What Are Resistance Bands?
Resistance bands are exactly what their name implies… bands that apply resistance when pulled. Exercise enthusiasts can use these bands in a number of exercises to execute movements with more speed and force than usual. They are typically a flat, wide band that is stretchy when pulled.
Bands can be purchased with different resistance levels, and you can also change the level of resistance by positioning the bands in different locations. However, since the bands are designed to become more resistant the more you pull on them, the intensity of your workout increases with every movement.
Benefits
Resistance Bands have received massive popularity in the fitness world due to their portability, affordability, and adaptability. They are also perfect for all fitness levels. This is because they are low impact and are responsive to your body’s movements.
Though resistance bands offer benefits for the entire body, they have been proven to be especially effective tools for shaping glutes. In fact, as this blog post discusses, scientific studies have found resistant bands to be more effective than all other assessed methods when it comes to shaping glutes.
Can Resistance Bands Help You Build Muscle?
The benefits of resistance bands are plentiful. However, there is one important question that people commonly ask: can resistance bands actually help you build muscle?
The answer to this question is “Yes,” but there are a few tips that can make the muscle building process much more effective.
Keys to Muscle Building with Resistance Bands
Personal trainer Kristina Earnest lists four key components for building muscle: “Tension, sufficient recovery, muscle adaptation, and progressive load.”
Resistance bands achieve the fundamental steps required for muscle building. The resistance of the bands creates tension against your muscles, and it requires the muscles to adapt to the increasing force. Resistance bands also recruit nearby muscles used to help stabilize the body during exercise. This added touch can help increase your overall strength.
As Fitbod states, “Resistance bands build muscle in the same way as free weights do. They offer resistance that your muscles fight against and resist instead of having a rest between reps.”
However, it can be easy to fall into a trap with resistance bands by not pushing yourself further once your workouts stabilize. For people who use resistance bands daily, you will likely max out the muscle building benefits once your muscles adapt to the workout.
When you reach this point, you will hit a plateau in your muscle building. This is because your muscles will have gotten used to the resistance and no longer feel challenged.
How to Increase Progress
To prevent yourself from hitting a plateau, you’ll need to make sure you are continuing to challenge yourself with your resistance band exercises. You can change up their location, try out entirely new routines that target new areas, or combine the resistance bands with weights.
Just like any fitness routine, it is important to always keep assessing and refreshing your movements to maximize your results. Need some inspiration? Check out this awesome resistance band workout!
Try Resistance Bands Today
If you’re looking to take body weight exercises to the next level, to engage new parts of your body and help build stabilizing muscles, and add an interesting new element into your exercise routine, then look no further than resistance bands. When maximized to their full potential, resistance bands can be a great choice for building muscle and achieving your fitness goals.
Keeping moving!
~ The Movéo Team
