A few weeks back I finished up a 12 week workout and was looking for something different. Something challenging that would keep me interested for a few weeks at least. Enter into the picture my suspension trainer. Now that I had it, I needed to know what to do with it. Off to the internet I went in search of a workout. It was tougher to find than I thought. Apparently those TRX guys don’t believe in posting any workouts online. Sure there are a ton of how-to’s for the exercises but I really wanted a full workout. I finally found something close to what I wanted on a forum and then adapted it for my needs. What you see below is my workout. If you have questions about the workouts or exercises, leave me a comment or drop me an email.

Monday: Chest and Arms

• Atomic Push-Ups – I loved this exercise as it really worked my abs.
• Single Arm Bicep Curl – I don’t know if its just me but I tended to cheat a little bit when doing curls with the suspension trainer. I found it hard to keep my arm in one place.
• Tricep Press – Pretty simple exercise. I do something very similar using the cable machines in the weight room.
• Dips – These were awesome. I elevated my feet on a chair which made it quite a bit harder. This is definitely an exercise that I will continue to do.
• Steep Chest Press – Basically just an angled push-up. Nothing special about that.
• Suspended Push-Ups – I lowered the trainer until it was just a few inches off of the ground and then did push-ups. These were tough. My arms were shaking and I really had to engage my core in order to not wobble all over. I loved it though!
• Deltoid Y-Fly – I didn’t really feel these while I was doing them but I sure felt the effects of them the next day!

Overall Impression of Chest and Arms:  I could really see the benefit of doing chest exercises with the suspension trainer. The constant balancing act really made my muscles work and my core was tight the entire time because of it. The arm exercises I felt really lacked though. The curls I felt were mediocre at best. The best arm exercise was definitely the Tricep Press.  I ended up hitting the real weight room to do some dumbbell curls and tricep push-downs when I was all done, just to feel like my arms really got a good workout. I will probably incorporate some of the chest exercises into my usual workout though.

Tuesday: Cardio

• I did 5 hill sprints then it started to rain so I ran back to the gym
• Proceeded to do about 5 intervals of some jumps where I had my hands on the bench and jumped over the bench from side to side. Does anyone know what that is called?
• Went into the gym and stacked up the blocks and did 10 high jumps.

Wednesday: Shoulders and Back

• Single Arm Row – I thought this was a good move. Overall it felt great.
• Back Extensions – I didn’t really get this one. I looked it up on the internet before I left and performed it to the best of my ability but I felt stupid doing it and am pretty sure I got nothing out of it.
• Max Inverted Rows – These felt really good. I set the angle so that my body was almost parallel with the floor. I really felt the burn as I was performing it.
• Incline press – This is probably my favorite exercise. Its the one where you put your foot in the stirrup and swing around and do a handstand. Then press. It really works the core because you still have to balance yourself. Felt great when I was done.
• Pull Ups – I tightened up the handles all the way to the top and did some suspended pull-ups. I got a pretty good workout from this as well as I really needed to use all my muscles to stabilize myself.

Overall Impression of  Shoulders and Back:  I read online that there are not a lot of exercises that can be done with a suspension trainer that targets the shoulders. I found this to be very true today.  The Incline Press was the closest thing my shoulders got to a workout until I went into the weight room and did some military presses and lat. raises.  My back muscles fared pretty well with the rows though and I was feeling the effects of that workout throughout the day.

Thursday: Core and Cardio

• 5 x 25 yard sprints
• 5 x 50 yard sprints
• Box jumps – Went to the park and did 20 jumps up on the seat of a picnic table followed by 30 jumps to the table top.
• P90x Ab Ripper X – Its been awhile since I have done Ab Ripper X and it gave me a good run for my money. I must say that it probably wasn’t smart to do it after the sprints and box jumps though. My legs where dead.
• Tried to do some core work with the suspension trainer buy my garage just isn’t a good place to try and work out. I hung the trainer from the garage door track but I didn’t feel that comfortable putting a lot of weight on it. I did manage to do some Pikes and some Max Body Saw’s. Both felt pretty good.

Friday: Legs

• Hip press – This will felt a little awkward as you have to thrust your hips to the ceiling. It took a few reps before I really started get a burn from it. By the end of the cycle, my back hurt more than anything.
• Single Leg squat – This can really be done without the suspension trainer if you have good balance. I do not, so I used one of the handles to keep myself up. Simple squat down on one leg with the other out in front of you.
• Lunges(each side) – Tony Horten calls these Speed Skaters. It is essentially a lunge where you kick your back leg behind you and use the suspension trainer for balance.  It’s another leg exercise that can be done without the suspension straps.
• Hamstring Curl – This exercise is quite similar to the Hip Press. You lie on your back and bring your feet to your butt. I really didn’t feel anything on this one.
• Hip Abduction – The idea is you get into a plank position with your feet in the straps. You then spread eagle. The only thing I felt on this one was embarrassment.

Saturday: Core and Cardio

• 10 x 25 yard sprints
• Box jumps – Went to the park and did 60 jumps up on the seat of a picnic table followed by 20 jumps to the table top. Video of that workout can be seen here.

Sunday: Rest Day

My overall impression of the suspension trainer is pretty good. I really loved the workout that it gave my core. I could really feel it in just about every workout I did. Some of the exercises where quite a bit more challenging than others, and some just left me asking WTH??  I would have to say that the Chest exercises are probably my most favorite to do and most of those will find their way into my daily workouts back in the weight room. The least favorite body part to workout was Shoulders. Mainly because I just couldn’t find more than one exercise for shoulders in all of the internet. To me shoulders are in integral part of working out. Hopefully someone somewhere can come up with a decent shoulder workout for suspension trainers.

The suspension trainers are a good tool for those that do not have access to a gym but I do not feel that they are a good replacement for a gym full of equipment. You won’t get big doing these exercises but you will get toned.  After awhile, I could see this piece of equipment getting really boring. And at $200 dollars for the cheapest TRX kit, I think you would be better off spending that money on a gym membership. Or spend $30 dollars like I did and make your own.

With all that said, I am not giving up on it yet. I am going to go another 2 weeks with the above workout and see if I notice any results what-so-ever.

Related posts:

1. Intense Cardio Workout
2. Dip Bar Knee Tuck
3. P90x Second Phase Starts Today

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBE-cWeqa4g

Related posts:

1. Intense Cardio Workout
2. Alternative Cardio Workout
3. Today’s Cardio

• 5×25 yard sprints
• 5×50 yard sprints

I followed that up with some picnic table jumps.  I was a little hesitant at first so I begin with only jumping up onto the seat. I did that 20 times. I then grew some courage and made the leap up onto the table. I was amazed that  I could actually do it! I followed that jump with 29 more! I then took off for home and did a few core exercises with my homemade suspension trainer followed by a session of P90x Ab RipperX.

When all the cardio was said and done, I cooked up a meal of ground beef, red pepper, white onion and tomato paste.  Mixed it into a bowl and scarfed it down.  And that was the end of that. Day 2 of the Primal September Challenge complete.

Related posts:

1. Park Cardio Workout 1
2. Alternative Cardio Workout
3. Suspension Trainer Thoughts

I scoured the internet for what seemed like an eternity (but was only a matter of minutes) and managed to find a few recipes that claimed to be just like the one at Chipotle.  I settled on this one and modified it a bit to suit my needs.

The end result was fantastic. It turned out better than expected and I have made it again since then. It can get a bit spicy if you use too many chipotle peppers (as I found out the second time I made it) but the affect doesn’t last long. I am going to be adding this one to my list of foods to make often.

Recipe: Barbacoa Beef

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 4 chipotle peppers – canned in adobo sauce
• 1/2 an onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 4 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground clove
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 lb beef roast
• 1 cup organic chicken broth
• 3 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Combine the lime juice, vinegar, onions, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt and clove in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Cut the roast into smaller pieces. In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of coconut oil and cook each side of the meat until lightly browned.
3. Put the meat from the pan into a large CrockPot
4. Pour the blended sauce over the meat and add in the chicken broth and bay leaves.
5. Cover and simmer for about 8 hours on low

Cooking time (duration):  8 hours with a prep time of about 20 minutes

Diet (other): Reduced carbohydrate, High protein, Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 4

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (General)

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Needless to say, I quickly gained about 5 lbs and about 2% bodyfat in those few shorts weeks.  Since then I have done a lot more research on the process of refeeds and I think I may finally have a handle on it. Of course, I have not started it back up again. I am currently just doing my primal way of eating: low carbs and high fat. I thought about trying the refeeds again this week or next but I am going on vacation in 2 weeks and I want to look at cut as possible so I am not going to experiment until I get back.

My new approach is going to be a refeed every 4-5 days (and always on weight training days only). The other days, I will continue to go low carb.  I am going to give it a try again for a few weeks but if I don’t see any noticeable results then I am going to chalk it up to refeeds not working for my body.

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