TRX® - Training Tips

There are 6 basic sins of TRX® and here are ways to correct them to ensure you’re getting the maximum benefit out of every TRX® workout. Here are the six sins below (in no specific order):

Sin #1: Starting (Incorrectly)

Adjust the TRX® appropriately for all exercises by first finding the correct end point, body position and proper foot stance for the movement.

Sin #2: Stopping

If you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and you’ve started an exercise at too steep an angle, don’t just stop the movement. Adjust your body angle to make the exercise easier if you start to feel fatigued.

Sin #3: Sawing

Repeat after me: the TRX® is not a pulley. To avoid sawing, exert even pressure on the handles or foot cradles of the TRX®. Never allow the handles to saw back and forth.

Sin #4: Scraping

When performing an exercise on the TRX®, the straps should never rub against your arms. To eliminate scraping, simply raise your hands slightly while performing the movement.

Sin #5: Slacking

If the TRX® is slacking, so are you! Maintain tension on the straps throughout each movement.

Sin #6: Sagging

When you’re tired, it’s more difficult to hold your body in alignment. If your hips are sagging, remember to engage your core and maintain body alignment during all exercises where your body is in a plank position.

The 3 principles of progression

1. Vector Resistance Principle

Put simply, your bodyweight versus your body angle, so the higher you are, the easier the exercise. The lower you are, the more difficult.

2. Stability Principle

Put simply, the more points of contact your body has with the ground (one foot or two feet) and the wider they are the easier an exercise will be.

3. Pendulum Principle

 

Strap Scraping

Do the straps of your TRX® Suspension Trainer™ ever rub against your arms and shoulders when you’re doing a TRX® Chest Press? Isn’t that annoying?

You may recall the term “scraping” from above. Scraping tends to happen when doing a TRX® Chest Press with your hands too low, causing the straps of the Suspension Trainer™ to rub across your arms and shoulders. This is problematic for two reasons:

1. When the straps are rubbing across your arms and shoulders, it’s uncomfortable and annoying, distracting you from focusing on the movement and getting in a good set.

2. The more your arms and shoulders rub, the less this move is accomplishing its intended purpose (improving core stability). As you may remember from the stability principle, the more points of contact you have, the easier an exercise is going to be, and the less you will be relying on your core to maintain a plank position.

• So, how do you fix it? First, simply move your hands up in relation to your shoulders. Come to the top of the press and move your hands up until the straps are no longer touching your arms and shoulders. Shoot for two to three inches off of your arms. That way, you can get through a full rep without touching.

• If after making this adjustment, the straps are still rubbing your arms, try externally rotating your hands, aligning the straps more with the inside of your forearms, instead of rubbing across the top of them. If you try that and find the straps are still rubbing, move your feet farther from the anchor point until you can get more comfortable stabilizing from your core.

In essence, it means that almost anyone can use the TRX® Suspension Trainer™, regardless of his or her level of fitness, because the principles governing Suspension Training® are simple, easy to adjust and vary greatly, depending on your body position.

Put simply, think of the ground directly under the anchor point as neutral; the farther away from neutral you are, the harder an exercise will be. The farther past neutral you are, the easier an exercise will be.

You could probably do a single TRX workout for months at a time, and (counter to conventional training wisdom) you can actually make this same workout progressively more challenging by using the three principles of progression. So think about these principles the next time your training seems too easy or too hard, choose your level of progression and make the appropriate adjustments.