Resistance bands 101: one of the best fitness prop for beginners

   Maintaining and building muscle mass is key to improving your overall fitness and health. Skeletal muscles are the tissue that allows voluntary movement of the body, permitting all sorts of motions and supporting the bone structure. Composed by fibers and connective tissue, muscles require movement and nourishment to prevent atrophy and upkeep their structure. Resistance training and strength training are the most effective types of exercise to reach muscle fatigue, which is crucial alongside proper nutrition for achieving muscle hypertrophy.  

   Resistance training and strength training both have the same goal of challenging the muscle; their primary difference being in that the latter requires using weights like dumbbells or barbells and is usually performed with the sole goal of increasing strength. On the other hand, resistance training is defined as any sort of motion in which muscle contraction is resisted by an outside element or force; this outside element can be the body's own weight, resistance bands, workouts machines like the pilates reformer or even sliders. Both types of training are effective for training and building muscle: strength training by using heavy weights and low repetitions and resistance training by pushing muscle to fatigue with more repetitions and frequency of the movement. The need for progressive overload; meaning the periodical increase of repetitions, weight used or frequency when performing specific exercises is also important for developing muscle no matter the form of movement used. In summary, resistance training and strength training play a vital role in improving muscle mass hence should be present in any ideal fitness routine alongside cardio.

   Home training beginners might be discouraged from strength training due to lacking dumbbells and exercise machines, high costs and occupying too much physical space being some of the reasons why most people don't own such items. So, how can I train my muscles at home without any bulky and expensive equipment? Resistance bands are a practical and inexpensive way to do resistance training at home; a safe beginner friendly prop that can be carried anywhere without much hassle. 

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

   Resistance bands can come in many shapes and sizes suiting different workout needs, often sold with specific levels of resistance for increasing muscle tension during exercise. With different shapes such as closed thick bands, open long bands and tubes with handles; their material is usually rubber or elastic fabric to allow enough elasticity while pulling. The most popular type of resistance bands are closed small loops, mostly used for lower body exercises and placed around the legs for greater resistance. Larger resistance loops and tubes with handles are far more versatile, often used for both lower body and upper body exercise, though usually with lower level of resistance than the shorter bands. 

Photo of small resistance bands by Angela Roma from Pexels

  The closed small bands, popularly known as booty band or mini band, are an excellent choice for beginners to target the glute, leg and hip muscles. By placing the band above the knees you can perform exercises such as hip abductions, donkey and fire hydrant kicks, clamshells and many other exercises targeting the inner thighs, hip and glute muscles. Bands are also often used to perform squat and glute bridge variations; helping to maintain proper form while giving the muscles an extra challenge. 

This workout showcases usages of resistance bands for squats, dynamic glute bridges and leg lifts

   

   As you may see in the video above by the amazing Sydney Cummings, the pulling resistance is achieved by moving the legs in different directions with the help of the hips; targeting important muscles of said areas with controlled moves and good range of motion. Besides targeting the lower body, bands can also be used creatively to train the upper body as seen in the following video by Zanna van Dijk. By mimicking the motions usually done with dumbbells or gym machines, the elastic resistance of the band is used to create similar pulling movements. 

While smaller bands might not be meant for training the upper body, 

you can definitely get a good workout with some creativity

   Longer bands and resistance tubes with handles are a versatile choice for training the whole body. Unlike the looped shorter bands, these props can be used to perform lunges, Romanian deadlifts and many types of classic dumbbell upper body exercises. A full body workout using a long looped band by Fitness Kaykay can be checked below, using the band's length to perform diverse exercises for a complete workout.

Exercises like thrusters and splits squats while holding the band engage many muscles groups

  Resistance tubes with bands are an incredible versatile tool for substituting dumbbells and cable machines, allowing to increasing difficulty by choosing tubes with higher resistance or combining two or more tubes. Gripping the handles is as easy as gripping dumbbells, making the movement more comfortable for those who might dislike the direct touch of the elastic. In this shoulder workout by Caroline Girvan we can observe a wide array of exercises just by using the band and her own bodyweight.

Training the shoulders at home is made simple with just a resistance tube

     As for other creative ways to use unlooped long bands and tubes, attaching the bands to a door or a window will create a similar mechanism to the gym's cable machines, allowing for more pulling motions to be performed. This video by Nicole Pearce Movement shows us how to easily create the mechanism with just a door and a band, plus a complete all-standing full body routine.

By using the door as stabilizer you can mimic the kinetics of cable machines at home

    Light and portable, relatively cheap and with many different options, bands can allow beginners to familiarize themselves with resistance training while being far more accessible than dumbbells. Nonetheless they can be just as effective when used correctly, being a great choice specially for focusing on form, range of motion and mobility. In my personal experience, bands are an excellent complement for lower body workouts and pilates; using heavier bands can sometimes feel more challenging than using dumbbells in certain exercises.