Introduction to Resistance Bands
For most people, exercise means lifting weights or doing some type of cardiovascular activity, such as running. But there are a lot of less-than-well-known techniques for exercising, and one of those is using resistance bands.
Using your body’s own resistance for exercise is one of the premiere ways to tone and shape your body. The risk of injury is incredibly low and it provides a fantastic range-of-motion. These exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, body squats, jumping jacks, and many more. You don’t need resistance bands for those particular exercises, but when you add bands to your workout you expand the amount of muscles you can workout, and the types of exercises you can do.
Using resistance bands for exercise takes this theory of using body weight further to provide some great workouts. Exercises like the bicep curl and the overhead press don’t do a lot of good without a weight. But when you use resistance bands, you are providing your muscles the resistance they need to tone up and grow.
Why Aren’t Resistance Bands More Popular?
Most people have heard of resistance bands, but they are not commonly seen like treadmills or weight machines. Why not?
Reason 1: The first reason is because when people try them, they are often surprised at how they feel. With traditional weights, gravity is providing resistance in only one direction – down. You feel the most resistance when you are lifting the weight up (for example, in a bicep curl), so when you bring the weight down gravity is actually helping you do it.
With resistance bands, the tension is constant throughout your range of motion. This is why it feels different, and in most cases more difficult than other exercises. The truth is that when an exercise is new, harder and different, it is a good thing!
Reason 2: The next reason is that people assume that resistance bands do not provide a good workout. “How can some rubber band give me a good workout?” The truth is that your muscles cannot really tell whether you are using weights or bands. They do not discriminate. As long as the tension is similar, you can get the same toning benefits.
Resistance bands “attack” more muscles than weight machines. Machines are restricted to a very narrow range of motion. This leads one part of a muscle to grow more than others, resulting in an uneven distribution of strength. Resistance bands allow your body parts to move freely and provide more resistance throughout. A free range of motion also reduces risk of injury.
Reason 3: The final reason people do not use resistance bands is because they do not know how. If you’ve never used one before, it will be hard to even know where to start. This problem can easily be solved when you learn about the many exercises you can do with resistance bands.
5 Reasons to Start Using Resistance Bands
The Best Value – Dollar for dollar, resistance bands provide the best value out of many pieces of exercise equipment. Expect to pay less than the cost of one month of gym membership. Try out Resistance Bands for only the cost of shipping!
Work for Beginners and Advanced Athletes – Working out with resistance bands can be done by anybody. Beginners can start with simple exercise like bicep curls and chest presses. The benefit is that you can train at your own pace and not hurt yourself, while learning the motions required for free weights. Athletes use resistance bands that provide an large amount of tension, exploding their training and power of their muscles.
Increased Coordination – The range-of-motion and constant tension provided by resistance bands means all of your muscles grow evenly within each body part. Better muscle balance leads to better coordination.
Variety – Let’s face it. Those of us that have been exercising for a long time need some variety every once in a while. Resistance band exercises are a great supplement to weightlifting and cardiovascular exercising.
Easy to Travel – Resistance bands take up no more space than a pair of shoes. You are essentially bringing a full gym with you, anywhere you go!
