Using TRX Workouts to Improve Your Running and Sports Performance
Personally, the TRX suspension trainer has improved my core strength, upper and lower body strength, mobility, and flexibility. This has had dramatic benefits on my running performance as I know that my whole body is in better shape which allows me to run more efficiently and with more power. Combined with my endurance work I have been able to see strong gains in both 5-K and 10-K time. I did this without increasing the time I spend on the road but focusing on using the TRX from two to three times per week.
Most importantly other professional runners use the TRX their training. Ironman Champs Chris Lieto, Linsey Corbin and Tyler Stewart all use the TRX as part of their regular routine.
On Amazon.com, there are a number of positive reviews of the system and many people have discussed how they use it to improve their running performance.
What is a Suspension Trainer?
The TRX falls into the genre of fitness equipment called suspension trainers. Basically it is a series of straps and handles that the user attached to a stationary object and uses bodyweight exercises to build strength, mobility, and flexibility.
Here is a definition from Wikipedia which describes a suspension trainer the best:
Suspension Training is a type of bodyweight exercise in which a variety of multi-planar, compound exercise movements can be performed. These are done with the aim of developing strength, balance, flexibility, and joint stability simultaneously. Suspension Training can be considered a type of resistance training.
These trainers are also great in that they are very portable and take up very little space. This means that you can use it at home without taking up any space. You can also take it on the road and use it in hotel rooms to ensure you get your additional training in.
How TRX Workouts can Improve Your Running Time
The TRX system can be used in a number of different ways. However, we are worried about covering running. TRX running is what we will call a program that is focused on building up our running performance.
The benefits to runners and other athletes can be best explained by Matt Dixon, world-class trainer:
“My big message is that whether you’re training for cycling, running or triathlon, people tend to dramatically over train and get very fit but very tired. We put the TRX up there as equal in importance to swimming, biking and running [for triathlete clients],” says Dixon, who is also an instructor at the VeloSF cycling training center. “That’s one of the secrets of our success. We have far fewer injuries and much greater strength and stability as a result of integrating TRX training into training programs.”
They key is less injuries and greater strength and stability. As part of a whole training program runners who have built the TRX into their programs are faster and less prone to injury.
TRX Workouts – Training with the TRX to Improve Your Running
There are a number of good TRX workouts that you can do to improve your running. I want to start with a video from the people at TRX that give a good overview of how to train for endurance events like running using the TRX suspension system.
The exercises outlined in this video will go a long way to get you ready to take on longer runs and actually improve your running time. Some other examples include the TRX corkscrew, the TRX jump squat, and even the TRX muscle-up. All of these will improve your whole body strength and allow you to recover better for those longer runs.
Where to Buy the TRX
I hope I have convinced you that the TRX is a viable tool for runners. Bar-none, the best place to buy one is on Amazon.com. They are the cheapest. Be sure to get the TRX door anchor kit so you can use it at home.







of boring cardio exercise, I’d like you to consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it. Think about it this way… Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure. 

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Shin splints are a condition where the anterior tibialis muscle that runs up the front of your leg beside your shin bone causes discomfort and pain. Luckily, you can prevent shin splints from coming back, or indeed ever coming at all if you are lucky enough to have never experienced them.
Running is good for you. Whether you are an experienced marathoner, or you’ve just signed up for your first 5K, pat yourself on the back. A regular running program offers numerous and substantial benefits for your entire body – efficient heart and lungs, strong muscles, dense bones, good digestion, and so on. As a runner you can whoop it up with decreased stress, a healthy body weight, and an enhanced quality of life.


