The Deal

• $31 for one week of unlimited yoga, barre, cycling, or TRX classes ($50 value)
• Click here to see the class schedule.

TRX Suspension Training: Weight-Less Weight Training

Both mind and body can suffer from doing the same exercises day after day. Check out Groupon’s overview of TRX suspension training to explore one way to help mix up your fitness routine.

Like many innovations, TRX suspension training—which uses gravity and body weight to provide muscle-building resistance—was the result of a creative thinker stuck in a tight spot. Or rather, tight spots. In the late 1990s, Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick was continually being deployed all over Europe and Asia to submarines, ships, and other posts that had neither the space nor the equipment necessary for the full-body workouts he needed to stay in shape. So, using the sewing skills all Navy SEALs had to learn to maintain their gear and embroider inspirational samplers, Hetrick tacked an old jujitsu belt onto some surplus parachute webbing and secured his invention over a door with a carabineer clip. By holding the ends of the fabric and leaning forward, or slipping his feet through the ends and holding his body in a pushup position, he found he could do a full range of rows, pull-ups, presses, curls, and other strength-training exercises in any setting. The invention caught on not only throughout the Navy but also with NFL quarterbacks, actors, and personal trainers.

The TRX system lets users make exercises more or less difficult simply by shifting their body angle and position. Along with its adaptability, a key part of its appeal is instability—specifically, the instability that causes core muscles to constantly shift as they work to maintain the body’s balance as part of it hangs from a strap. The more muscle groups activated, the more calories are burned, making the workout as efficient as it is compact.