Resistance bands are small, easy to travel with, and pack a serious punch. Training with resistance bands has become increasingly popular. They offer a lot of value and a wide range of exercise options to get the results you’re looking for. They’re great for beginners to learn movement with decreased injury risk, but they can also challenge fitness experts. From physical therapy to training for the NFL, people of all kinds can utilize bands to warm up, workout with or cool down. They’re an excellent tool to work on body control, increase strength & athleticism.
Whether you’re a pilates fan, TB12 Method follower, or just like added resistance in your workout, resistance bands are something you need to implement into your routine.
Resistance Bands are Low Impact
We’ve discussed in the Apex Insider reasons why people shy away from weight training. One of the leading reasons is concern of injuring yourself or aggravating an existing injury. While weight training is awesome, resistance bands are a great substitute to help you learn and exercise while still providing a challenge. As you gain strength and comfort within the movement you can add weight and/or more band tension. Either way, bands allow you the flexibility to keep workouts very low impact or high impact.
No Equipment is More Portable than Bands
If there’s room for an extra pair of socks in your bag, there’s room for a few resistance bands! We love the convenience, small size and overall portability of resistance bands. You can carry them in your backpack to school to squeeze in a few corrective exercises. You can bring them to your desk at work to offset long hours sitting hunched over a computer. They can travel with you so you can stay on top of your physical therapy, strength, and muscle activation. There isn’t a better piece of equipment out there that provides the value of resistance bands and takes up less weight AND room.
Increase Strength with Resistance Bands
Piling on more and more weight isn’t the only way to increase strength. Utilizing resistance bands, you can also increase top end strength, and for beginners, it’s great to learn movement while challenging the body with less injury risk. One of our favorite ways to incorporate a band is around the ends of a barbell when squatting. Without adding weight, a standard 45 pound barbell can become significantly harder squat. We love this particular utilization of bands because when the movement becomes easier (as you approach the top), that’s where the bands kick in and make it harder. This gives you an extra challenge with the same exact “weight” on the bar.
Increase Body Control Through Resistance Training
We saved the best for last. Our favorite reason to utilize bands is to enhance body control. We work with elementary school athletes and as they grow throughout middle school and high school. While the body continues to develop, resistance bands are a great tool to provide a challenge, yet allow people to train safely. Both male and female athletes while training at Apex Performance Wellness & Rehab have made gains athletically while training strictly with resistance bands. This can primarily be attributed to an enhanced understanding of your body and what it’s capable (or incapable) of.
For adults that train with us (both online and in the facility), bands are AWESOME. They’re great to help you understand your limits and provide a challenge. For example, we love to do banded single leg lateral hops. This exercise is great to develop more explosiveness and power off one leg. However, with a band, the extra benefit occurs when you jump back. The band will obviously be pulling you harder on the back, so landing with control on a single leg becomes tougher. Without the band this is still a great exercise, but with it, it’s in better and can get your more results out of the same exercise.
How can you get started training with resistance bands?
We love helping people learn to utilize resistance bands in their routine. We have both mini bands and long bands, as well as online platform equipped with video instruction. This way, you can get a great workout in at the park, on the beach or at your desk. If you’re curious, have questions or want to chat about it, give us a call, or send an email or text! We want to help you Champion Your Body.