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Total Gym vs. TRX: Who Wins In A Head To Head?

As an exercise fanatic, a bodybuilder, or a professional athlete, you need high-quality exercise equipment. The fitness market provides a wide range of products from different manufacturers. Whichever workouts you intend to engage, it is crucial that you find safe, well-built appliances that will challenge you to achieve more while fostering your safety at all times.

Are you looking for exercise tools that use your body weight to provide resistance? Total Gym and TRX are brands considering. However, they function in different ways to yield results. Continue reading to find out.

Total Gym vs. TRX Suspension Trainer

The difference between Total Gym and TRX is that the TRX uses suspension straps to help develop flexibility, balance, and strength while the Total Gym utilizes a glide board, squat stand, and cable system to provide challenging workout experiences. However, both Total and TRX allow you to perform resistance exercises that rely on your body weight and not weights.

With that in mind, we are going to delve deeper into the two products covering their features, pros, and cons. By the time you are done reading the article, you should be in a position to make a purchasing decision between the two brands.

Total Gym Overview


Total Gym is always running different discounts and promotions, so check out their official website for the latest deals.


Total Gym is not a single product. It is a company offering a variety of fitness devices to help you build muscles and exercise effectively. It boasts of having endorsements from Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley. The establishment provides four different types of resistance training devices: total Gym XLS, Fit, GTS, and Supreme.

They are foldable for storage in small spaces and portability. You will get a package with a fully assembled device; therefore, you can start working out immediately you open it. Make good use of the 6-22 resistance levels that Total Gym glide boards provide to enrich your workouts. Simply adjust the incline of the glide board to increase or decrease resistance.

Total Gym models feature a glide board, squat stand, cable systems, and a pulley, adjustable nylon straps, head support, wing attachment, and a tow raise bar. Enjoy the smooth motion, a comfortable glide board, a training deck, workout charts, and over 80 exercises on DVD.

If you engage in circuit training, Total Gym allows you to engage in varying types of exercises in short intervals. Besides, some of the workouts to use with this brand include squats, side pull-ups, shoulder presses front pullovers, and sated bicep curls. It is also perfect for a full-body exercise.

PROS

  • Offers smooth gliding
  • Easy to use
  • Has a padded glide bard for comfort
  • Great for a full-body workout
  • Operates quietly

CONS

  • It can be costly for some users.

Who is Total Gym suitable for?

Total Gym is suitable for beginners and experts in resistance training because the brand offers different models with varying capabilities. Therefore, it is possible to find a machine that best suits your skillset for squats, bicep curls, and front pullovers.

TRX Overview

Like Total Gym, TRX is also a brand offering diverse products and accessories. TRX stands for Total Resistance Exercises. The mastermind behind this product is a military professional who wanted to up his fitness game. For that reason, TRX has suspension trainers for beginners, intermediate, advanced, and elite, which includes athletes, military, and law enforcement personnel.

When it comes to the lineup of products that TRX offers, there are premium suspension straps, training tools for various muscle types, and training bundles. In comparing TRX and Total Gym, we are going to use the suspension trainers product. It can comfortably handle 350lbs, and the TRX safety tests prove that.

TRX suspension trainers use the TRX app that allows you to customize your workouts to match your needs. It provides instantaneous feedback form coaches and tracks your progress and biometric data. This way, you can identify areas that need improvement.

The company gifts you with a one- year free access to the TRX app, where you can download various workouts for free and spice up your exercise routine. Through the application, download a workout playlist to push you to train harder and achieve your fitness goals. TRX offers a 5-year limited warranty and a stress-free return policy and pays the return shipping fee.

Let us look at the different suspension trainers that TRX provides. There are three best-selling models Home2 for beginners and intermediate users, Pro4 for those with an advanced skill set, and the Tactical Gym for elite users. On the official TRX website, Home2 costs $199.95, Pro4 is $249.95, while Tactical Gym goes at $249.95 too.

If you need the Home2, you should know that it has heavy-duty foam handles for comfort, door and suspension anchors, an adjustable foothold, and a barrel lock for adjusting the length. However, it is not UV resistant.

As for the TRX Pro4, it boasts of robust materials that can handle heavy usage, has door and suspension anchors and an extender, and textured rubber grip. Like Home2, the model utilizes a barrel lock for length adjustments, has a flexible foot cradle, and is not UV resistant.

TRX Tactical Gym is the most rugged of the three suspension trainers. It is usable in tough conditions and suits elite level users such as those in law enforcement, the military, and first responders. It uses a D-ring length adjustment feature, has an over-sized foot cradle to accommodate combat boots, and is UV resistant, though. Besides, it has door and suspension anchors and an extender.

PROS

  • Offers premium quality products
  • Has safety as a priority
  • Ultra-durable suspension trainers
  • Weather-proof
  • Provides different suspension trainers for diverse skill levels
  • Has an adjustable foot cradle

CONS

  • It is not for the faint-hearted.

Who is the TRX suitable for?

As is the case with Total Gym, TRX suits users of various skill levels (including beginners, intermediate, advanced, and elite) who want to develop strength, stability, balance, and flexibility using suspension trainers.

Some of the exercises to perform using TRX include one leg squat, hang tough, clock press, and squat and fly.

Summary

Both Total Gym and TRX are useful workout brands. Despite them using different workout mechanisms, I find them to be offering challenging experiences for users. However, TRX suspension trainers require you to have the courage to try out something different besides sitting on aboard. Even with the cons, these two products are worthwhile purchases, and they will add value to your workout routine.

SEE ALSO: Total Gym Review