Want to take your workouts up a notch? Add a resistance band or two. Love ’em.
‘s Dick Hartzell) in action, with a rather aggressive dose of hamstring work.
What exactly are Resistance Bands? How do they help?
Resistance Bands are really just enormous (and incredibly tough) rubber bands. Looped over the bar, handles, bench or your body; they’ll help make the exercise more challenging at one extreme than the other. Here’s an example to show you what I mean. At the top of the pull (when the bands are stretched), the bar will feel significantly heavier than at the start of the lift, when the bands are slack.Which ones should I get, and where can I get them?
The equipment is pretty simple. The bands come in couple of basic sizes, and a range of strengths. By ‘strength‘ I mean the resistance at the top of the lift, when the band is at full stretch. Although it’s easy enough to buy them one at a time, I personally found it cheaper to buy a set. There are several available; we’re currently using the Rubberbanditz. In addition to the cost savings is another benefit with buying a package – it enables you to test out different strengths in different exercises, and see which works best for you. Really though, you’ll always use all the ones you have. You’ll never ‘outgrow‘ the bands of a particular strength, you’ll just use them in different ways.How do you set up the Bands? Do you need equipment with hooks?
There are many ways to set up the bands, depending on how you plan to use them (a few common setups are listed below). As you can see, the basic process is : fold the band in half, loop one end through the other, and pull tight. This allows you to connect the band to just about anything. NB : in many cases, it’s even easier than that – just loop it over a heavy object, and get to work. Regarding hooks : they’re great if available (if buying a new rack for example, that’s definitely something to bear in mind), but certainly not essential. There are plenty of things to loop the bands around.How strong are the bands – can I stretch them too far, and break them?
Although you can break anything if you try hard enough, the bands are ridiculously tough. Chances are you won’t be able to stretch them far enough to break, or lift a weight that’s heavy enough to damage them. Take a look at the videos below – they’re made for this sort of work.What sorts of things can I do with Resistance Bands?
There are many, many ways to use the bands. Here are a few of my favourites : Identification of Weaknesses and Their Correction Knees caving in when you’re squatting? Rick explains the problem and solution here : put a band around your legs at knee height, and perform a few light squats. Consciously stop the band from slipping down to the floor, by pushing your legs outward during the squat. Bands are also ideal for tackling sticking points. You can set up the lift so that it’s comparatively easy at the start, and difficult around the range of the sticking point; or the reverse. As an example, here are a few sets of squats using The Lightened Method (band resistance is greatest at the bottom of the squat) : Assisting With Exercises : Band-Assisted Chin-Ups Haven’t yet mastered the chin-up? No problem. NB : this approach also works particularly well for dips. Making Exercises More Challenging Many, many ways to do this. Try a few Band-Resisted Rack Pulls. Once you begin to experiment, you’ll find a wealth of potential variations like this. No two workouts need ever be the same. Warm-ups, Cooldowns and Light Sessions : Band Triceps Pushdown This is a beautifully simple, multi-purpose exercise. At the beginning or end of your workout (or as part of a ‘feeder‘ session), loop the band around the top of a rack. Perform triceps pushdowns as normal. Quick demo : Training When Travelling : Band Pull-Apart I love these things. One of my early ‘training when travelling‘ kits consisted solely of a fairly hefty resistance band (just the one). It can either be stretched apart in various ways (such as the Band Pull-Apart shown below), or looped around a heavy, stationary object for a number of cable-machine-like exercises. Either way, it’s great fun. Stretching : Hamstrings There are a number of ways to use the bands in your stretching. Here’s a brief clip of ‘The Band Man‘ (Jump Stretch‘s Dick Hartzell) in action, with a rather aggressive dose of hamstring work.
Where can I find out more?
There’s actually quite a bit of info (both online and offline) available on training with Resistance Bands, including :- Although several years old now (I first watched the Deadlift Secrets video in 2004), the Westside Secrets DVDs contain some great snippets on training with bands.
- Articles on this site, such as the superb Innovative Training : Band Suspended Weight – Not Just for Bench.
- Books such as Tim Hull‘s Functional Correction Manual (review).
- Finally, there are the Powerlifting and Free Weights areas of the forums. Enjoy.