TRX, also known as total body resistance exercise, is a suspension kit designed by ex-Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick, allowing trainees to do various activities and train all major muscle groups.
Despite its simplicity, TRX is a revolutionary piece of equipment for trainees to use their body weight and develop strength, muscle mass, endurance, balance, joint stability, and mobility.
But who is TRX for? More importantly, is it right for you, and how might you be able to adjust the difficulty of each workout to suit your needs?
Read on to find out.
WHO IS TRX SUSPENSION TRAINING FOR?
Here’s the beauty of TRX Suspension Training:
It works for trainees of all levels.
Whether you’re a fitness newbie who hasn’t exercised since high school or a seasoned athlete with thousands of workouts behind your back, TRX is a great way to challenge yourself and improve further.
TRX Suspension Training is effective because there are hundreds of exercises to pick from, many tweaks you can make, and virtually endless options to combine activities into workouts.
With that said, complete beginners could benefit from coaching, at least initially. Using a suspension kit is challenging because of the greater stability demands. Trainees need balance and some core strength to maintain an optimal body position and perform at their best.
5 WAYS TO MODIFY YOUR TRX WORKOUTS
1. Choose Exercises Wisely
The first obvious way to put together effective TRX workouts is to select exercises that provide enough challenge.
For example, if you’re a beginner, you might start with TRX squats. As you gain experience, start mastering step-back lunges and suspended TRX Lunges.
2. Tweak Your Body Position
Another neat way to modify your TRX workouts is to tweak your body angle. Doing so allows you to adjust the resistance on various pushing and pulling exercises.
For instance, grab the handles and stand almost upright to perform the chest press. Once you’ve gotten used to the movement and can do at least 12 to 15 controlled reps, walk your feet back, causing your body to lean forward, making the exercise more challenging.
3. Adjust Your Rest Periods
Another practical way to adjust the difficulty of your TRX workouts is to tweak your rest periods.
For example, you can take more extended rest periods at first because it will take your body time to get used to suspension training. As you gain experience and do progressively more reps, shorten your rest periods––from 3 to 4 down to 2-3, then to 1-2 minutes.
4. Maximize the Range of Motion
Doing partial reps is an excellent way to learn new exercises, such as the chest press, single-leg squat, and inverted row.
Instead of training through the full joint range of motion, keep each repetition limited within a few inches and gradually increase it as you develop strength and stability.
For instance, start by squatting a quarter way down, then halfway down, then work on full squats.
5. Determine Your Ideal Training Volume
Training volume is simply a measure of how much work you do during a workout or training week.
Beginners don’t need a ton of volume to progress because they are more sensitive to training stress. Even small amounts of quality training can produce results: muscle and strength gain, balance, etc.
In contrast, more advanced folks need more volume to keep making progress. They are much more used to training stress and need to push themselves harder to see improvements.
A simple way to track volume is to count the number of sets you do per workout. As a beginner, you can start with up to ten sets and gradually bump the number to 15 as you gain experience.
Check out my YouTube Playlist created for beginners: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnhuvunvV5Qr_EMrF52ntoM_Y9ekUwsUO