FITNESS INSIGHTS
Updated September 2026 • CFX Fitness
Benefits of TRX Workouts: A Guide to Suspension Training
TRX and other suspension-training systems use straps and your own body weight to create resistance. By changing your body position, angle, or base of support, you can make many exercises easier or more challenging without constantly switching equipment.
Suspension training can be used for upper-body, lower-body, and core exercises, making it a versatile addition to a strength or functional-training routine. Research also suggests that suspension versions of movements such as push-ups, planks, and hamstring curls can create meaningful muscle activation, particularly through the upper body and core.
Here are some of the reasons suspension training may be worth incorporating into your workouts.
One of the defining features of suspension training is instability.
When your hands or feet are supported by moving straps, your body has to work to maintain position while you perform the exercise. That often requires additional involvement from the muscles that stabilize your trunk.
Research comparing suspension exercises with traditional versions has found moderate to very high core and upper-body muscle activation in exercises such as suspension push-ups, prone bridges, and hamstring curls, although the amount of activation varies by movement.
That does not mean every TRX exercise is automatically a better “core exercise.” Instead, the straps provide another way to challenge stability while performing familiar movement patterns.
Suspension training is highly adjustable.
In many exercises, changing your body angle changes how much of your body weight you are working against.
For example, during a suspension row:
This makes suspension training useful for a wide range of experience levels.
The important part is choosing a position that allows you to perform the movement with control.
TRX workouts are not limited to one part of the body.
Suspension straps can be used for movements including:
That gives you options for pushing, pulling, lower-body, and core training within the same workout.
A suspension trainer does not need to replace dumbbells, barbells, or machines. Instead, it can simply give you another tool for varying how you train a movement.
Because the straps can move, suspension exercises may require more balance and coordination than comparable exercises performed on a stable surface.
Research in healthy young adults has found improvements in dynamic balance following suspension training.
However, greater instability is not always better.
Research examining unstable training methods has also found that instability can reduce how much maximal strength, power, or speed someone can produce compared with stable conditions.
That is why suspension training works best as one training option, rather than assuming every traditional exercise should be made unstable.
One advantage of TRX training is that you can take movement patterns you already know and perform them in a different way.
A traditional dumbbell row and a suspension row are both pulling exercises, for example, but the resistance and stability demands feel different.
Likewise, you might alternate between:
Changing the exercise setup can add variety without abandoning the basic movement patterns your program is built around.
TRX straps do not only make exercises harder.
They can also provide support.
Someone learning a squat, lunge, or single-leg movement may use the straps for balance while becoming more comfortable with the exercise. As confidence and strength improve, the amount of assistance can gradually decrease.
That makes suspension equipment useful for both challenging exercises and modifying them.
Because you can transition quickly between different movement patterns, suspension exercises can fit naturally into full-body training.
For example, a simple workout might include:
The exact exercises, repetitions, resistance, and rest periods should depend on your experience level and goals.
You do not need to move quickly simply because several exercises can be performed with the same piece of equipment. Technique and control still matter.
Not necessarily—and it does not need to be.
Free weights, machines, cables, bodyweight exercises, and suspension training all create resistance in different ways.
Traditional strength equipment may be easier when your goal is progressively adding significant resistance or maximizing strength. Suspension training may be useful when you want greater stability demands, adjustable bodyweight resistance, exercise variety, or assistance with certain movements.
A well-rounded program can include both.
Research on unstable training also reinforces this distinction: instability can increase the challenge to stabilizing muscles, but stable conditions may allow greater strength and power production.
It can be.
The straps make many exercises easy to modify, but beginners still need to learn how to control their body position and use the equipment correctly.
Start with:
Then gradually increase the challenge as you become more comfortable.
If you are unsure how to set up an exercise or determine the right progression, a trainer can help you learn the movement and choose an appropriate starting point.
No.
Suspension training is best viewed as another tool in your training toolbox.
Someone building a complete fitness routine might use:
You do not need to commit to one training method exclusively.
TRX workouts provide a versatile way to perform resistance exercises using your body weight and suspension straps.
They can challenge the core, add balance and stability demands, provide assistance for certain movements, and give you new variations of familiar exercises. At the same time, suspension training does not need to replace traditional strength training—and greater instability is not automatically better for every goal.
The best approach is to use the equipment that helps you train effectively, progress appropriately, and stay consistent.
Take the next step toward a more focused workout routine with CFX.
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