DIY TRX straps. DIY Suspension Trainer
I am going to show you how to make your own homemade DIY TRX straps. These are TRX style suspension straps that I have been using for many years now. These homemade TRX type Suspension Training straps are super strong and completely adjustable.
Also see How to Make your own Wrist Roller.
The original TRX Straps are awesome, but they are expensive! They cost between $99.99 for the travel model, $149.99 for the basic kit and $229.99 for the Deluxe bundle.
I believe they are well worth the money, but not everyone has that kind of cash on hand to spend on another type of workout gear.
I prefer the steel handles because I am “old school”, but any decent handles will do the job.
I will also show you some of the great body-weight exercises you can do with them.
Anchoring TRX Straps in a doorway
TRX straps come ready to anchor to a doorway. Let me just say that a doorway is a TERRIBLE place to hang these straps! Unless you don’t mind damaging your interior doors. No door is designed to support a person’s body weight, especially most interior doors that are actually hollow inside with light duty hinges.
The other problem with the door anchor is that the door needs to be closed to use it, which severely limits your workout area and makes some of the best exercises impossible to perform.
The straps I made are attached to the chin up bar on my power rack.
I recommend finding a very strong support for these straps so you can workout safely. I will show you a method of attaching them to a ceiling joist if you happen to want to use them in your basement or garage.
What you Need to Make your own TRX Straps
You can make your own TRX straps with basically 2 items, a set of handles and a pair of straps that are rated for 600 lbs. the straps shown are easily adjustable on the fly as I will demonstrate.
The straps are general purpose lashing straps that are rated for 300+ lbs so you do not need to worry about breakage. You can get these at Walmart or order them online from Amazon.
I am using metal handles that are about $10 each that are also useful for other exercises, but you can purchase nylon web handles for around $20 a pair, or heavy duty nylon handles for $25. Either way they are dirt cheap.
If you need to anchor your diy TRX straps to a wall or ceiling joist, here are some excellent anchors you can use to attach your straps securely.
Homemade TRX Suspension Anchors
These anchors make use of large bolts to anchor a steel loop to connect and anchor your homemade or Original TRX straps. Any time you are using large bolts to anchor to wood (such as a joist) you need to drill a pilot hole a bit smaller than the diameter of the bolt. This is to prevent splitting the wood. Be sure to follow the manufacturers instructions when you mount these anchor products.
Video: Homemade TRX Straps DIY Suspension Training Straps
Here is a pic of me doing my favorite chest “finishing move”. These are called suspended push ups. See my article on best upper body exercises without weights.
I always do these last in my chest workout. Not only does it hit chest, delts and triceps, but your core is worked pretty hard for a great whole body exercise.
Here is a great link to a full body TRX workout that you will love!
So there you have it. A quick and easy homemade DIY TRX straps/suspension trainer for less than about $60.
Hi,
Thanks very much for a short and sweet article on TRX straps! Total Body Resistance training is indeed a brilliant idea which most people can afford, rather than buying gym equipment. And the results are maximal.
But as you say, the straps’ price itself can be prohibitive. Thanks for offering s solution to that dilemma.
Isn’t the doorway the most obvious place that most people would choose? I am one opponent of doorways being used for such purposes; thanks for saying it louder than me! I believe it’s really unsafe in terms of potential bodily harm and structural loss.
And the straps – how would you advise we test their strength / ability to carry a weight in excess of 50kg, before we set out to use our home made TRX straps?
Regards.
Teboho, thank you for stopping by my article on making your own TRX straps and leaving a comment! I appreciate knowing that people are getting some value from what I have written.
As far as your question about testing the straps, I always make sure I buy straps that are rated for several times my bodyweight so that I do not have to worry about that. I would also advise visually inspecting the straps before each work out to make sure there are no rips or other issues that may cause them to fail. I have been using mine for years and never had any kind of an issue.
Dave
Teboho,
Thanks for your comment in question on the Do it yourself TRX straps!
To answer your question I would just be sure that I purchase straps that are rated well above my body weight. You can test them by leaning into them first before you put your entire body weight on them to make sure they hold up, or attaching weights, dumbbells, or other heavy objects to them to make sure they are sturdy.
Dave
helllooo and thanks a lot for sharing such an educational post with us all about making your own TRX straps! i was actually doing some research online when i saw your nicely written article and i really want to commend your effort in explaining how to make them myself. i really do fancy this post so i already saved this page so as to come back for future referencing.
Charsleethan1,
Thanks for the nice comment on my Make your own TRX strap article! I hope you are able to use it to save some money!
Dave
Yours are the best DIY TRX bands I’ve seen! I would like to make these straps and set them up in my basement attached to a joist. I have been looking at anchor points but it looks like they should be bolted to the joist which would have to be from the side and not the bottom of the joist. Do you have any suggestions for attaching to a wooden joist?
Thanks!
Thanks for the nice comment! I love my DIY TRX straps and use them frequently. To mount to a ceiling joist, I would use something like porch swing mounting hardware such as this one at amazon: https://amzn.to/2TA8Eej Just screw them securely to the joist and use the carabiner connectors to hand your straps. I hope this helps, Dave