Steal This Personal Trainer’s Favorite TRX Exercises 

Whether you’ve been working out for years or are just starting, you’ve likely experienced those days when your regular fitness routine feels a little…blah. The dumbbells look boring, the machines are all being used, and walking on the treadmill isn’t quite enough. What to do, what to do. Well, let us introduce you to TRX. 

TRX, short for Total Body Resistance Exercise, is a versatile and effective training system that utilizes suspension straps to engage your muscles in unique ways. You might’ve seen these yellow and black straps hanging around your gym, but even if you’ve never seen or heard of TRX exercises, you can still get a killer workout. 

To help get you started, we asked NASM-certified trainer and TRX expert Kate Galustyan for a few of her favorite moves. From your delts to your hamstrings, here’s a full list of everything she recommends to create a TRX workout that’ll tone, strengthen and stabilize your entire body. 

Lower Body

Galustyan’s favorite lower-body TRX exercises include hamstring curls, glute bridges, and single-leg squats. “I personally love using TRX specifically for hamstring training. I get the BEST muscle engagement using the suspension bands,” she says. 

The TRX bands can also be a great option if you’re looking to master a skill, like single leg or pistol squats, or rehab a lower-body injury. The bands can certainly help provide an added challenge, but they can also provide stability and support while you work up to more advanced exercises. Galustyan stresses that you don’t need to be an experienced lifter or expert trainer to take advantage of TRX, saying “It’s easy to adjust to different fitness levels by simply repositioning your body relative to a band anchor.” 

So if you’re new to TRX, don’t fret. Regardless of your fitness level, it’s easy to take advantage of everything these bands have to offer. 

Core

TRX bands are great for lower body days, but they can also be useful in kicking your regular core routine up a notch. “TRX is a superior piece of equipment for developing core strength because it challenges your stability and allows you to use your body weight as a resistance,” Galustyan explains. 

When it comes to targeting your abs and obliques, she recommends “side planks and a pendulum swing.” Both exercises are great for targeting your obliques while challenging those important stabilizer muscles throughout your entire core and upper body. 

Upper Body 

Finish off your TRX-based workout with Galustyan’s favorite upper body exercises, inverted rows and chest flies. These two powerful exercises will target your latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rear deltoids, and pectoral muscles, while benefiting your shoulders, biceps, and core at the same time.

“[TRX] is a great way to strengthen your back muscles without the use of fancy machines in the gym,” Galustyan says. And for those that want the benefits of TRX bands, but don’t have access to them, Galustyan recommends free weights or resistance bands as an alternative. 

Want more workouts from Kate? Follow her @kateprofitness or check out her full-length workout videos here. 

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