You’re probably aware of the new craze that is TRX Training. If you haven’t heard about it I’ll explain below and hopefully, you leave with some idea of what TRX exercises are useful and which ones suck.
Before you get too excited let me just explain to you what exactly TRX is. TRX training is actually just ‘suspension training‘ that TRX the company cleverly marketed as being their own.
TRX or suspension training involves the use of two straps or rings that are tied or attached to an overhead beam or branch or whatever is available.
This was the initial attraction of suspension training. You could do it just about anywhere and it was a great way of making bodyweight exercises a little more difficult so that experienced trainees could get an effective workout with minimal equipment. The reason TRX or suspension training is more difficult is a result of the instability and resultant increase neuromuscular activity. This gets a little technical and you can read about it in another one of my TRX posts.
Personal trainers everywhere started to use them with their clients for the same reasons and we all know personal trainers love their new toys. Personal trainers, especially inexperienced ones, get alot of toys and gadgets like TRX because they lack the ingenuity to keep a programme interesting for their clients with the basic barbell and dumbbell combo.
Most TRX exercises are overrated. A lot of them are just made up so that the TRX appears more useful. Some are widely used but are just plain ridiculous.
Please, Please PLEASE do not do this…
Here are a few of the exercises that are actually effective:
TRX Push Up
The Trx push up is a great progression of the traditional push-up. Keep in mind if you cannot do a full push up with your own bodyweight then you have no business doing a trx push up 
TRX Inverted Row
Trx inverted body row is an excellent back/pulling exercise. As with the push-up, you shouldn’t be doing these unless you can do a traditional inverted body row. You can also raise the straps up and do TRX chin-ups.
TRX Knee Tucks
Some of the abdominal work that can be done on a suspension trainer is second to none. Knee tucks are just one of the exercises you can do with a TRX.
TRX Plank
A simple adaptation to the traditional plank that makes it a little more fun. All You do is put your feet in the TRX straps and hold a plank similar to a normal plank with a little added instability which causes it to be more difficult.
So as you can see some exercises are class when performed using a suspension trainer. The problem is that some people and some trx classes try to do everything using a TRX and that doesn’t make sense.
Some trx exercises are just plain stupid and should never be done.
The above exercises and a few others are the only exercises that should be performed. Click here to read why some TRX exercises should not be done.
To wrap up I will say that I like suspension trainers. Some of the exercises are great and some are stupid. In our bootcamps and personal training studios we have suspension trainers. Jungle Gyms, TRX’s and homemade suspension devices but we also use a variety of different exercises that don’t involve the suspension trainer. This is the best and most effective way to train and get results regardless of your goal.
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