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The modern-day gym floor is littered with hulking, intricate, alien-looking contraptions that can confuse and/or intimidate even the most diligent Pumping Iron–type wannabes. (Take the Skillmill treadmill, for starters—a curved monstrosity that somehow doesn’t even have a motor.) Then there’s the TRX suspension trainer, a labyrinthine collection of straps, pulleys, handles, and carabiners that looks more like something a stuntman would use to dangle off a building than it does an honest-to-God piece of workout equipment.
In actuality, the TRX—short for total-body resistance exercise—is a training tool that uses your body weight to put a new flourish on some of the big-name exercises you’re already tackling in the weight room. (Think inverted rows, jump squats, and push-ups, among many other things.) Its “handles” can be used to anchor hands or feet, which allows for a ton of single-leg exercises that are hard to replicate using traditional dumbbells and barbells. By incorporating balance into the weightlifting equation, TRX forces you to engage your midsection and back throughout every movement. It is, in other words, hard as hell.
The device was created almost by accident by one Randy Hetrick, a Navy SEAL who was trying to get in some fitness while deployed using only jujitsu belts and some spare parachute webbing. This early, rudimentary TRX caught on quickly with friends and colleagues. Hetrick completed a post-deployment stint at Stanford business school, and after a whole lot of prototypes, a version made of high-quality nylon is in gyms everywhere. (Worth noting: Although plenty of competing TRX-style suspension trainers are on the market, you’ll likely see the signature yellow-and-black straps in most training facilities.)
“Everyone with every body type can use it,” says Miguel Vargas, the company’s training and development manager. “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. 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.
For curious readers looking to expand their gymgoing repertoires, please remember—and we cannot emphasize this enough—the apparatus must be anchored to something before you trust its straps with your body weight. The brand sells a few accessories to make this easier, including a wall mount that screws into any ceiling or wall; for the security-deposit-conscious, there is a door anchor that requires no drilling. And just as with any sort of new workout routine, make sure you get the fundamentals down early. Before you try that ambitious, Spiderman-esque inverted row, stick to the more upright-adjacent exercises first.
Next time the weight-room floor is too crowded for your tastes, take TRX for a spin using the circuit below, courtesy of Eric Salvador, a TRX-certified trainer at Fhitting Room in New York City. Do each exercise for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds' rest. Repeat the circuit three times.
The exercise: Jump squat
What it’s like: Your standard jump squat, but with an extra burn in the arms and back.
Orientation: Standing, facing the anchor point, holding the handles with an overhand grip
Do it: Start with your feet slightly wider than hip-width distance. Step back so that there's no slack on the suspension trainer. With your arms fully extended, lower down into a squat. Spring back up, jumping, then land on your heels for one rep.
The exercise: One-legged burpee
What it’s like: A next-level take on the regular version; keeping a leg lifted forces you to brace through the core when going to and from the ground.
Orientation: Standing, facing away from the anchor point, right foot in single handle
Do it: At a quick pace, lower down into a push-up, chest to the floor. Push back up, engaging through the core, and return to an upright position, and then jump at the top to complete the move. Spend half of the time on this foot, and then switch sides to finish the 45-second period.
The exercise: The standing Y
What it’s like: A chest fly
Orientation: Standing, facing the anchor point, holding the handles with an overhand grip
Do it: Start with feet at shoulder-width distance. Raise your arms above your head, forming a “Y.” Back away until there’s no slack on the straps. Shift your feet forward slightly, so your body is at an angle to the floor, maintaining a straight line from shoulders to heels. Lower your arms down in front of you as your body moves backward for one rep.
The exercise: Single-leg lunge
What it’s like: A Bulgarian split squat
Orientation: Standing, facing away from the anchor point, with your left foot in the handle
Do it: Lower down into a lunge. Push back to start through your heel for one rep. Do a full 45 seconds on each leg.
The exercise: Kneeling rollout
What it’s like: The ab roller, with your arms above your head, which makes it way harder than the ab roller
Orientation: Kneeling, facing away from the anchor point, with the straps in front of your body using an overhand grip
Do it: Engage your core, and while maintaining as straight a line as possible from your shoulders to your knees, slowly “roll out” forward, pressing your hips forward while your arms lift overhead. Squeeze the back and core to return to the starting position.
The exercise: Atomic push-up
What it’s like: Mountain climbers with a push-up twist
Orientation: Standing, facing away from anchor in high plank position, both feet in handles
Do it: Starting in your high plank, draw your knees in toward your chest, engaging through the core. Return the legs back to start, then do a push-up to complete one rep.
The exercise: TRX high knees
What it’s like: High knees, but with a TRX machine (this one isn’t complicated)
Orientation: Standing, facing away from the anchor point with your hands in the handles using an overhand grip
Do it: Lean your body forward with your feet at shoulder-width distance. Begin alternating the knees toward the chest at a rapid pace.
