December 17, 2009: The U.S. Army has bought 3,205 TRX Suspension Trainers, for about a hundred dollars each. Some 200 are being sent to units in Iraq and Afghanistan. These devices are suspended from anything that will bear a few hundred pounds of weight, and be used as a portable weight lifting room. This is a big deal with combat troops, who have learned that muscle will save your life in the battlefield. So weight training is much sought after, on a regular basis, to stay in shape for combat, and to relieve stress. Troops have been buying TRX systems with their own money, and now the government is supplying something considered, for many troops, necessary to succeed at their jobs.

The TRX works by having the person exercising suspending themselves, using the Suspension Trainer straps, to perform 22 exercises that replicate most of the work you would do with weights. Some of the exercises are done while standing, but many are carried out while fully suspended, using your entire body weight, instead of a set of weights. The TRX is particularly popular in remote combat bases, where you don't much beyond your weapons and equipment, and a few personal items.