Comparing Low-, Moderate-, and High-Intensity TRX Suspension Training in Male Adolescent Basketball Players

Suspension-based resistance training is widely used in youth athletic development, but whether different prescribed intensities produce distinct neuromuscular and cognitive-motor adaptations in adolescent basketball players is unclear. Forty-five male basketball players aged 15–17 years were randomised to low- (LI-TRX, 45–60% heart-rate reserve), moderate- (MI-TRX, 65–75%) or high-intensity (HI-TRX, 80–95%) suspension training; 43 completed the study (n = 15/14/14). All groups performed an identical 8-week circuit programme three times weekly alongside regular basketball training, with intensity regulated through movement tempo. Change-of-direction speed (primary outcome), dual-task CODS, balance and upper-extremity muscular endurance were assessed before and after the intervention and analysed with 3 × 2 repeated-measures ANOVA and baseline-adjusted ANCOVA. Session rating of perceived exertion separated the three conditions (4.53 ± 0.48, 5.39 ± 0.40 and 6.75 ± 0.55; p < 0.001), confirming that the three prescribed conditions were perceived as distinct; because session heart-rate records were not retained, attainment of the prescribed physiological zones was not verified. Significant time effects emerged for CODS (p = 0.004) and push-up performance (p < 0.001). Group main effects disappeared after baseline adjustment and no group × time interaction was significant. Only HI-TRX exceeded the smallest worthwhile change for CODS and dual-task CODS, and a planned HI-TRX versus LI-TRX contrast favoured HI-TRX for push-up performance (+2.67 repetitions, 95% CI 0.40–4.94). Eight weeks of suspension-based training was accompanied by improvements in CODS and upper-extremity muscular endurance; because no usual-training control group was included, these pre–post changes cannot be attributed to suspension training alone. The prescribed intensity zones did not produce statistically distinguishable adaptations.