Effects of eight weeks of TRX versus traditional resistance training on physical fitness factors and extremities perimeter of non-athlete underweight females

Introduction: New form of suspension training (TRX) has been introduced which has the ability to develop physical fitness factors. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of eight weeks of resistance training by traditional and TRX methods on physical fitness factors and extremities perimeter of non-athlete underweight girls. Material and methods: Thirty non-athlete underweight female students qualified with an average age of 23 +/- 1.64 years, weight of 43.53 +/- 0.28 kg, height of 162.66 +/- 6.6 cm and BMI of 16.31 +/- 0.2 kg/m(2) were selected and randomly assigned into three groups of 10 subjects (traditional, TRX and control). Participants performed training of 3 sessions per week for eight weeks. Before and after the period of training, physical fitness variables including muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, thigh and arm circumferences were measured. Results: The results showed that both forms of training had a significant effect on muscular strength and endurance. There was no significant difference in flexibility and thigh and arm circumferences. Conclusion: It can be concluded, that the traditional and TRX training have created almost same improvements in physical fitness factors, so TRX training can be considered an efficient choice to do alongside traditional training or as its alternative in order to earn desired training achievements. It is noteworthy that when training goal is to enhance muscular strength and endurance especially in upper-body, TRX training appears to be accompanied by greater gains compared to traditional resistance training.