Suspension Training as a Preventive Strategy: Effects on Muscle Activity, Landing mechanics, and Balance in Female Athletes with Trunk Dominance

Aims: This study aimed to determine whether a six-week progressive TRX suspension training program enhances feedback and feed-forward EMG activity of trunk and lumbopelvic muscles, leading to improved landing mechanics and dynamic balance in female athletes exhibiting trunk-dominance impairment.
Methods: This was a two-arm, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Thirty female student-athletes (age 18–25 years) were screened with the Tuck-Jump Test for trunk-dominance impairment and randomized into either a TRX training group or a no-intervention control group. The intervention group completed a supervised 6-week TRX program (3x/week). Outcome measures included feed-forward and feedback EMG activity of the transversus abdominis, external oblique, quadratus lumborum, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius, as well as dynamic balance (Y-Balance Test) and landing mechanics (Landing Error Scoring System, LESS).
Findings: A mixed-design repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant improvements in feed-forward and feedback muscle activity, LESS scores, and dynamic balance in the training group (p<.05). Conversely, the control group showed no significant changes (p>.05).
Conclusion: A six-week TRX suspension training program is highly effective in enhancing both anticipatory and reactive neuromuscular control in female athletes with trunk-dominance impairment. These physiological improvements translate to significant functional benefits, including safer landing mechanics and enhanced dynamic balance. Therefore, suspension training represents a valuable, evidence-based modality for injury prevention and performance optimization in at-risk athletic populations.