Resistance Bands

Doc_Robicheaux
Doc_Robicheaux Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Bought some but haven't used them yet. Any tips would be appreciated. Also any feedback on your results after using them. Thanks!

Replies

  • mandylp318
    mandylp318 Posts: 1 Member
    I have been using the FitOn app for band workouts. It will allow you to filter by equipment, time, trainer, etc. I’ve only been doing the bands for about 2 weeks now, but they are no joke!! You can get some serious toning in.
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    edited April 2022
    Ive used them for a few years. I have 12" and 9" for different types of exercises. I like them since you can do different types of workouts with resistance. I've always bought two sets at a time in case of tares so you're not without. Each and every use no matter if you just check them you should check them again. Nothing is worse than having a Loop break while your mid use. I like wearing pants when I'm using them around my legs so they don't roll. If they do roll on you take the time to fix it because it will be uncomfortable and ineffective if you keep doing the exercise without it flat. If they keep rolling even though you fix them you might be too light and need to go heavier. Lastly, make sure while you use them you still have proper form. If you go too heavy your form will give.
  • I2k4
    I2k4 Posts: 193 Member
    edited April 2022
    A lot depends on how you plan to use them, as an adjunct to a different fitness program (cardio or resistance) or as the main form (best to find or purchase a program). I've had access to a good condo gym and home DBs and gear for years, but got a full set of 41" Power Guidance loop bands a year ago for variety with the gym locked. A friend shared a 3 month all bands "split" program I ran last summer (along with starting MFP protein tracking) with good strength and mass results, but overtrained a bit causing shoulder joint soreness, now resolved.

    Since then, have been roughly rotating full body band, DB and bodyweight / isometric workouts and booking the reopened gym (cables and cardio) once a week. I like a rest day or two between sessions. Depending on specific goals and band use, I recommend using gloves, a door anchor, and possibly a pair of handle grips, and paying close attention to movement form, rep /set and tempo variations and easing into unfamiliar movements to avoid soreness (it's more about developing a "feel" for progress than toting up numbers - that could frustrate some). I have a usable bar but find the hand / wrist positions mostly uncomfortable.
  • LadyInTheArena
    LadyInTheArena Posts: 11 Member
    I got a set that I think can add up to 150lb equivalent (I haven’t used all of them like that) and some “booty bands”- I really like them! For about $30 I have a fully portable home gym. I got a kindle book with band workouts and also love the Darebee no equipment workouts. Basically if I have a few minutes in the morning or even on a break, I can do a little workout so there’s no excuse!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited April 2022
    It depends on what your resistance training goals are. Band work can be a good addition to other resistance training and they are great for rehab. I don't think band work to be all that great all on it's own unless you're really just looking to meet the basic fitness recommendations of most health bodies of at least 2x per week of some kind of resistance training. I spent most of lockdown combining bodyweight resistance training supplemented with some band work...it was fine for what it was, but it was not the same kind of work as what I was doing in the weight room.

    I use bands all of the time, just not as a primary resistance modality. I use them primarily for dynamic warmups at the gym...mostly to get my shoulders and chest warm and ready. I also have ongoing daily PT work that I have to do to keep some other issues at bay. They are also great for strengthening smaller stabilizing muscles. I also use them in conjunction with bodyweight work when I'm on the road for vacation or work as I typically prefer it to the machines in the hotel fitness rooms.

    One of the issues with bands as a primary resistance modality is that you don't really get the full range of resistance the way you would with bodyweight or with weight training. Band work predominately provides for the concentric contraction part of a movement whereas the eccentric contraction (lowering of a weight) is nominal.

    Think of a bench press. When you're bench pressing with free weights, you are moving the full force of the weight off of your chest and you have to lower that same amount of weight back down back down, achieving a full range of resistance. If you do a floor press with bands, you get the resistance going off of your chest as you pull the slack out of the band and stretch it...but coming back down you're only going to get a little bit of eccentric resistance at the very top of the movement...the band will quickly relax and it will be very easy to move back to the starting position.

    Or a squat...same thing. With weights you have a full range of resistance from squatting up to squatting back down with the full amount of weight for each piece of the movement. With a band, you're going to have resistance squatting up, but very little effort will be required to squat back down as bands provide little in the way of eccentric contraction. Really the only eccentric contraction you get is at the very top of the movement. People tend to think of the concentric contraction as the "work"...but in reality, the eccentric aspect is just as, if not more important when it comes to total body strength and power.
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 631 Member
    Do you have loops or bands?
    Either way, incredibly versatile.
    I take them on vacation with me.
    In a nutshell, pretty near any exercise you’d do with dumb bells, you can do with resistance loops or bands.

    I find for certain exercises they are more effective than any other equipment because they have constant resistance.
  • zzelink
    zzelink Posts: 2 Member
    This article can provide some useful information.

    https://www.ritfitsports.com/blogs/article/how-to-use-resistant-bands
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    During the big lockdown in '20, I got a set of the big loop bands and used those with some dumbbells instead of the commercial gym. Still using them, and building up a home gym as I'm not super stoked about going to commercial gyms any more.

    I like that they're portable, and so bring them along on trips. Also, the door anchor provides about the only way to do pulldowns without some kind of fixed bar, so that's great.

    However, they're not ideal for everything, so... if I was to start over from scratch: I'd learn bodyweight movements first, then add bands, and then start adding weights and real hardware (as space and budget allows).
  • Palmtrees22
    Palmtrees22 Posts: 9 Member
    Bands are the best! I use them for so many different things. Great for clam shells and pull downs!
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,085 Member
    I have a wide variety of bands and use them regularly. Primarily, I use them for twisting/rotating moves to offer extra resistance, and for some specific old injury strengthening/maintenance. Also will add them to some balance work I do for extra difficulty.

    One trainer who put together a workout plan for me really focused on the bands, but after sticking with the program for 6 weeks, I just wasn't getting from it what I felt I needed. So I took some of the exercises I did find challenging and helpful, and incorporated those into my regular lifting routine, and am MUCH happier with the overall results (and enjoying my workouts again).

    It was good to get some new ideas, but I didn't feel the workouts really gave me what I needed for my sport (pretty sure he's used to working mostly with guys, and our bodies/needs to be competitive are just not the same, at least with the bikes and pace I'm working on).

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