TRX machines. How good are they, do they work and how many painkillers will I need afterwards?

[Meglet]

I've just realised they have one of these whizzy bits of equipment at the gym. I was going to book an induction but also wondered what everyone else thought of them so I knew what I was letting myself in for!

I'm not averse to pain and hard work and need to build some muscle. Is it a quick work out or is there a bit of faffing about changing the various bits of equipment on it?

Any tips, experiences appreciated.

ooh I tried these the other day for abs.

They worked my poor abs so much harder than situps, but not too painful the next day, just got fatigued so had to rest at the time.

Stick your feet in (have them low near the floor) and bring your knees in to your chest and out again. And then "mountain walk" - one leg at a time. Or even plank or pressups with your feet in them.

They are a fantastic piece of equipment, which my gym is lacking, as is my budget to buy one for home Really, really versatile, fantastic for core strength but also totally possible to get a full body workout using just that.

Come and have a read through the TRX/weight training thread further down here, there are some people who use them on there who will be able to advise you better than I.

• Genecowan is right, it is a great piece of kit. There are hundreds of exercises you can do with it, can give a full body workout so can fill as much or as little time as you have.

Easy to switch between upper and lower body exercises so it can be very efficient and almost all will work your core as well as "main" muscles you are targeting. As mentioned above, if you do specific core exercises it is amazing.

The only adjustments/fiddling is the length the handles hang at, depending on whether you want to hold them in your hands or put your feet in them. This is very quick and easy. There is no "equipment" necessary other than the TRX itself, your body weight provides all the resistance and you adjust your position to make this to make it as easy or hard as you want, so it is brilliant for any level of strength/fitness.

If your gym has a PT familiar with the TRX then a half hour session would be useful to start you off but there are loads of clips on YouTube to show various forms of torture exercises. It will definitely help you improve strength and build lovely lean muscles.