Top 10 Benefits Of Resistance Bands
Do you still think that resistance bands are an 80s trend that are only good for a light warmup and stretch? Get with the times.
Resistance bands are one of the best pieces of fitness equipment that you can own and incorporate into your workouts. Let’s review the top 10 benefits of resistance bands, and why you need to get your hands on a set today.
LONG-TERM FITNESS INVESTMENT
Buy the right pair of resistance bands and you’ll have yourself a piece of fitness equipment that will last for many years. Given their durability and low cost, resistance bands are one of the best investments you can make in transforming your body. For advanced lifters, resistance band workouts are also a great way to mix things up.
GREAT FOR BEGINNERS
If you’re new to the weightlifting and fitness scene, barbells stacked with weight plates and dumbbells as big as your head can be intimidating. Resistance bands are a great way to learn the fundamentals of fitness such as compound exercises without the additional worry of specific placement.
For example, during a barbell squat, you have to perfect the placement of the bar on your traps using a squat pad as much as you do the execution of the exercise.
SAFE WAY TO EXERCISE
Continuing with the point above, resistance bands are one of the safest ways to exercise. You don’t have to worry about dropping a weight on your foot, or even worse, if you try to execute an exercise with too much weight and seriously hurt yourself.
The worst thing you have to worry about with resistance bands is a snap back, but this can easily be avoided by holding tight to the bands.
EXCELLENT FOR WARMING UP
Warming up and stretching is key to preparing your body for the workload to come during exercise. Resistance bands are perfect for warming up each muscle group that you’ll focus on. You can perform light versions of bigger exercises that follow. For example, you can use resistance bands for a chest crossover before moving on to the barbell bench press.
BUILD LEAN MUSCLE
Muscle mass is built by bringing the muscle tissue to the point of complete exhaustion. Resistance bands are an excellent way to move through an exercise slowly, forcing both the fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers to respond. While you might not be able to get as large as Big Ramy and Phil Health, resistance bands can help you achieve a seriously respectable amount of lean muscle mass.
INCREASE POWER AND STRENGTH
Power and strength depend on moving as quickly as you can, putting everything you have behind the movement. Take boxing for example: Punching power comes from the ability to generate as much force as possible as fast as you can.
Using resistance bands, you can alternate between slow-moving exercises (as mentioned above) and quick-based movements in order to maximize power, strength, and muscle. Best of all, you don’t have the danger element that you do with barbell and dumbbells.
STAY FIT WHILE YOU TRAVEL
If you love the benefits of travel fitness, and you’re dedicated to staying fit while traveling, resistance bands are a must for your suitcase. Lightweight and able to be placed in any purse, bag, or backpack, resistance bands allow you to continue your fitness program while you are jet-setting around the world.
COMPLEMENTS OTHER TRAINING METHODS
Let’s say you’ve hit a weightlifting plateau and you need something new and exciting to break out of the mold and kickstart your progress. Resistance bands can help. You can pair resistance bands with a variety of training methods in order to push your results to the next level.
For example, let’s say you’re using tri sets as your training methodology. You are focusing on legs on this day and you want to make sure they are wobbly as you walk out of the gym. You could perform the following:
- Barbell back squat: 10 repetitions
- Resistance band leg extensions: 20 repetitions (per leg)
- Jump Squats: 15 repetitions
UPGRADE YOUR EXERCISES
Not only can you complement different training methodologies, but you can also upgrade your current set of exercises. Resistance bands are ideal for taking old and boring exercises, and making them more challenging. Since resistance bands maintain a consistent amount of tension throughout all phases of movement, even a simple bicep curl will seem more difficult.
Attach a resistance band to your barbell or dumbbell, then perform the exercise as normal. See the difference?
PERFECT FOR YOUR HOME GYM
Finally, if you want to build a home gym, resistance bands are an item not to be overlooked. Not only do they save you a ton of space, but unlike dumbbells or barbells, you don’t have to worry about resistance bands chipping or flaking. What’s more, they won’t do damage to your home.
DO YOU USE RESISTANCE BANDS?
If so, what are the benefits of resistance bands that you’ve noticed? Do you have a picture or video of your resistance band workout? Tag us on Instagram so we can share it!