Resistance bands are affordable and portable pieces of equipment that have been used in place of weights during strength training. As long as you challenge yourself, training with resistance bands can be as effective as training with free weights.
Moreover, resistance bands offer a more lightweight alternative to resistance training for individuals with movement or grip constraints.
However, resistance bands aren’t only good for strength training. If you’re planning to regain mobility or stability in your body after an accident or injury, then training with resistance bands is a good option to incorporate into your physical therapy.
Furthermore, resistance bands can be found almost everywhere, in gyms and homes of exercise enthusiasts, don’t be surprised if even your grandma has a resistance band in her home. You might then be curious about the benefits of these fitness tools. In this article, we’ll be highlighting all the benefits of training with resistance bands and what is variable resistance.
What are Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are adaptable fitness instruments used for strength training and physical therapy. They are best utilized for building up stability and mobility in the body.
Moreover, resistance bands come in varying levels of difficulty, and these levels are color-coded to offer you the freedom to choose the best fit for you. Different types of resistance bands serve numerous purposes; some of them come as tubes with handles or as strips that you can tie to a piece of equipment or grip easily.
Benefits Of Training With Resistance Bands
Helps To Strengthen and Tone Your Muscles
Training with resistance bands is a great way to strengthen and tone your muscles. As the resistance bands stretch while you use them, they generate heightened tension in your muscles and stimulate them to contract.
Furthermore, the resistance of the band increases the more you stretch it, which will, in turn, make your exercise harder. This will help to tone and activate your muscles, but it will also help to strengthen them along the way.
Alternative To Training With Weights
All the exercises you can do with a dumbbell or barbell can be easily replicated using the resistance band. This means you can get the same form of exercise done without taxing yourself too much.
Moreover, resistance band training applies less force on the joints than weight training, which is wonderful news for anyone with an existing injury or individuals with a history of joint pain.
Allows For Greater Muscle Stimuli
Resistance band training differs from weight training in that the resistance bands have a wide range of resistance that can be applied throughout the full period of movement of an exercise.
Besides, while using free weights, there are some parts during motion where the muscles aren’t doing much work. This is due to a lack of gravity. This can be experienced when performing a bicep curl.
However, when using resistance bands, the muscles can receive bigger resistance at their greatest point in the range of motion. This much resistance that the muscles receive allows them to stimulate better strength adaptations.
Allows You To Perform Several Exercises at a Cheap Rate
Training with a resistance band is very cheap compared to training with weights. With just one band, you’re able to perform a wide range of exercises, which means you don’t have to buy so many machines and weights just because you want to exercise.
Furthermore, training with resistance bands allows you to skip the pricey gym fee and exercise from the comfort of your home. The same exercises you would need to do at the gym, which you would have to pay heavily for sometimes, can be done at home.
Helps With Stabilization and Core Activation
The continual tension that resistance bands provide requires that you achieve a certain level of muscle stabilization to maintain your form throughout your exercise. Likewise, resistance band training helps you with core activation for better balance.
Hence, this constant need to control your core and body from breaking form will help you to strengthen your muscle’s full range of motion and achieve greater stimulation. Also, the resistance band’s pull will prevent you from cheating by using momentum.
Allows For A Safe Training Exercise
Training with resistance bands allows you to perform exercises safely without the stress of worrying whether weight will fall on you. Also, with resistance band training, you don’t have to worry about putting strain on your ligaments, muscles, and tendons while performing certain exercises like you would with weight training.
Besides, resistance band training allows you to perform exercises even without a personal trainer or spotting partner. You can perform your strength training exercises alone without the risk of injuring yourself.
Furthermore, training with resistance bands allows individuals that are older or have injuries to exercise safely without worrying about straining their muscles.
Who is Resistance Band Training Meant For
You might be wondering who the resistance band training is meant for now that you know all the benefits. Anybody can train with a resistance band, and it depends on the specific goal the individual(s) have in mind. But here, some particular individuals that make use of resistance bands
- Anyone planning to lose some weight can make use of resistance bands in their exercises. The use of resistance bands has been known to facilitate weight loss
- Individuals who want to gain strength and increase muscle size. Replacing machines and dumbbells with resistance bands can provide a challenging stimulus for your muscles to grow.
- Athletes make use of resistance band training to improve their power and strength, avoid injuries and stay in shape.
- Older people have a better chance of exercising without injury when they make use of resistance bands. Resistance bands help them to maintain their balance, which in turn helps them avoid fatal injuries.
Resistance Band Training
Training with resistance bands is very stress-free and beneficial because these bands are effective, affordable, and portable tools used in building stability, strength, and mobility.
Moreover, the use of resistance bands isn’t limited only to strength training; they have been used during physical rehabilitation or while doing preventive work.
There is every guarantee that as long as you correctly use the resistance band, you’ll be able to challenge yourself to achieve your fitness goals and keep yourself healthy along the way.
Hopefully, the highlighted benefits of resistance band training will propel you to get your resistance band regardless of your age or situation.