Many people are discovering the convenience and effectiveness of resistance bands for training their muscles. These low cost alternatives to weights are easy and safe to use, but can they actually replace free weights? Is it enough to use resistance bands in lieu of going to the gym altogether?
For the general fitness enthusiast or anyone trying to get into better shape, resistance bands are a good alternative to traditional free weights. If you are a serious or competitive lifter, you’ll need to stick with free weights on big, heavy movements like squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and rows. But with the heavy-duty bands that are available now, almost all other movements can be performed with resistance bands and can be very effective. Virtually every muscle can be trained with resistance bands, which even offer some advantages over weights, namely the resistance curve that increases toward the strongest range of the movement and is not tied to gravity. So, for all but the most hardcore lifters, resistance bands are a valid and comprehensive alternative to free weights.
Are resistance bands really better than weights? Can they build muscle and burn fat? Let’s discuss a little further.
Can you build muscle with resistance bands?
Resistance training simply means to exercise your muscles by pushing or pulling against a weight or some type of resistance that makes it harder. Forcing the muscle to adapt by pushing against something heavy (or stretchy) will cause microtears in the muscle fibers which are then repaired by the body and made stronger and larger during recovery.
This, by definition, is what resistance bands will do. So, they will prove just as effective as weights for the purpose of building muscle. With good form, regular training, and sufficient volume, you can certainly build a significant amount of lean muscle mass by using resistance bands.
For more on this question, check this out.
Can you get ripped with resistance bands?
Getting ripped is the goal of many people who get involved in resistance training. This entails two goals: building muscle, and losing fat, When you have enlarged your muscles and reduced the amount of fat covering them up, they will become more visible. With enough hard work and a careful diet, you will attain that sought-after ‘ripped’ look.
Using resistance bands will certainly help you achieve this goal by doing both of those things. Resistance bands provide an excellent form of resistance for this goal by producing a varied amount of resistance. This means that at the bottom of the movement, where your muscles are weakest, the exercise is easiest because the band is stretched the least. Whereas at the top, where your muscle’s contraction is the most powerful, the resistance is greater. This means that the muscle is more adequately worked in it’s strong range and is not limited by it’s weak range.
One of the many benefits of this resistance curve is that you can perform more reps and get a better contraction at the top. The muscle will be more thoroughly fatigued and the muscle building results will be perhaps even better than with free weights.
While working out with resistance bands, provided you have enough volume (sets and reps) in your workout, you will burn a significant number of calories and will raise your metabolism for hours after your workout. When you are careful with the number of calories that you consume and keep it at or below maintenance level, you can get very lean and achieve the ripped look you’re after.
Can you get big using resistance bands?
If you want to get bigger muscles, and are concerned that resistance bands aren’t going to be enough to get it done, don’t worry, they can definitely get you there.
There are 3 main components to bulking up your muscle mass: resistance training, surplus calories (especially from protein), and rest.
Resistance bands provide an excellent way to stimulate each muscle group and thoroughly fatigue them to lead to repair and growth (protein synthesis). If your goal is to get bigger, you’ll need a higher amount of volume. You should aim for at least 15-20 sets of 10+ reps per week for the bigger muscles (thighs, calves, chest, back) and 10-15 sets for smaller muscles (arms, shoulders, abs). The exact amount of reps and sets is up to you, but with sufficient rest, you can go with the higher range and see some benefits.
Be sure to eat plenty of high quality protein from meat, eggs, and fish, along with a healthy overall diet. Plenty of fiber, vegetables and some fruit.
Rest is the most often overlooked aspect. If you’re training hard 4-5 days a week, but only getting 5 hours sleep a night, you’re sabotaging your own progress. Aim for a solid 8 hours per night and take post-workout naps when possible. Sleep is your body’s time to recuperate and grow so don’t shortchange yourself on this crucial step.
Do resistance bands burn fat?
Resistance bands are designed to be used for strengthening your muscles, not really for cardio or aerobic use. However, anything which makes an exercise harder will allow it to burn more calories, and therefore help reduce body fat.
For example, if you do bodyweight squats, you’ll certainly increase your metabolism temporarily, strengthen your legs, and burn some calories. If you add a resistance band and thereby increase the difficulty of the exercise, all the results will be enhanced. That is, you’ll burn a few more calories, strengthen your legs a little more, and rev up your metabolism for a little longer.
Stick with a high-volume, high-frequency approach to burn maximum calories and burn as much fat as possible. That is, do a lot of sets and reps, often. The more total work you do with resistance bands will lead to the most calories burned.
If you are looking to lose fat, however, the most important single factor is diet. All the resistance band training in the world won’t make you lean if you are overeating. Be sure to eat at – or below your caloric maintenance level to make your workouts effective for this goal. It will vary a little based on body-type, age, gender etc, but generally it’s about 12-15 calories per pound of lean mass. So if you’re 150 lbs with a bodyfat of 20%, you probably need about 1500-1800 calories per day. Eat less to accelerate the fat loss, and keep training with resistance bands to burn those calories.
Are resistance bands better than free weights?
While they have their limitations, resistance bands do have a number of exclusive benefits that free weights don’t have.
- Free weights depend on gravity and, directionally, can only work in opposition to it. Resistance bands can be used in any direction, including horizontally.
- Safety. Free weights can be dangerous if dropped or not secured properly, and you’ll need a spotter if you are going heavy. With resistance bands, there’s no weight to drop, and you won’t need a spotter – you can just let go or relax and not fear injury.
- Adaptable to almost any exercise, resistance bands can be used to work virtually every muscle without expensive mods or equipment.
- Affordability. Weight plates, dumbbells and barbells are made of expensive materials, are usually priced by the lb or kg, and can really add up in price – not to mention shipping… Even the top of the line heavy duty resistance bands will cost far less than a large traditional weight set.
How often should you workout with resistance bands?
How often you should train with resistance bands depends on a number of things but primarily it will be defined by your fitness goals. If you are seeking to become very muscular and lean, a high volume and high frequency plan will work well. That is, 5-6 sets per bodypart, 4-6 times per week. If you train upper legs, calves, chest, triceps, shoulders, biceps and back, this should take about 30-45 mins. This is a good amount of volume and if you feel the need to take an extra day off now and again it can only help your growth.
Even a casual exerciser can benefit from one to two sets per bodypart 5-6 days a week. 10-15mins per day spent exercising with resistance bands is more than enough to stimulate muscle growth and boost your metabolism without coming anywhere near overtraining.
If you prefer a split routine, where you train 1-2 body parts per day, obviously you’ll need to do more sets on each exercise, but you’ll be able to train virtually every day and continue getting results. Rest days are good however, so try to take 1-2 days off each week and get plenty of sleep to get maximum results from your hard work!
You need to find the sweet spot where your volume is enough to maximize results, but you’re not too sore to continue the next day. It will vary from one person to the next.
I use my resistance bands nearly every day and find that 2-3 sets of 20 reps works well for me for most body parts.
If you don’t have any bands yet, here’s a quality resistance band set I’d recommend from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
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Are Resistance Bands Good For Biceps Curls?
No surprise here, resistance bands are excellent for training biceps (as they are for most muscles) because of the resistance curve! That is, the exercise is easiest at the bottom of the movement, where the biceps are weakest, and the band is the least stretched. Of course, at the top of the movement where the biceps are far stronger, the exercise is hardest because the band has been stretched much further, creating far more resistance.
This means that your curls are no longer limited by the weakest point in the movement. For example, if you can only curl 50 lbs on a barbell curl, this really means you can only start a barbell curl with 50 lbs. You could use more weight if you did partial reps in the top half of the exercise, or if you could somehow slide more weight on and off during each rep! Of course this isn’t practical, but using resistance bands is a method available to you that essentially does just that! The resistance increases as the band is stretched and you move away from your weak zone.
Can You (Should You) Do Cardio On Leg Day?
Ultimately, yes you can do cardio on leg day. However you will definitely want to do the weight training first. You see, you won’t perform as well on whichever one you do second, due to fatigue. If possible, spread them out a few hours, and don’t expect to train too hard on the cardio, your legs probably won’t handle it well. Low impact cardio choices, like swimming or the elliptical trainer, are your best options. Because leg training is so strenuous, it’s really better to do them on separate days. But if your schedule requires it, or if your leg training is not too intense, you can do it and not suffer any reduction in results. It is most important to do the leg training with well rested muscles, so don’t do any intense cardio for at least 24 hrs before if you can help it.
