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About Resistance Bands

Resistance bands also called resistance tubes or exercise bands offer you an alternative and a very effective way to getting a full-body strength training workout or as a warm-up before a weight training workout or a particular sport. They are sort of like exercise machines using the pulley system, but without the machine. Not many people use them, but they are gaining in popularity. I see many people bringing them to the gym Recently I was watching a few innings of a baseball game and I noticed a relief pitcher in the dugout warming up with a resistant band doing a shoulder and rotator cuff exercise.

If you are unfamiliar with what are resistance bands, I have included some photos and examples of them on the right hand side of this article page. They come in a variety of strength bands and the ability for you to increase the resistance and strength depending on the type and make of the elastic bands. They also come with various attachments – clips and handles, and can be attached to a variety of places in your home, at the gym or in any other place that you may work out. 

If you are looking to add a little variety to your workouts why not try incorporating resistance bands. Here are some benefits associated with this type of fitness equipment:

Inexpensive

Resistance bands are low cost. They are very inexpensive. The price for a set can range from a basic set at $25 which is adequate to a quality set at around $50 to an even more fancy sets with more “bells and whistles” going for around $85.

Convenience

They are also very convenient and take basically no space. For example, if you are travelling or you travel a lot, it’s so easy to pack 4 resistance bands and a few of their accessories in a pouch and do a quick workout in your hotel room. For those of you who like going to the gym and do not have gym equipment at home, resistance bands provide you with an alternative to a quick workout especially when you don not have time to visit the gym.

Variety of exercises and workout options

Resistance bands offer you variety of different types of workouts. You can choose to use them for warming up or for strength training. Use them for low or high repetition workouts. They can be used for every part of the body – chest, shoulders, back and even legs! Almost any exercise using free weights can be used with resistance bands. They offer you a wide variety of exercises.

I am not going to outline in this article what exercises you can or cannot do, but what I will say is that a lot of the weight training exercises that I have on my Exercise Workout Page can be easily modified by substituting free weights with resistance bands. Also, many exercises done on pulley machines can also be done with these elastic bands.

Wide range of motion and constant resistance

Another benefit of resistance bands is that they offer constant resistance and just like free weights and pulley machines, a wide range of motion helping to you to sculpt that perfect physique.

To conclude, resistance bands are convenient, low cost and provide you with effective and varied exercise workouts.


Lateral Raise Exercise for Shoulders Video

Here is an excellent video of Kim Lyons demonstrating how to properly use the resistance bands to do a shoulder lateral raise exercise including a variation where she combines 2 shoulder exercises into 1.

Video courtesy of Fast Track to Fat Loss nutrition, fat loss and fitness program.