The newest member of my family is Lotus the greyhound. She’s a 6 year old retired racer that I adopted earlier this month. Lotus is looking forward to carrying on Milo’s legacy and being my YouTube sidekick and making my videos more fun and interesting to watch.

If you watch my YouTube videos, you’ve no doubt seen Milo the cat. He’s hanging around in the background (sometimes foreground) of most of my YouTube videos, and if you read through the comments of my videos, you’ll see that most people are commenting on Milo rather than the intended topic of the videos.

I’m sad to report that Milo past away last month. He was eleven and a half years old, and I had him since he was eight weeks old. He was my best friend for over a decade. RIP Milo. See you at Rainbow Bridge.

I’ve decided to go back to recommending the TRX Suspension Trainer as the best piece of equipment to use for suspended bodyweight exercise. If you want the short version of why I’ve decided to go back to recommending a product from a company that I passionately despise, the gist is that I’ve spent the better part of the past three years trying my damnedest to find a better piece of suspension equipment to promote instead of the TRX, and after three years testing pretty much every piece of suspension gear on the market, I’ve finally decided to give up on that quest and just recommend the TRX Suspension Trainer even though I think every last person at TRX is a certifiable piece of shit. Read on for the long version of this story.

The long version starts back in early 2008 with my introduction to suspension exercise in the form of gymnastic ring training. I purchased a pair of Xtreme Rings from Gymnastics Bodies, and I loved them so much that I ended up buying three more pairs of Xtreme Rings so that I could incorporate basic suspended bodyweight exercises into my boot camp.

It wasn’t long before I realized that gymnastics rings are a huge pain in the ass to use for anything other than gymnastics exercises, so I decided to get rid of my rings and replace them with suspension systems that were more appropriate for the style of training I was using them for. I researched the TRX back then, but determined that the people at TRX were a complete assholes, so I bought 15 sets of Vegas Pro Straps.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that the Vegas Pro Straps were a complete waste of money (awful design, awful quality, zero programming), and I ended up biting the bullet and buying 15 TRX systems even though I didn’t particularly care for TRX as a company at the time.

The TRXs were a great piece of gear at my boot camp. Ultra portable, super quick and simple to setup, adjust, and take down, and very high quality. I even took the TRX Suspension Training class back in the summer of 2008.

In early 2009, I determined that even though I really liked the TRX product, my passionate dislike for the people I had to deal with at TRX caused me to make the decision to sell all of my TRXs and find a different suspension system to use at my boot camp, in my YouTube videos, and to promote on my websites.

Over the past few years, as part of my quest to find a viable alternative to the TRX, I’ve tested pretty much every suspension system on the market. None of them have worked out particularly well. The closest I ever got to finding a replacement for the TRX was the Rip:60. It’s a decent product, but it’s not very portable (heavy and bulbous design), and the foot slings are a huge pain in the ass to use. Also, the Rip:60 is the lowest converting fitness equipment product I’ve ever promoted (second lowest is the GoFit Gravity Straps), and I can’t consistently recommend a product that clearly no one (or at least none of my audience) wants to buy.

The most recent product I have been recommending is the Human Trainer, but two things caused me to decide not to continue to promote that product. First, my design preference is ultra simplicity, and the TRX feature I love the most is that it’s one single piece of equipment (two pieces of you include the door anchor). The Human Trainer is eight pieces, or fourteen pieces, depending on which system you buy. I really hate that. It really feels like a cluttered mess, particularly when trying to pack everything into a bag. Also, the Human Trainer recently went out of stock, and isn’t expected to come back in stock for eight to ten weeks (that’s right, two to two and a half months). I was beyond infuriated recently when one of the affiliate products I consistently recommend went out of stock for a couple of weeks, so having one of my affiliate products go out of stock for over two months is a deal breaker for me.

So I officially give up trying to find a viable alternative to the TRX Suspension Trainer, and I’ve decided to put my intense hatred for the TRX company aside and go back to recommending the TRX as the best piece of suspension gear to use for suspended bodyweight exercise. I still hate every last person I’ve ever dealt with at TRX, but I’ve decided that my intense hatred for those people is not enough reason to continue what is beginning to feel like a lost cause in finding a viable TRX alternative.

I received an email today from someone asking me to give him a personal recommendation on which suspension system to buy: TRX Suspension Trainer or War Machine/CrossCore180. The person sending me the email had read my blog post on the TRX Suspension Trainer vs. War Machine/CrossCore180, but gave me a bunch of info about his personal situation and wanted my recommendation on which suspension system to choose. Below is the response that I sent him.

Note that in the original email the person sent me, one of the things he wrote was “I hate the TRX brand with a passion, so if you can avoid recommending them to me, please do.” I figured I’d mention that here just to give context to why I wrote “Now for the recommendation you said you were hoping not to get” prior to recommending the TRX to him.

Yeah, I really don’t care for rotational suspension systems for all of the reasons mentioned in my TRX vs. CrossCore blog post. So for my own purposes, I feel that rotational suspension systems are pretty pointless, and I’d rather use a regular suspension system. If I want to train rotational movements (which I often do), I will use resistance bands, and sometimes bands plus dowel training (i.e. similar to TRX Rip Trainer).

With that being said, the main reason why I would still encourage you to pickup a CrossCore180 is if you think you will get the most enjoyment out of rotational suspension gym training. I strongly believe that the best style of exercise for each individual is the type of exercise that they enjoy. So if you feel that you will enjoy the added instability of a rotational suspension system, and the added challenge of trying to balance on the pulley system, I would strongly encourage you to pickup a CrossCore180.

For me, I thought I would enjoy the added instability and challenge involved with the CrossCore180, but I found the pulley system to be awkward and frankly a pain in the ass. Performing exercises on it felt more like some kind of circus balancing act than an actual workout. The first few times I used the CrossCore180, I loved it. But I quickly got sick of it and went back to regular suspended bodyweight exercise, and I haven’t done any pulley training in well over a year, and probably won’t ever use those types of suspension systems again.

So enjoyment would be the the only potential reason I could think of for why you might choose to buy a CrossCore180 (i.e. if you believe that you will get the most enjoyment out of that type of suspension system, then go for it).

Now for the recommendation you said you were hoping not to get (i.e. a TRX recommendation). To answer your question about whether I’d still recommend a TRX over CrossCore180 to someone who already has a conventional dual-anchor suspension system, my answer is yes, definitely and wholeheartedly (full disclosure: I passionately hate the people at TRX).

Since the TRX is a single-anchor design, with handles on both ends of the same strap, with that strap going through a single loop, the TRX forces you to engage your core more than dual-anchor systems do. The TRX will give you feedback if you’re cheating with your dominant side because although the TRX doesn’t allow full rotation, it does allow the straps to slide a few inches either way, so if you’re not keeping equal weight on both handles, the system will slide on you. In my opinion, it’s the perfect amount of strap movement to challenge you to engage your core while allowing you to push/pull with maximum force (something that’s lost on the rotational pulley systems).

So my ultimate recommendation to you will depend on what it is that you want. If you want the piece of equipment that you will enjoy the most, I say choose the CrossCore180 *IF* you believe that the CrossCore180 is the system that you will enjoy the most (I can’t answer that question for you).

If you want my recommendation for the best suspension gym that will give you the most effective workouts and challenge you more than your dual-anchor suspension system, I recommend that you purchase a TRX.

I just noticed the following question in my Google search logs:

Does Kron Gracie workout?

Assuming the question is meant to ask whether Kron does any traditional forms of exercise such as boring cardio and/or resistance training, the one-word answer is “no”.

The three sentence answer can be heard at the very end of the Universal MMA seminar video footage . His answer was that he doesn’t do any specific cardio exercise or other types of resistance training. He just trains jiu-jitsu.

Also note that Kron Gracie is the fittest human being I’ve ever seen in my entire life, so yes, BJJ is the only form of exercise you need in order to get fit and stay in shape. Helio Gracie (Kron’s grandfather and one of the founders of BJJ) lived to be 95 years old and continued to train BJJ right up until the week that he passed away.

Q: Which is better, TRX or War Machine?

A: TRX by a landslide.

Q: Who makes the most durable resistance bands?

A: Any of the top brands of continuously looped resistance bands.

Q: Who created Rip:60?

A: Icon Fitness.

Q: Is North Van BJJ good?

A: Yes, very good.

Q: How to make working out less boring?

A: Find a type of exercise that you enjoy.

Q: Gymnastic ring width, 1.11 vs 1.25?

A: 1.11″ unless you’ve got freakishly large hands.

Q: CrossCore door anchor?

A: It’s actually just a steel buckle that I guarantee will ruin your door.

Q: Best suspension trainer?

A: As much as it pains me to say it, the TRX Tactical Suspension Trainer.

Q: Best fitness rings?

A: Again Faster Wooden Gymnastics Rings.

Q: Interval timer MP3s?

A: Workout Muse.

I love the workouts than can be put together using the Lebert Equalizer (EQ) and resistance bands. Here’s an intense calorie-burning workout than you can do at home using just those two pieces of equipment.

Warm-Up (5 Minutes)

1. Jumping Jacks
2. Squats
3. Chest Press (Resistance Bands)
4. Lunges
5. Rows (Resistance Bands)

Perform 30 seconds of each exercise, for 2 rounds, then rest for 1 to 2 minutes before starting the first circuit.

Circuit #1 (10 Minutes)

1. Dips (EQ)
2. Split Squat + Arm Curls
3. High Row (EQ)
4. Reverse Lunge + Knee-Up + Hop
5. Step-Up And Overs

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. Perform a total of 2 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the next circuit. For the first round, perform the Split Squat + Arm Curls with your right leg forward, and for the second round, perform the exercise with your left leg forward. For the first round, perform the Reverse Lunge + Knee-Up + Hop by stepping back with your right leg, and for the second round, perform the exercise by stepping back with your left leg.

Circuit #2 (10 Minutes)

1. Plyo Pushups (EQ)
2. Reverse Lunge + Reverse Fly (Resistance Bands)
3. Underhand Grip Row (EQ)
4. Forward Lunge + Chest Fly (Resistance Bands)
5. High Jog

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. Perform a total of 2 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the next circuit.

Circuit #3 (10 Minutes)

1. Triceps Extensions (EQ)
2. Lateral Squats
3. Kneeling Pulldown (Resistance Bands)
4. Push Press (Resistance Bands)
5. Warrior Lunges

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. Perform a total of 2 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the core circuit.

Core Circuit (10 Minutes)

1. Leg Raises (EQ)
2. Side Plank + Reverse Fly (Resistance Bands)
3. Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
4. Hip Extensions
5. Woodchoppers (Resistance Bands)

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. For the first round, perform the Side Plank + Reverse Fly on your right side, and for the second round, perform the exercise on your left side. For the first round, perform Woodchoppers rotating to the left, and for the second round, perform the exercise rotating to the right.

Over the years, I’ve purchased thousands of dollars of home exercise equipment and fitness related gear and apparel. You might think that my favourite piece of gear is a high-end set of resistance bands or suspension system. You’d be wrong. This is the item that I’ve enjoyed the most and have developed the strongest attachment to:

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of attending a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar with Kron Gracie. The seminar was not only one of the most enjoyable BJJ experiences I’ve ever had, but it ranks right up there as one of the most positive and memorable experiences of my entire life. After the seminar was over, Kron stayed for quite a while to answer questions and share his thoughts on BJJ and life in general. Here’s some video footage taken from that Q&A:

The Lebert Equalizer (EQ) combined with resistance bands equals a killer workout with lots of variety. Here’s an example of a fun and effective workout you can have at home with those two pieces of equipment.

Warm-Up (5 Minutes)

1. Squats
2. Chest Press (Resistance Bands)
3. Lunges
4. Hip Extensions
5. Rows (Resistance Bands)

Perform 30 seconds of each exercise, for 2 rounds, then rest for 1 to 2 minutes before starting the first circuit.

Circuit #1 (10 Minutes)

1. 10 Dips (EQ)
2. 50 Alternating Chest Presses (Resistance Bands)
3. 10 Bodyweight Rows (EQ)
4. 50 Alternating Rows (Resistance Bands)
5. 50 Rope Skips (Jump Rope)

Perform that circuit for as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 10 minutes, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the next circuit.

Circuit #2 (10 Minutes)

1. Triceps Extensions (EQ)
2. Lateral Squats
3. Underhand Grip Row (EQ)
4. Shoulder Press (Resistance Bands)
5. Alternating Split Squat Jumps

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. Perform a total of 2 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the next circuit.

Circuit #3 (10 Minutes)

1. Burpees
2. Resisted Squats (Resistance Bands)
3. Y Deltoid Raise (Resistance Bands)
4. Bulgarian Split Squat (EQ)
5. Jump Rope

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise and then take 20 seconds rest as you transition to the next exercise. Perform a total of 2 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes before moving on to the core circuit. For the first round, perform the Bulgarian Split Squat with your right leg elevated behind you on the EQ, and for the second round, perform the Bulgarian Split Squat with your left leg elevated behind you on the EQ.

Core Circuit (5 Minutes)

1. Side Plank
2. Other Side Plank
3. Plank

Perform 40 seconds of each exercise. Do not take any rest between exercises. After performing all three exercises in the series, rest for 1 minute, then repeat for 1 additional round (total of 2 rounds).