Suspension training is an approach to fitness training that uses a system of ropes and webbing called a "suspension trainer" to allow the user to work against their own body weight. Suspension Training is a registered trade and service mark of Fitness Anywhere, Inc. in the United States under USPTO Reg. Nos. 3255160 and 3255161.

Description

Suspension Training is a type of bodyweight exercise

Bodyweight exercise

Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that do not require free weights; the practitioner's own weight provides the resistance for the movement...

 in which a variety of multi-planar, compound exercise movements can be performed. These are done with the aim of developing strength, balance, flexibility, and joint stability simultaneously. Suspension Training can be considered a type of resistance training

Resistance training

Resistance training has two different meanings. A broader meaning that refers to any training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction , and elastic or hydraulic resistance, which refers to a specific type of strength training that uses elastic or hydraulic tension to provide...

.

Origins

Randy Hetrick, a former Navy Seal and Stanford MBA graduate, developed TRX equipment and the associated Suspension Training bodyweight exercises in the 1990s, and started marketing it in 2005. Kurt Dasbach, a former professional soccer player in Chile, discovered an ancient Andean conditioning system that utilized ropes while playing in South America and developed a rival product, Inkaflexx, around the same time. Another alternative is the aeroSling ELITE made in Germany. This "Suspended Pulley Trainer" also contains a pulley system.
Rope training has been around for sometime. Here are illustrations that show its use in an 1866 Book titled "Athletic Sports for Boys"
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=afl3769.0001.001;page=root;view=image;size=s;seq=7;frm=frameset;

Benefits and criticism

Proponents of Suspension Training argue that it develops core body strength, as well as joint and muscular stability. Some sports scientists have expressed concern that weaker individuals may not have the core stability or joint integrity to use the system safely and effectively.

Because of its demands on the core, Suspension Training essentially turns every movement into a total-body one, reducing the chance of injury.