I hope you enjoy reading this post. If you want my help to build lean muscle & transform your body from home, 
Most people ‘mindlessly move’ with TRX Suspension Training. Randomly pushing, pulling, and hanging to never see any visible results..
If you’ve tried vids… Apps… workout plans… different diets… gyms… weights… figuring it all out yourself…
But, your body still looks the same. You feel unsure of what you can achieve with a TRX and frustrated with the lack of results and de-motivated…
Then these 7 skills to build muscle with TRX suspension training will change the game for you…
Table Of Contents
Skill 1 – The Skill of Muscle-Centric Technique
There’s a BIG difference in how people exercise to transform their bodies. It comes down to two techniques:
1. Movement-centric technique (99% of people)
2. Muscle-centric technique (1% of people. This is us!)
One is much more effective for building strong, lean muscle. That effective technique is called ‘muscle-centric technique’.
Don’t have time to read the post in full? Then watch the video below to learn the 7 skills to build lean muscle with a TRX suspension trainer…
The Difference
These two techniques are the difference between the person who has been using a suspension trainer (or resistance band, body weight, even weights in a gym) for months and months. And never gains any visible results with their body.
Compared to the person who month on month improves their body along with their mind (mental well-being). You’re probably thinking… “Adam, what the hell are you going on about?”
Allow me to explain because this is important and will literally, change your life (a client’s words, not mine).
By the way, enter your email below and I’ll send them to you this post as a handy printable PDF Handbook…
‘Movement-Centric’ TRX Technique
Walking is a type of movement-centric technique, and so is running, cycling, or an aerobics class. You don’t think about moving, you just move. The body wants to be efficient. It wants to use as many muscles as possible to move a load because it’s easier.
With movement-centric technique you allow the body to activate all the muscles it can to move a load (like body weight or an actual weight). Many people grab a TRX suspension trainer and do this.
They jump around, pushing, pulling, and hanging. Not thinking about how they are moving, just moving. The same thing happens in a gym. When you see people grunting and groaning moving a weight that is too heavy for them sacrificing form just to get the weight up.
So long as they move it and look strong, they don’t care (I used to be this guy).
Get Your FREE Copy Of The ‘7 Skills To Build Muscle With A Suspension Trainer Handbook!’
Apply these 7 powerful skills in your workouts now to build lean muscle quicker and easier. Just tell me where to send it…
Here’s The Problem With That
The problem with movement-centric technique is that the load is shared. Not one or two muscles take all the load to do the work. Sometimes six or eight muscles do.
So if we take 100% load and share it across eight muscles, that’s only a 12% strain for each muscle. That’s fantastic teamwork by the body and amazing biomechanics of the human species. But, it is useless for building lean muscle to transform your body.
Because the load placed upon each muscle isn’t enough to get a muscle growth stimulus. Here’s an example of ‘movement-centric technique’ with a TRX Chest Press…
Most when they do a TRX Chest Press, mindlessly press forward and back. That’s movement-centric technique. All you’re focusing on is the movement of pressing. The problem is when you do this lots of muscles share the load.
The chest is the targeted muscle but other muscles are helping out. Such as your triceps, front shoulders, and biceps. You’re not isolating the individual chest muscle to place the majority of your body weight load onto it.
This means the chest muscle gets a weak muscle growth stimulus because it has;t been worked enough to cause muscle breakdown. A weak stimulus means the muscle doesn’t grow effectively, if at all.
This is the reason why so many people struggle to build lean muscle and keep stalling. Then they constantly change things up due to the frustration of not understanding the reason for the lack of progression.
‘Muscle-Centric’ TRX Technique
Instead, you want to perform Muscle-Centric TRX technique. Focus on the specific muscle you want to target.
Isolate the chest muscle and don’t allow other muscles to help. By using a slow, controlled technique, and your mind-muscle connection to squeeze the muscle powerfully throughout the exercise. Then the majority of your body weight load goes onto that single muscle.
In the TRX chest press example. You lock your body in stone. Then initiate the movement of the press by squeezing your chest muscles. Don’t mindlessly press forward without focusing on the muscle you are targeting.
Maintaining tension (the squeeze) on the chest muscles throughout reduces the amount of shared load from other muscles. So the majority of your body weight load goes onto that chest area throughout the whole range of motion.
When you isolate a muscle and put all the load onto it, you get a powerful muscle growth stimulus. Because the muscle has to work harder so more muscle fatigue and breakdown occur. Which means more effective lean muscle and strength development. And visible results in the mirror.
This Makes Building Muscle With a TRX A lot Easier
A Muscle is MUCH weaker when isolated on its own. So you can use lighter loads, like your body weight, to create a powerful growth stimulus. This means you’ll build lean muscle faster because you’ll achieve a transformational result from every workout.
And because you’re using lighter loads with more control. You’ll build healthy, balanced muscles that support joints and improve your movement patterns for longevity.
Unlike lifting heavy weights or doing persistent impact exercises. Which wears down joints, and causes injuries and pain.
Using muscle-centric technique with a TRX suspension trainer means you can build lean muscle and visibly transform your body. Without needing to rely on a gym or weights ever again.
And there’s a second even more powerful technique. When combined with muscle-centric technique, it will amplify your results and transform your workouts into a form of meditation. For better mental well-being…
Skill 2 – The Skill of Mind-Muscle Connection
What your mind believes, “I Need A Gym & Weights To Transform My Body”. What your muscle knows…
“Your muscle does NOT know where you are or what you are holding. All it knows is the tension you can place upon it through a range of motion”
If there is ONE thing you take away and remember from this, make sure it’s that powerful fact. I call unlocking your mind-muscle connection, the squeeze. In the Fitness Freedom Athletes community, members tease me about it. BUT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT…
‘The Squeeze’ means to powerfully contract the muscle you are targeting with mindful intent throughout the entire range of motion. Place your mind inside your muscle and visualise it squeezing, stretching, moving, and growing. Focus all your attention internally on your body and on that single muscle.
An internal focus is the foundation for unlocking your mind-muscle connection. It’s MINDFUL. Most people are externally focused when they workout, especially in a gym. I bet you can relate to this…
An external focus is mindless. When people workout they think about the rep number, what’s the next exercise, and when will this be over? Or they have ‘life thoughts’ about work, money, daily conversations etc.
They don’t mindfully focus on the one specific muscle they are targeting and how it feels during the exercise. To build lean muscle you need to mindfully connect and internalise your focus. Place your mind inside your muscle.
Let go of external distractions. Keep your phone out of sight. This is why being in your own space on your own time with a suspension trainer is so beneficial.
In a gym, you are externally distracted by the environment. But in your own space, you can internalise your focus without external distractions. You focus on squeezing the muscle you are targeting throughout every single rep. Especially at the top motion of each exercise (picture the top curl part of a bicep curl).
Being able to do this, feel and visualise your muscle contracting and stretching is called having a good mind-muscle connection.
• Building lean muscle
• Increasing your functional srength
• Feeling confident in your body and how it moves
… starts in the mind.
Practising your mind-muscle connection in every workout creates a holistic body connection between your mind, body, and soul. It makes you more in control and more confident. It builds and awakens pathways to parts of your body you never knew existed.
You truly become one with your body and mind. And it feels awesome!
TRX Workouts Become Meditation
With the mind-muscle connection, you can literally use your body to master your mind. When you internalise your focus on the specific muscle you are training. Workouts become a form of mediation. Meditation is focusing on one thing for an extended period of time.
If you don’t focus on anything else except your body and the muscle you are training, you are meditating. And we know the HUGE benefits of mediation. Constantly seeking to internalise your focus in every 30 – 50 minute workout, compounds over time. And you will feel your mental well-being improving with it.
When you begin to use workouts as a form of meditation, it’s a double whammy. Not only do you improve your body, but also your mental well-being. It’s a never-ending improvement circle. As one improves, so does the other.
I’ve personally found, and had clients report:
- social anxiety reduced
- fewer procrastinations
- more grounded and calm
- ability to deep work (business success)
- more confident (relationship success)
This is using your body to master your mind.
Mind-Muscle Connection Is Limitless
It gets better the more you practice. Studies have shown that professional bodybuilders can mindfully connect and contract (squeeze) their muscles to only 50% – 60% of their full potential.
For us everyday folk, we’re at about 20% – 30% ability. That’s a HUGE area for improvement in building lean muscle and transforming your body. Along with your mind.
It’s the one thing I have relentlessly focused on. And it has improved my physique using only a suspension trainer beyond what I ever thought was possible. My clients too.
Using your mind-muscle connection becomes addictive because it feels amazing. A client told me, “I finally understand what a workout should be and feel like” … And it’s so true.
Body Transformation Foundations
As a foundation, just mastering the mind-muscle connection and muscle-centric technique, will make a HUGE difference to your fitness results.
Because I’m a nerd and love Star Wars, it’s kinda like Yoda. With just the force (mind-muscle connection) he’s ok. But combined with muscle-centric technique (light saber), he’s incredible.
The same can be said for our results with a TRX when we use both. Now imagine the possibilities when these two effective techniques are combined with other good principles. Which I refer to as the layers to build upon.
Layers like:
- The right TRX suspension Trainer Program for your level and goal
- The correct nutrition for your goal
- The effective range of motion for each exercise
- Tempo, rest, sets and other training variables
Compounded together your results will be exponential. This is what I call Fitness Freedom.
I Bet You’re Thinking…
“Bloody ell Adam! That was a lot of info we just went through.” I promise the other Skills won’t be as long. These 2 Skills were long because they are the most important.
By the way, if you’re looking for a TRX suspension trainer Program (or resistance band) to build lean muscle and transform your body?
I have a range right here from beginner to advanced for a variety of different fitness goals (lean and sculpt, muscle and size, etc).
In them, I’ll teach you how to perform every exercise with this technique. Along with nutrition, mindset and performance training. Right, onto Skill 3….
Skill 3 – The Skill of NOT Working Hard
One of the biggest mistakes that I see happening today is the idea of training HARD. And sapping all the energy you have.
Simply training hard is stupid. And it’s often the reason joint problems and injuries occur. It’s NOT about hard work.
It’s kinda like trying to play the guitar for the first time. It’ll probably sound terrible. Now let’s assume your coach is sitting next to you yelling at you to play harder and faster.
That doesn’t make sense, right? Practising suspension training or resistance band training technique mastery should ALWAYS precede hard work.
Focus On Quality
It’s never about doing more. It’s about focusing on doing better. Focusing on, ‘how well am I performing this exercise?’ NOT on…
How many reps or how fast am I doing the exercise or how many more exercises can I fit into this workout.’
The more advanced you get with your training and mind-muscle connection, the more you will begin to realise that numbers become less and less relevant.
They are a guide, no more. Hitting the number should not come before technique and mind-muscle connection mastery.
Now Don’t Get Me Wrong
Whilst we want quality over quantity. It is essential to do quantity in order to get to quality. We have to do more in order to get so good that we can do less and still get The same results.
That’s just common sense right. Practice makes perfect. But make sure that the practice is with good technique. Not simply doing more for the sake of doing more.
Skill 4 – The Skill of Output
Own the ability to do high-quality work with a controlled mind but relentless effort and motivation.
Get uncomfortable within workouts and know that it isn’t a sign to stop. Feeling ‘the burn’ is also not a sign to stop. It’s a sign to play and explore in the sensation.
It’s a sign to push further. I’m sure you’ve heard the term, ‘The mind gives up before the body’. This is so true when it comes to our muscles.
Your mind will fail before the muscle itself fails. If the muscle could speak at this perceived point of failure, I guarantee it would say, “Why are we stopping? I’ve got another 3 quality reps in me at least!”
Think Petrol Lights
Think of it like a petrol light coming on. It’s a warning but you’ve still got 50 miles to go. When you feel your mind telling you to stop. Imagine it’s just a warning light.
Focus and discipline lead to AWESOME output. Be relentless in your pursuit of applying high-quality output.
Skill 5 – The Skill of Mobility
A lack of mobility is NOT just tightness, it’s also a sign of weakness. A lack of mobility is normally a lack of muscular balance.
It won’t be fixed by stretching alone. It is often due to poor form and technique when exercising. Think about it. Muscles work in pairs.
When one shortens (contracts) the other muscle must lengthen. This is called antagonistic muscle pairings. They are opposing forces constantly working against each other.
The Squeeze
This leads us back to the importance of Skills 1 and 2 – technique mastery. Focus on fully lengthening the muscle at one end, and fully contracting it at the other (the SQUUEEEZE!).
Over time, you will find imbalances that have been causing you problems, begin to disappear. Not from mindlessly stretching, but from correctly building healthy, strong muscle.
Skill 6 – The Skill of Time
Time under tension is the greatest opportunity for challenging and growing your muscles.
It’s not how many reps, it’s how long (time) the muscle was placed under constant tension (squeeze) within those reps.
Maintain continuous TENSION (squeeze) on the target muscle. INCLUDING at the bottom and top ends of the exercise.
That’s right, we can’t escape many skills without talking about the SQUEEZE. Lean, quality and healthy muscle are built with time under tension.
Tension is lost on a muscle when we stop continuous movement or allow other muscles to take over. Lock your body in stone as you begin to execute the 1st rep of the set.
Don’t Move!
ABSOLUTELY nothing should move other than what is caused by the target muscle contracting (the squeeze) or lengthening.
If we begin to shift, swing, or slightly adjust during a rep, tension is lost on the working muscle. And the load is shared across other muscles.
Again, our body LOVES to do this. It loves to make things easier! More shared tension across multiple muscles = less lean muscle development from the target muscle.
Lock your body in stone!
Which Do You Think Is Better For Building Muscle?
1. Hitting 16 reps of a TRX Chest Press with each rep taking 1-2 seconds
or
2. Hitting 8 reps of a TRX Chest Press with each rep taking 6 seconds
Which do you think would develop quality muscle quicker and better?
If you’re like the majority of movement-centric technique people, who see little progression month on month. You’d have said number 1.
BUT, we’re not those people. We’re the 1% who do things effectively and become unstoppable year on year. We are muscle-centric technique fitness freedom athletes.
That’s why we say the answer is number 2. Why? Let’s look at the maths and science:
1. Hitting 16 reps of a TRX Chest Press with each rep taking 1-2 seconds
16 reps with 2 seconds per rep = 32 seconds
That’s 32 seconds the muscle has the opportunity to be placed under constant tension. If the exercise is performed correctly.
2. Hitting 8 reps of a TRX Chest Press with each rep taking 6 seconds
8 reps with 6 seconds per rep = 48 seconds
That’s 48 seconds the muscle has the opportunity to be placed under constant tension, if the exercise is performed correctly.
If science tells us that muscle is built from time under tension. Then performing number 2 is the obvious and correct route.
Speaking From Experience
My body dramatically changed when I mastered an appreciation for placing my muscles under constant tension. For long periods throughout a set.
The ability to do that from a beginner-advanced level comes with practice and learning. It’s a wonderful thing to master.
It makes the realms of suspension and resistance band training and how we can intensify exercises, endless.
Skill 7 – The Skill of Muscular Endurance
Be honest with me, have you ever done this. Paused at the top of a TRX Squat or a TRX Bicep Curl for a second or two to rest?
I know I have in the past. And still do sometimes. It’s natural. It’s our body trying to take the easy way out and rest.
We know that our body is designed for efficiency so we don’t run out of stored energy. Ultimately, our body was designed to make us lazy.
It wants the stored energy there from an evolutionary standpoint in case we need to run away from a tiger. Exercise is no different.
As we start to fatigue, our brain and nervous system are designed to give us signals to stop what we are doing.
However, YOU ARE still able to continue!
Make it your goal and focus to overcome this natural tendency. Ignore that voice that tells you to, “stop”, “rest”, or “I can’t do another rep”
Know that it is a natural evolutionary safety mechanism. This skill is developed from improving the skill of Time, as that skill leads to challenging muscular endurance.
Increasing this improves the muscle’s ability to produce energy and clear metabolites (waste). Which in turn increases work capacity, muscular stability and strength.
Sounds complex right! In simple terms…It means you’ll be able to push harder and go further. This is the route to advanced level training and body composition
Muscular endurance also makes fat loss easier. As the mitochondria in your muscle cells become much better at utilising fat for energy.
Bonus Skill 8 – The Skill of Breathing
Practising to use just nasal breathing during your suspension trainer workouts, improves circulation due to increased nitrogen in the blood.
It also increases the body’s maximum ability to produce ATP in the presence of Oxygen (VO2 Max). Which in simple terms means…
The body becomes better at performing high amounts of work while burning fat as the primary energy. BIG WIN.
How Does Nasal Breathing Achieve This?
The body is more efficient at oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange with nasal breathing. As it utilises more lobes of the lungs.
This means more oxygen availability in the cardiovascular system. Then more oxidation of fat cells for energy and more CO2 by-product expelled from the lungs.
View nasal breathing as gears to utilise within your life to optimise your body and performance. Like this…
Gear 1: Only nasal breathing
Attempt to live your entire life nasal breathing. From day to day activities and in your workouts. Mouth closed, tongue to the roof of your mouth for jaw alignment and balance, and with controlled slow breaths in and out.
Breathe only through your nose when performing every rep of every set. It will be challenging at first but you will be surprised at how quickly you improve over time.
This skill acquisition has a large beneficial knock-on effect on all areas of your life.
Gear 2: When intensity increases
There will be times when you simply can’t only breathe through your nose. Often during leg workouts, exercises like TRX Pistol Squats are very demanding on your cardiovascular system.
In this instance when intensity increases, look to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
You will be able to breathe quicker and thus supply your body with more oxygen faster.
Gear 3 when intensity increases A LOT
Like a HIIT session or cycling up a hill. When intensity is all out mouth breathing is needed.
Then go back down your gears until you return to nasal breathing. With normal day to day living keep checking yourself and make sure you’re living in gear one until it becomes a habit.
Sleep, general living and suspension training/resistance band workouts (except leg day). Mouth closed, tongue to the roof of the mouth, and only breathing through the nose.
Your TRX Suspension Trainer Body Transformation
If you have a suspension trainer, there are 3 ways I can help you transform your body:
1. The Suspension Trainer Total Body Transformation Program (Beginner Level)
If you’re new to fitness or have less than a year of experience, this 8-week program teaches you how to build lean muscle and transform your body using the ‘Muscle-Centric’ Suspension Trainer Technique. (#1 Most Popular!)
Start Your Transformation Here »
2. The Suspension Trainer Beach Body Program (Intermediate Level)
If you’ve got 1–3 years of experience, this 8-week program helps you get lean, fit, and beach-body ready!
3. Suspension Trainer Ultimate Physique Sculptor Program (Advanced Level)
If you’re a fitness enthusiast with 3+ years of experience, this 12-week program sculpts your body for an aesthetic, head-turning physique.
All programs include complete diet and nutrition guidance to help you build lean muscle, burn fat, and improve your health—plus other BONUSES (that are genuinely helpful!) to boost your performance and mind-muscle connection!
Unsure? Take the Body Transformation Quiz here and in less than 60 seconds, I’ll recommend the best fit for you!
Your TRX Body Transforming Guide,
Coach Adam
Body Transformation Coach
Get Your FREE Copy Of The ‘7 Skills To Build Muscle With A Suspension Trainer Handbook!’
Apply these 7 powerful skills in your workouts now to build lean muscle quicker and easier. Just tell me where to send it…
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