The Ultimate Guide To Resistance Band Training (and our 4 Favorite Full-Body, Fat-Blasting Moves)
Whether you are just beginning an exercise regimen or you’ve been strength training for years, incorporating resistance bands into your workouts is a great way to challenge and strengthen your entire body .
Lightweight, portable, and convenient to use when working out at home or while traveling, resistance bands are a staple of the transformation programs our Boston personal trainer team design in order to help our clients move better, lose weight, and become fitter.
One of the advantages of bands is they don’t rely on gravity for resistance.
This allows you to do a variety of exercises in multiple planes of motion, which builds real world, functional strength since our daily lives require us to move in 360 degrees.
By becoming strong in all planes of motion, you help keep your joints healthy by preventing the muscle imbalances which often arise in most traditional exercise programs where movements are limited to forward and backwards patterns.
Also, because bands allow you to perform athletic movements while in a standing posture, they challenge and strengthen your balance, coordination, and agility.
This is extremely important since we typically lose these skills as we get older unless we work on them.
What’s also unique about training with bands is the ascending resistance they provide.
Unlike using free weights, where the resistance stays more or less constant throughout the movement, elastic resistance increases as the band is stretched further.
Because your muscles are getting maximally challenged throughout the entire range of motion (with band training), more muscle fibers are being recruited which leads to greater potential increases in strength.
Another reason ascending resistance is beneficial is because of the way it mimics the strength curve of most muscles – i.e. the way in which a muscle’s strength varies over a range of motion.
When you use free weights, you are limited by the amount of weight your muscles are capable of lifting in their weakest position, typically at the beginning of the movement.
What this means is that your muscles do not receive an optimal level of resistance in their strongest position.
When training with resistance bands, the movement is easier at the beginning and progressively becomes more difficult, allowing you to get the highest level of resistance at the ideal point -when your muscles are their strongest.
Because training with resistance bands offer so many benefits, they will make a great addition to your exercise routine, whether you want to lose weight, get stronger, move better, or all the above.
My Boston personal trainer team and I gathered up four of our favorite resistance band moves that you can do anywhere for an AUMazing full body workout.
High Plank w/Lat Pull - Wrap the band around a secure, stationary object. Get into a high plank position and grab the band with one hand. Focus on squeezing your abdominal muscles, maintaining a flat back, and keeping your hips tall as you pull the band with your back toward your rib cage. Make sure your hips stay square with the floor throughout the exercise.
Resistance Band Split Squats with Bicep Curl - Wrap the resistance band under one foot and get into a split stance. Keep most of your weight on your front leg while staying tall on the toes of your back foot. Lower down slowly until both knees form 90 degree angles, and maintain a vertical front shin (knee behind toes). Pause at the bottom of the move before driving your front foot down through the floor. Squeeze your front glute and curl the band up by squeezing your biceps as you extend your hips and return to starting position.
Hollow Body Hold with Resistance Band Row - Lift your legs off the floor a foot or two and imagine pulling your belly button into your spine as you tighten your abdominal muscles. Focus on flattening your lower back to the floor when doing this exercise. Wrap the band around the balls of your feet and maintain full body tension as you squeeze your shoulder blades together while pulling band toward your chest.
Tall Kneeling Resistance Band Low to High Chop - Secure the band to a secure, stationary object low to the ground. Kneel down on a pillow or pad to protect your knees. Interlock your hands and grab the band. Without allowing your hips to rotate, tighten your abdominal muscles as you chop the band across your body. Stay tall and maintain a flat back (no arching).
Have fun with these exercises and share with a friend who’d benefit.
If you’d like more information about receiving personalized fitness and health coaching from one of our expert Boston personal trainers, we now offer online programs so you can get support from anywhere in the world.
Visit https://bit.ly/3bPQxVQto complete a brief application and one of our personal trainers will contact you within 24 hours to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Much love and much health to you and your family!
-Coach Chris