I hope you enjoy reading this post. If you want to build muscle & shed fat with a suspension trainer or band, 
Focusing on time under tension when performing TRX shoulder and back exercises is the key to building muscle and functional strength.
It’s not as easy to fully lengthen and shorten your shoulder muscles, compared to your chest, quads (things), or back muscles.
This is because they are smaller and are made up of 3 heads: the front, middle, and back. However, they can be developed by maintaining time under tension on each shoulder head.
Table Of Contents
The 5 Best TRX Shoulder And Back Exercises
When performing TRX shoulder exercises don’t lose tension on the muscle by going too far down and resting. Or locking out.
Instead, focus on a slow and controlled pumping action.
In the following post, you’ll discover how to use ‘muscle-centric’ TRX technique and your mind-muscle connection to activate the muscles effectively…
Back: TRX High & Low Row
Two simple but effective TRX back exercises are the high and low row (or TRX Pulls). In this video, we look at the high row and its benefits along with the correct technique.
The TRX Low Row
The TRX Low Rows are the ones where you drive your elbows back and down along the sides of your body. They’re really good targeting your lats to give you that V shape physique.
Think of your lats as the two foundational pillars at the sides of your body. Important to build strength there.
Technique Points
- Think of your hands as just hooks.
- It’s your elbows that lead. Focus on them.
- Drive your elbows back and down along side your body.
- Really squeeze your lats at the bottom of the exercise and stay there for 2 seconds.
- If you feel confident, you can stretch at the bottom, to create a bigger range of motion. You must stretch and NOT hang… Keeping tension on your lat muscles is essential throughout the entire set.
The TRX High Row
These are really good for strengthening your shoulder girdle to improve overall posture and stability. Your traps, rear shoulder muscles and a web of upper back muscles get developed with this TRX exercise.
Technique Points
- Elbows: The focus again, is to drive with your elbows up and out.
- Arm position: Keep your arms parallel to the floor.
- Squeeze: At the top really squeeze your upper back muscles and stay there.
- Stretch: If you feel confident you can stretch at the bottom, to create a bigger range of motion. You must stretch and NOT hang.
Rear Shoulder: TRX Ts
If you’re looking to build your rear shoulder muscles for a 4d physique and shoulder girdle strength. This is the exercise for it… TRX Ts.
Think zombie with this suspension trainer shoulder exercises. Loose grip and allow the elbows to lead with a pumping action.
Technique points
- Shoulder Position: Keep shoulders slightly pulled forward. This is to help isolate the middle shoulder muscle and not allow the upper back muscles to help out.
- Mindful Focus: Focus on slapping the backs of the hands to walls whilst holding the TRX.
- Squeeze at the top of the T’s: lock in and focus at this point.
- Elbows: Keep them slightly bent. Straightening them brings in your back muscles. Taking tension away from the rear shoulder muscles.
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Front Shoulder: TRX Raises
If you want to build your front shoulder muscles, you need to feel the burn. Again, act like a zombie with these TRX Front Shoulder Raises to maintain a pumping action and keep tension on muscles.
It’s a small range of motion, but wowzers. You’ll feel that burn, it feels awesome. And you can be assured that the burn leads to muscle growth.
Technique Points
- Start With Tension: Start by squeezing your arms hard before you begin the movement. And maintain this squeeze throughout. Helps maintain tension on the front shoulder muscles
- Hands and Elbows: Slight bend in your elbows. The hands are just hooks, it’s the shoulders that lead the pumping action.
- Don’t Hang or Rest: Don’t go all the way down and just ‘hang’ from the TRX. You will lose tension in the muscle and thus lose the muscle-building growth stimulus.
Middle Shoulder: TRX Side Raises
Similar to the front raises, these TRX Side Raises require keeping tension on the muscle by using a shorter range of motion. Focus on that pumping action and chase the burn.
They target your middle shoulder which gives your physique width. And helps to give the V shape look.
Technique Points
- Motion: Keep the range of motion short, this ensures a constant tension is placed upon the muscle
- Don’t relax: Keep the shoulder muscle and your entire arm contracted throughout. Squeezing the TRX handle hard will help with this
- Elbow and wrist: Slight bend in the elbow. Keep the wrist just in front of your peripheral vision
The Best 3 TRX Shoulder Exercises Workout
Give these three TRX shoulder exercises a try back to back. The key to 4D shoulder development that looks great from all angles is growing the middle and rear deltoid and that’s exactly what you’ll focus on here.
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Boulder TRX Shoulders
Coach Adam
Body Transformation Coach
Thanks for your insights. I live in Hawaii and use my TRX on our lower deck. Seeing how you attach your straps is helpful. Thanks
Hey Rich, oh man that’s such a cool place to live! It must be amazing training outdoors there. Glad it was helpful. Tuns more n the site if you wanted to digg deeper