Exercise Bands
Most people into strength training at the gym will stick to free weights and machines and occasionally might try out a cable or free motion machine for a few minutes as an alternative change-up exercise. One thing you don’t usually see at the gym is a lot of people working out with exercise bands or resistance tubing. The main reason exercise bands are not more popular is simply that most people are unfamiliar with what exercise bands do and how they are used. And that’s a shame because exercise bands are a great way to workout at home, while you travel or simply to add variety to your usual workout routine.
Working out with exercise bands feels different than when using free weights where gravity provides resistance to all upward movement. When using exercise bands the resistance tension is constant, and can sometimes make the motions feel as if they were harder to perform. Weights and weight machines tell you exactly how much you’re lifting, when using bands you have to go by feel alone to find the correct level of tension. Bands can also provide additional challenges because you can create the resistance from any direction you choose. You can perform the same exercises with bands as you do with free weights but the positioning will be different.
Exercise bands allow a variety of body positions since they can be attached most anywhere. An exercise band attached to a door or wrapped around a pole provides a handy spot for overhead presses, lat pull downs and a number of chest exercises and shoulder rotations. Exercise resistance bands allow you to vary the way your body works during a workout and change the way an exercise acts on your body.
The bands are great for beginners as well advanced exercisers. They are light and travel easily and you can use them just about anywhere, but best of all, exercise bands produce visible results.
From the category archives:
