We interrupt your strength-cardio-repeat fitness cycle with this important message: You need a yoga practice. TRX® can help.
Yogis will tell you that yoga relieves stress, increases body awareness, and sharpens your mind, yet some people resist the mental health arguments for swapping a round of pure strength training for planking and stretching. So how about this? Yoga can also improve athletic performance.
The balancing and flowing that yoga is known for actually helps you move better. And you don’t have to commit to an hour of chanting in a 100-plus degree studio to do it. TRX Training Club℠ will bring yoga straight to you.
To help you get started on your yoga path, we’re highlighting our top five TRX Training Club workouts for yoga, as well as the equipment you need to make the most of your class.
But first, TRX for Yoga?
Never used your TRX Suspension Trainer™ for yoga before? You’re in for a treat!
Yogis started experimenting with the Suspension Trainer™ years before TRX created programming around the discipline. Shauna Harrison, one of the leaders of the TRX for Yoga movement, was using her Suspension Trainer for traditional strength training exercises when she realized she could use the same tool to support yoga poses like back bends and crow pose. After sharing her ideas with TRX founder Randy Hetrick during a chance meeting, Harrison began developing yoga courses for TRX.
Krystal Say, another TRX for Yoga expert and instructor, began her own experiments with the Suspension Trainer while working in a Massachusetts health club more than 10 years ago. Today, she owns her own studio, where she combines TRX and yoga, and teaches the streaming TRX Yoga classes for TRX Training Club. “It is the malleability of the TRX philosophy that gave me the opportunity to create TRX Yoga Flow, a power Vinyasa yoga practice that leverages the TRX Suspension Trainer to build true resilience,” Say said.
Fast forward to the present: TRX now offers TRX for Yoga courses for instructors, as well as TRX for Yoga classes for everyday users looking to improve their practice.
What does the Suspension Trainer actually do in a yoga practice?
In short, it acts as a prop or even as an instructor might, supporting you through a move you may not have mastered yet, and making that move more accessible. For example, in crow pose, a person who hasn’t achieved the balance and core strength necessary for the move can offload some of the work on the Suspension Trainer while learning what the “right” pose looks and feels like.
Similarly, you could use the Suspension Trainer to learn the fundamental of moves like a headstand or a handstand before taking on the balance challenge that comes with those poses.
As a fitness professional, Harrison appreciates how the Suspension Trainer makes yoga less intimidating. “To watch people get a sense of what it’s like to be upside down, but not have as much fear because the TRX is supporting you; as an instructor, it’s such a cool thing to watch—that “aha” moment—and it happens so frequently with the TRX.”
Tools of the trade
The basics for your TRX for Yoga practice are a TRX Suspension Trainer, a comfortable mat, and access to TRX Training Club. Click through the TRX website, and you’ll see that there are multiple variations on both Suspension Trainers and mats. On the Suspension Trainer front, keep in mind that Home2 and Pro4 systems are functionally the same. If you’re more sensitive to saving money, the Home2 Suspension Trainer is less than $200. If you tend to beat up your fitness equipment, you might consider paying a little extra for the built-for-nonstop-gym-use Pro4.
When selecting a mat, you want a style that isn’t too cushioned because thicker foam makes balancing harder. This non-slip mat is durable, and—at just 5 mm thick—won’t compromise your form. (As an added bonus, the marker lines on the mat make it easier to gauge your progress in Suspension Training®.)
The TRX Suspension Trainer is the star of the TRX for Yoga line-up, but it’s not the only tool you can use. We’ve also got recovery and release classes using the TRX Bandit, a universal handle system that works with almost any Strength Band, and you’ve always got the option of adding a TRX Glute Band to your flow for an extra booty burn.
Finally, there’s the TRX Training Club membership. At only $19.99 per month for unlimited live and on-demand classes, a full month of classes costs less than a single class at most studios. But you don’t have to commit right away: first-timers can try Training Club for free for a week. Need a Suspension Trainer and Training Club access? Buy a TRX Burn bundle, and 12 months’ of Training Club are included with your purchase.
5 TRX Training Club yoga workouts you don’t want to miss
So you want to give this whole TRX for Yoga thing a shot, but you’re not sure where to start? Roll out your mat, grab your straps, and let’s flow with these five live and on-demand classes.
For the gimme-all-the-live workouts crowd, Krystal Say is going to be your go-to yoga guru at TRX Training Club. Say teaches a live Yoga Start class Tuesdays and Thursday at 11 am ET/9 am PT. Yoga Start is the ultimate fusion of essential yoga moves and strength training, helping you build a solid foundation of fitness, flexibility, breathwork, and balance. Yoga Start is only 30 minutes, so it’s a great way to cap off your morning.
Unlike any yoga class you’ve experienced, TRX Yoga Flow is another Krystal Say heartstopper. This 45-minute live class infuses strength, mobility, and balance with heart-pumping fitness for a whole new take on power yoga.
The repetitive yoga flow from downward dog to chaturanga to cobra requires considerable core strength, and this beginner-level, on-demand workout led by Georgia Legg is just the thing to help you build your core on the TRX Suspension Trainer. Get ready for 13 minutes of pikes, planks, and V-sits, all wrapped up in an easy-to-follow AMRAP format. (Psst… That means As Many Rounds As Possible.)
Be honest: how’s your posture these days? In Krystal Say’s on-demand upper body flow, you’ll open your front body with crescent lunges and additional chest openers. It’s just 10 minutes to feel a world of difference.
Admit it: you’ve always wanted to conquer a headstand. In this 13-minute, on-demand workout, Charlotte Tooth guides you through a short flow and introduces the foundations of the TRX Headstand. Learn how to progress this move and start your journey to inversions.
Yoga is one of the best methods for release, but the TRX Suspension Trainer isn’t the only tool that can help you stretch out and loosen up. TRX Bandit™ can also help you slow down and recover. Find a deeper release with Stephanie during this 11-minute, on-demand, full-body stretch.
