenges side-to-side and rotational movement — which is great for day-to-day activities, like carrying groceries, turning, pivoting or looking behind you.

This resisted torso rotation exercise is a good example of how TRX can engage your obliques and side muscles:

1. Stand sideways to the anchor point with your feet and toes facing forward.
2. Keep the foot closest to the anchor in front while you step your other foot behind you (almost like you’re about to walk).
3. Grab one strap handle with both hands and extend your arms out in front of your body.
4. Keeping your feet firmly planted and your back straight, fall away from the anchor so that your upper body rotates to face the anchor point. Do this with slow and controlled movements — don’t swing your arms.

Is TRX right for everyone?

When you’re trying TRX out for the first time, it always helps to work with a trained instructor or sports medicine provider who can be more hands-on during your first experience.

The TRX suspension trainer can be used for any fitness level because resistance is completely dictated by body positioning and foot placement relative to the anchor point. You don’t need to change out heavy plates or swap dumbbells — you simply shift your feet. This single portable tool allows for a full-body workout that builds strength, balance, flexibility and mobility all at once.