Tackling TRX

The modern-day gym floor is full of alien-looking contraptions that can confuse and/or intimidate even the most experienced in fitness. Amongst this collection of machines, there’s the TRX suspension trainer—a bunch of straps, pulleys, handles, and carabiners that look more like something a stuntman would use to dangle off a building, than it does a legitimate piece of workout equipment.

While TRX —short for total-body resistance exercise—may look perplexing, it is a training tool that will up your workout game. It uses your body weight to put a new flourish on some of the big-name exercises you’re already tackling in the weight room (inverted rows, jump squats, lunges, chest press, bicep curl, and push-ups, among many others). The only difference is that two resistance straps are being incorporated into each routine.

The combination of suspended straps, gravity, and your body weight creates exercises that engage your entire body through every exercise you do, making the TRX one of the most effective tools for building muscle mass and strength.

The full-body benefits of TRX exercises mean that your core will always be engaged in any exercise. Using more muscle groups means that it’s hard to neglect muscles with TRX.

According to Miguel Vargas, the company’s training and development manager, “Everyone with every body type can use it…We say that anyone from Homer Simpson to Superman can benefit from training on it.”

Science agrees. One 12-week German study showed the apparatus can help increase balance and improve core strength. In addition, research funded by the American Council on Exercise shows that incorporating TRX training into an eight-week fitness program can significantly decrease waist circumference, body-fat percentage, and both resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Don’t let the pulleys and carabiners scare you away from one of the most effective tools for building muscle mass and strength, balance and core. Give it a shot! Set up your complimentary strategy assessment with Success Studio by clicking the button below and start tackling TRX!