Hello Dear One!
Though 2020 and the days of HAVING to workout at home are over – we may still WISH to be doing them, or some aspects of them that we discovered worked really well in our worlds.
The need for resistance with minimal equipment made BANDS BOOM through the pandemic, but the truth is you may wish to still keep them by your side for a number of reasons.
Bands come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and levels of resistance.
Small loops, large loops, straight lengths with handles or attachments.
We can use these tools for a huge range of exercises OR enhance what we’re already doing (I love that attribute).
Some uses of Resistance Bands:
• STRENGTH – bands exerts force on your muscles when stretched and can be used for both upper and lower body training.
• MOBILITY – they’re a great way to improve flexibility and joint mobility.
• REHAB – bands are often used in recovery exercises and are especially useful for hip, shoulder and knee injuries.
• WEIGHTLIFTING – they can also be wrapped around the ends of a weight bar, or with dumbbells, to make exercises more challenging.
• PULL-UPS – bands can also assist with doing pull ups. Loop them around the pull up bar and place your foot or knee inside the band to support your weight as you train.
Some of the BENEFITS of RESISTANCE BANDS:
1 – IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EXERCISES
Instead of simply lifting a weight, muscles are kept under constant tension. Therefore the quality of each rep is significantly improved. And with muscles working harder, more powerful contractions result which is the key to getting stronger.
Additionally, it’s always good to find new ways to workout and provide your body with alternative stimuli to help it grow and adapt.
2 – HELPS TO FOCUS CONTROL
The more ‘free’ your weights, the more control is required in the movement.
Due to the increased challenge, free-weight work will increase strength and improve functional fitness levels.
Resistance bands can feel shaky at first. Controlling both the tension and the release takes concentration. Maintain tension on the band – versus allowing them to snap back.
3 – RECRUIT STABILIZING MUSCLES
Because bands can feel a little unsteady to use one needs to work doubly hard to maintain good form.
By doing this, you’re targeting your stabilizing muscles and building core strength at the same time.
4 – FUNDAMENTAL FOR FUNCTIONAL TRAINING
There’s more movement involved when using bands compared to more traditional style exercises. However, this is great for working your joints and supports natural movements in everyday life.
This sort of strength is great for helping you reach your goals and stay fit and healthy later in life too.
5 – GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO MACHINES
Machines can be good for beginners, however, they can be restrictive and force you to move quite unnaturally. This can result in not getting the most out of your workouts.
Being able to work the full muscle from extension to contraction will give you the best results – and bands enable that.
6 – LIGHTWEIGHT
Training at home without taking up loads of space, or being able to take your own set to the gym showcases how streamline bands are.
Equally, if you travel a lot and want to make sure to get a resistance workout in – bring them to easily enable that.
7 – DESIGNED FOR COMPOUND EXERCISES
Compound exercises are when you use several muscles at the same time. This makes for efficient as well as higher energy output workouts while improving coordination.
This also enables full body workouts to happen more easily.
8 – CONTROL OVER THE ANGLE
Enables avoiding training in uncomfortable positions while still targeting your desired muscle groups.
You can also craft more of a specific shape when you work in a greater range and at particular angles.
9 – BETTER FORM
Having to maintain tension on the bands throughout the movement means each rep needs to be high quality and your muscles need to be working the whole way – rather than just at the end of the rep.
This will help you progress and develop.
10 – FEEL WHAT’S WORKING AND WHAT ISN’T
One needs to be really focused on the feel of each exercise to tell what’s working, and then additionally focus on contracting that muscle more fully.
11 – BURN FAT
The harder you workout, the more oxygen you’re consuming, the more fat you’re burning. The three characteristics of a Fat Burning workout are: sweating, breathing heavier, and huffing and puffing to the point of needing to stop for a moment. Bands add challenge, and that challenge also can result in a greater metabolic burn during AND after your training.
So there you have it!! A million and one reasons why you SHOULD use or incorporate bands into your strength training routine.
If you’d like to get 15% off some of the bands I use – use code MichaelaF15 here.
Or if you’d like assistance with workouts using bands whether that’s live and virtually, or in a preprogrammed plan with coaching from afar – check out these offerings.
Or be in touch with specific questions.
And lastly if you’d like to lose weight while PRESERVING muscle please check out Fat Burning PRO (self study) or Fat Burning Mastery (one on one coaching).
To getting you clearer on how the body works, and how to make it work for you.
xox, M