Level up your workouts with one affordable and stretchy tool: a resistance band! A resistance band is a great versatile tool for your workouts. It can be a replacement for barbells and dumbbells and it can also make your current go-to workout a bit harder.
Resistance bands are used in resistance workouts. The benefit of resistance workouts is the ability to improve muscle. Resistance bands are an excellent tool for all exercise levels, from beginner to professional. Resistance bands can be an effective workout when you don’t do cardio since resistance workouts build muscle. If you already have a strength training program, just add a resistance band to one of the days.
Choose The Right Resistance Band
Resistance bands come in all sizes and lengths, so you need to choose the right one for your workouts. A long band will help with exercise moves like pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, arm curls, stretching, and more. While a glute band is better for glute exercises like squats, hip thrusts, lunges, kickbacks, etc.
If it’s your first resistance band, you’ll want to start with low resistance or have a band with more stretch and flexibility. Then as you progress in your workouts, you can upgrade to heavier bands with less stretch. The key to resistance band workouts is to start slow and easy and work your way up to increase your resistance, intensity, and quantity of workouts. This will prevent injury.
Plus, you can make it fun by choosing a fun pattern or color that gets you excited to work out. We have so many options to choose from, click here to see them all! And with our resistance bands, we provide a whole set so you can start light and work your way to heavier. Our band collections start at X-Light at 5-10 pounds and go to the heaviest of X-Heavy at 30-40 pounds.
Perfect The Moves Before Adding a Resistance Band
Before incorporating this handy dandy tool into your workout routine, make sure your form is good in your workouts. This is crucial for preventing injury. Taking it a step further- if you can’t do a squat without the resistance band, adding a resistance band will only make it harder and possible to hurt yourself. It’s why form is always important in a good exercise routine. Once you perfect your form, add a resistance band for that extra challenge.
Prepare for Resistance Band Workouts
Just like with any workout, you need to warm up beforehand! This also helps prevent injury as you’ll be less likely to strain your muscles if they're already loose. Some ideas for a warm-up are a quick walk or dynamic stretches like squats, lunges, or arm circles. A fun warm-up could also be working on your balance. You need balance to stay steady on your feet, whether you’re moving or not, so it’s also useful for your everyday function. You want your warm-up movements to be movements that will mimic your workout.
Create Your Training Plan
Now that you have the gear and you’re warmed up, you're ready to put in the work! But if you don’t know where to start that’s okay, it’s why we’re here! If you don’t already have a strength training workout in your weekly workouts, start with 2 days a week. Once you’re proficient, then you can add a third day. Again the key is to start slow and easy.
If you already have a strength training workout in your week, use the resistance band to replace a strength training day. We mentioned what resistance bands work for best moves so if you normally do a weighted squat, replace the weights with a resistance band.
With any workout plan, you need to ensure you’re working out the full body. It’s up to you whether you have specific days for specific body parts or if you do a full-body workout. It’s easy to use a resistance band for either option. Start with three to four sets of each exercise with the goal of hitting 20 reps total. From there you can add on more sets and more weight or stretch with resistance bands. Check out our last blog for some calisthenics exercises to build your functional strength!
Now, you know everything you need to know before starting your resistance band workout. Ready to get started? Browse our collection of resistance bands here.
