With everything that’s going on in the world, busy schedules and lifestyles are the norm. So many people are looking for a simple, portable, yet effective way to get in shape or stay that way without having to get to a gym. This is particularly true right now, as at the time of writing 90% of the country (US) is basically on lockdown due to the Covid-19 crisis. At times like these, you have a few choices. One of the simplest, most universal, and cost effective options available to you is to use resistance bands. So, what are the benefits of resistance bands?
Resistance bands have many great benefits, including:
- Variable resistance. As the resistance band stretches, the resistance increases. This works out great for your muscles as you are typically much weaker at the bottom of the movement. Think about when you do squats. You can handle much less weight at the bottom when your knees are bent 90° compared to when they are nearly straight at the top of the movement. This is the same for nearly every exercise. Bench Press, shoulder press, curls. This way the muscle gets trained thoroughly at every point of the movement, and is not limited by the weak points.
- Build muscle. Resistance bands will definitely help you build some serious muscle. With sufficient volume you can get a great pump, and thoroughly stimulate and tear down the muscle fibers.
- Build bone density. All weight-bearing exercises will help increase bone density. With regular training, resistance bands will also have this effect. This is important as you age as your bones typically become weaker.
- Burn calories and fat. Working out with resistance bands can burn a significant number of calories. Depending on how intensely you exercise, a one hour workout with resistance bands could burn up to 500 calories, significantly contributing to fat burn and weight maintenance.
- Useful for stretching. Resistance bands can a great tool for active stretching, where you need a gentle push to help you stretch a little further and increase your flexibility.
- Universal. There are virtually endless options for exercises that you can do with resistance bands. You can work every major muscle group at every angle. You may need some anchor points to fasten the bands to, or loop them around, but you can do pretty much every exercise you can think of with bands instead of weights, and be safer and not need a spotter.
- Versatility and Convenience. You will be able to get a great workout in, anywhere, anytime. Any exercise you need to do can be done.
- Portable. Most people will only need a small set of resistance bands and they take up so little space. You can just toss them in a book bag, purse, or gym bag and take them anywhere. I keep one in my car and pump out a few reps at work when I have some downtime.
- Light-Weight/Compact. The physical space that a set of resistance bands take up is very little, they can fit almost anywhere and don’t need a whole dedicated room like traditional gym equipment and free weights.
- Low-Cost. The cost of a set of resistance bands is very low indeed. Especially compared to free weights and gym equipment, which can quickly run into the $1000s. A basic set of resistance bands can be as little as $20 at your local superstore. Of course, a good set, or a more advanced one will be more, but compared to the traditional gym equipment it is a tiny fraction of the cost.
- Safety. You will never need a spotter, and there’s no weights to drop on your feet. You can even workout in sandals when you are using resistance bands! Ever get pinned under a barbell while trying to bench a little too much weight? I know I did when I was a teenager. That simply can’t happen with resistance bands.
- Therapeutic. Those who are very out of shape, or going through rehabilitation after an injury will do well to use resistance bands to help regain mobility and strength. The ability to stick to your natural range of motion and very small amounts of resistance are crucial to working through an injury. Of course, follow the directions of your health care provider.
Are resistance bands effective?
Resistance training is based around the body’s process of adapting to increased stimuli in the form of resistance exercise. This means that when you place more stress you put on a muscle while you exercise, the muscle will grow bigger and stronger to adapt to the challenge.
How the resistance is provided is not really all that important, and resistance bands provide a low cost, light-weight, adaptable choice to get the muscles working harder and growing. You’ll actually find that you get an incredible pump when you use resistance bands. While resistance bands would seem geared strictly to high-rep low-weight work, they are also able to provide a high amount of resistance. With some of the heavy duty bands that are available, they can easily be substituted for heavy weight room work.
Do resistance bands make a difference?
If practiced with enough intensity, regularity, and focus, working out with resistance bands can make a huge difference to your physique. The flexibility in exercise choice that resistance bands offer makes them indispensable for those short on time, or space. You can work literally every major muscle group with the use of resistance bands. This can result in significant muscle gain, fat loss, and overall improvement in conditioning.
Asking whether resistance bands work (presumably meaning do they help stimulate muscle growth and burn calories), is like asking whether or not resistance training, in general, works! Yes, it does work as countless athletes and trainees have proved over the years. Your body will respond to resistance training if it is practiced regularly over time by growing stronger and (if diet permits) leaner. It doesn’t make much difference to your muscles whether the resistance comes from dumbbells and barbells, machines, or resistance bands.
Are resistance bands as good as weights?
Resistance bands are a mixed bag when compared to free weights. While both provide resistance against which you can strengthen your muscles, there are a few differences in what each can do for you.
When you lift weights you are limited by the week range of the movement, typically the beginning. This means that you will be using a weight which is appropriate for the bottom range of the movement, but is not enough to fully work the muscle in the upper, stronger range of the movement.
With resistance bands, this problem is sort of flipped on its belly because the resistance at the top of the movement is far greater, which is good because this is the range of the movement in which your muscles are the most powerful. However, due to the resistance curve of elasticated bands, there is very little resistance at the bottom of the movement where you are weakest.
Another shortcoming of free weights is that the plane of motion will also affect how much resistance is present at different points within the range of the movement. For example, think of preacher curls. In this exercise there’s a lot of resistance at the bottom of the movement, and very little at the top as your elbows are perpendicular to the floor.
Again, resistance bands are superior to weights in planes of motion that are horizontal or partially so because the resistance is not created by gravity, but by elasticity.
Ultimately, of course it is best to use both free weights and resistance bands. Sometimes it just won’t be practical to use resistance bands for heavy training on exercises such as deadlifts, or heavy bent over rows or bench presses, for example. For situations such as this there’s no substitute for free weights. But for more casual trainees, and those who are seeking a fit and healthy lifestyle, resistance bands should provide everything you need to perform the vast majority of exercises and get in great shape.
Can you get ripped with resistance bands?
For the average person, getting ripped means accomplishing a combination of two things: gain muscle, lose fat. Resistance bands can certainly help you do both of these things, so yes they can help you get ripped. Of course, you are the one who has to put in the work and monitor your diet.
Resistance bands, if used correctly, can be a worthy substitute for an entire gym! If you focus on the big compound movements, like squats, rows, and presses, and are sure to get plenty of volume in, you will build muscle and rev your metabolism to the max!
Again, the advantages of resistance bands over free weights are numerous. The biggest one is that there is a variable resistance curve, so the exercise is most difficult at the top of the movement, where you are strongest. This is because the band is stretched the furthest at this point. This is very good for building muscle as you are no longer limited by how much you can do in the lower, weaker range of the movement.
Resistance bands never require a spotter, and are a very safe way to build muscle and burn calories on your way to getting ripped.
Diet is always going to be the main determining factor in whether or not you’ll get ripped but a regular, intense workout routine with resistance bands will certainly do plenty to help.
Why should you use resistance bands?
Resistance bands are inexpensive, their portability is unrivalled, they take up hardly any space, the sheer number of exercises you can do with them is huge, and there’s less risk of injury! With these advantages over weights and gyms, there is a strong case for you to use resistance bands in your workouts. Maybe even use them exclusively if you travel a lot or don’t have time for, or access to, a gym.
With a basic set of resistance bands causing as little as $20, the affordability and convenience of these simple tools makes them a great choice for anyone that wants to get a good workout on their own terms.
Safety, variable resistance increasing toward your strong range of any exercise, the low cost, and the fact that you have so many possibilities with such little equipment, makes resistance bands an excellent tool to use to create your best body.
If you don’t have any bands yet, here’s a quality resistance band set I’d recommend from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Related Posts:
Can Resistance Bands (Alone) Build Muscle Mass?
The short answer is, definitely! Any type of meaningful resistance can help you add muscle mass. Just because that resistance doesn’t come in the form of a barbell, doesn’t mean you can’t grow muscle with it. Depending on how strong you are, you may need to invest in a more heavy-duty set of resistance bands in order to thoroughly work your muscles. With enough volume and careful technique, working out with resistance bands can yield great results. Resistance bands offer a few benefits that regular weights do not, and when used properly, can really help you pack on the muscle.
What’s The Best Way To Do 200 Pushups?
I call it PPM (Push-ups per minute). Place a clock or timer near you. You could watch a movie or TV show and have the timer running. Listen to music, whatever you like. Every minute, on the minute, do 10 push-ups as fast as you can, then rest and stretch for the rest of the minute. Continue this for 20 minutes. You will notice that at first this is really easy, but once you’ve got a few sets under your belt, it’ll start to take a little bit longer. As the sets take longer, your rest periods become shorter, providing less recuperation for the following set. Your heart rate will be elevated for the entire 20 minutes, and for a few minutes afterwards. Providing a workout with a steadily increasing difficulty from warm up to final set.
