Resistance Bands

mdurham1976

Becuase of a hectic work/life schedule getting to the gym seems nearly impossible. I have purchased some resistance bands, I am not looking to bulk up by any menas, I already do 30 minutes of running via treadmill 3 to 4 times per week. i am thinking about using these bands 2 to 3 days per week as well. has anyone had any success with these?

Mokey41

What do you mean by success? Used properly they're as good as light weights for strength training.

LilRedRooster

I have some at home that I use for the weekends, since I can't get to a gym on the weekends. Generally speaking, they work as well as the lighter weights at the gym (anything over about 25lbs and they don't really compare, if you're using free-weights or doing squats with a bar), but they're very flexible in terms of how I can use them. I usually borrow exercises from P90X or something similar, and they keep me at a good base level for strength training in general.

I don't use them instead of weights, though, because I tend to like to lift heavier and do fewer sets. So I combine both, and do gym weights during the week. You CAN do lower reps and higher resistance with bands, but the motions are slightly different, and the resistance is only so much.

Point being, for general strength training, they're good and do a great job of setting up a nice base, but if you ever get more serious about it, I would do a combination of free weights and bands, or else you'll end up a bit stagnant.

TonyaPietrzak

When I use them I feel my obliques screaming at me in the morning... which hurts so GOOD!!! So some kind of success is happening in there

mdurham1976

Basically just looking to drop LBS and tone. eventually I should be able to go to the gym and lift with free weights, however for the short term 6 to 8 weeks was hoping to use these.