I've had the TRX for awhile now, and I use it for my strength training when travelling (CardioCoach is my cardio of choice). Lately that's been two weeks out of the month.
I'm really coming to appreciate this equipment and may begin using it more at home, too. It definitely is different! Early on, I couldn't get an effective lower body workout with it, but that had to do with my form, and also being nervous about a few of the positions (if you see the pictures, you'll know which ones I mean!) However, now that I've gotten more comfortable with how to use the straps, it's much better. The assisted one-legged squats are terrific! The TRX lets me do a better job on my shoulders than most weight work; it's even more controlled resistance than using pacemates, and feels safer. While I can get a good TRX workout on biceps and triceps, I'm not entirely maintaining my STS strength gains with the TRX and feel I'm doing better with free weights there (again, probably a matter of needing to learn the form). Normally I'll add in tricep dips to even things out. The TRX chest workouts are very good, and I also like the ab work; I'm not as convinced I'm getting as much out of the back as of yet, compared to traditional rows or deadlifts. I may be getting *too* much trap work, and am seeing more definition there than I wanted. The overall feel of the TRX has a more 'whole body' than from free weights, and I like the multi-plane motions.
I bought the "Force" package, and and that's the dvd I tend to use. It's a no-nonsense dvd, not much on smalltalk, just a straightforward run through a sequence of exercises, split into two days (mostly upper and mostly lower body). I'm not sure if I'd like this dvd for every day, but in my situation, it's perfect. BTW, there's no need to limit yourself to dvds explicitly featuring the TRX. I've also used the TRX with Cathe! All you need to do is map the exercises to her dvds, and you're set. Once you've practiced a bit, that's easy. My favorite so far is Pyramid Upperbody, and I'll change my position slightly to increase/decrease the challenge, so that I get a real 'pyramid up/down' feel. It's very easy to do this, just a matter of moving your feet and body a bit. You'll miss the unusual multiplane exercises, unless you add them in, though. I'm planning to check out Slow and Heavy - and this may be an even better choice for the TRX, since you'll be working against the strap for longer periods.
The whole thing packs down nice and small, and comes in a sack, so it is easy to take on travel. It sets up very quickly, too. Normally I use it in a hotel room ... some hotel rooms are better than others! The more space you have between the door and the opposite wall, the better. It's also helpful to have a medium width hallway. Still, I've had times when I needed to use the TRX on a slight angle to make an exercise work, and that wasn't really a problem. So far I have not tried it outdoors and have always relied on the door anchor that came with it.
One downside is that you can't directly measure how your strength is improving, unless you are going after endurance and counting reps. Still, strength improvement is something you can check with free weights pretty easily.
Hope that helps! This was one of my better purchases in 2009.
