Resistance Bands ??

[Lena01]

Hi all!

 

I'm interested in knowing which kind of effects has had or might have training with resistane bands as opposed to weights. Do you feel more flexible, stronger or with more endurance? Have you been able to make as good volume gains as with the usual barbells/dumbbells/etc.?

 

It's just that I have mine only for days when I can't go to the gym and I still feel kinda sad if I can't do some iron even if I feel equally pumped after working with either. Now my brother started to use elastic bands after years of using weights and he's so excited because he's feeling better in his training but it's been just a short time and we're still in the find-out-more phase.

 

So, what do you think about resistance bands training? How do you use them if you do, why, why not?

[Lena01]

I'm really surprised about so many ppl answering

[inteja]

OK, I'll respond then.

 

When I was overseas and didn't have access to a gym or my home free weight setup so I resorted to resistance bands. I think they were beneficial, up to a point. Certainly better than nothing at all, and good for muscle groups where body weight alone didn't well.

 

However, I don't know if you could do serious muscle building using resistance bands alone. They might be OK for muscle maintenance though.

 

When I finally returned home, I thought I'd try to use heavy resistance bands for lat pulldown (as I had no chin up bar at the time). So I bought some Everlast bands (pack of three bands plus plastic handles). After a few weeks, I'd snapped the heavy black band twice. "Everlast" it certainly wasn't

[hsorlando]

I tend to feel a bit awkward when I use resistance bands. In some group classes they use rubber bands with plastic handles at each end. I have gotten quite sore from using the band with more resistance to it, so I guess that means they work. Biut they are good for traveling if you won't have access to a gym. You can do pretty much everything with a band. There are bicep curls, shoulder press, rows; where you put the band around something in front of you sit, and, well row, chest press lie down with the band under a step or something, and do a chest press move, overhead tricep extention, and a lot more. There are also ankle bands that you fit around your ankles, and you can do various leg exercises, like leg curls; alternating legs, squats, lateral movements, and a few others. That's all I can think of right now, hope it helps.

[Im Your Man]

I do get pumped with bands, and feel soreness in muscles the day after. The only important thing is to push yourself to the max, no matter if it's with free-weights, machines, bands or just bodyweight exercices. But one thing I don't like with bands is when you push yourself to the maximum, it brakes. Most of my elastic bands went to the garbage because they were all ripped off. But bands are good when you want to adjust easily to different levels of resistance, or when you do this kind of training: Monday : heavy, 100% max (free weights) Wednesday : 75% max, (with bands)

Friday : heavy, 100% max (free weights)

[ThePractitioner]

I have used bands, but to be honest it really depends on the bands you use. I really don't want to plug any brand of bands persay, but not all bands are created equal. I myself liked

 

http://oldtimestrongman.com/chest_expanders.html

 

or in a pinch the old bullworker works great (Yes, I am showing my age here!):

 

http://www.thebullworker.com/

 

None of these will replace freeweight, but if you are recovering from an injury or if your traveling or my favorite, short on time and need a quick workout (as I like to say, something is better than nothing), these work great!

 

Kevin

[veganmomma]

Thera-band. Physical Therapist have their patients use these. There pretty durable and reasonably price. You can by Thera-band products from a medical supply store in your area.

http://www.thera-band.com/store/index.php

[sosso]

OK, I'll respond then.

 

When I was overseas and didn't have access to a gym or my home free weight setup so I resorted to resistance bands. I think they were beneficial, up to a point. Certainly better than nothing at all, and good for muscle groups where body weight alone didn't well.

 

However, I don't know if you could do serious muscle building using resistance bands alone. They might be OK for muscle maintenance though.

 

When I finally returned home, I thought I'd try to use heavy resistance bands for lat pulldown (as I had no chin up bar at the time). So I bought some Everlast bands (pack of three bands plus plastic handles). After a few weeks, I'd snapped the heavy black band twice. "Everlast" it certainly wasn't

 

I had the same Everlast bands and they snapped too. I enjoyed using them while they lasted and I found I really could get quite a good workout with the higher resistance bands in combination with some bodyweight exercises.

[VeganEssentials]

I've never tried to use bands exclusively, but there are some people that swear by them so apparently some people have gotten good results.

 

I personally like the ones with handles - I've used the long ones at my gym a few times for fun and they work pretty well for their purpose. As long as they're well-constructed you can do plenty of basics with the, like squats (standing on the band handles held up at shoulder height), overhead presses, rows, chest presses and arm work. And, you can change the resistance by standing on the band closer out to the handles on most exercises (or, for things like rows, wrap them around a sturdy pole or beam and just move further away), so one band can probably change in resistance by 10-20 lbs., maybe more for the heavy-duty ones.

 

Otherwise, the IronMind cable set is pretty good and compact and travels well, too - a bit pricey at around $80 for a set, but I've played around with my set plenty of times and found that it can be pretty brutal for some exercises. The cables are short so it's not going to be good for some things like a squat replacement, but for upper body work it's much easier to keep on hand than a bunch of different resistance bands since you can add or remove bands in about 30 seconds. and it takes up very little space (could fit in the big side pocket on a pair of cargo pants, as I found out recently )

 

Thing is, resistance bands are rather unstable (at least, the handled ones) so that does add a degree of difficulty in training and can be beneficial, but the downside is that you'll always have lower resistance at the start of the movement and the most at the finish, so you don't get the consistency of always, say, moving 50 lbs. through the entire motion. That part is what would prevent me from ever using them more often and as anything but one tool in my training arsenal, but they are fun once in a while.

[hilary wright]

My wife takes her thera bands everywhere and does foot and ankle exercises with them . . . (she's still a bunhead). I think thay are great to target specific hard to work areas such as the anterior connective muscles of the ankle. I have used them in many a hotel room to supplement bodyweight exercises.

[veganmomma]

Bodyweight exercises, plyometric exercises, and sandbag training is superior to resistance bands IMO and can be done anywhere. 50lbs of sand can be purchased at Home Depot for $5 I think.

[Lena01]

Thank you all for the replies

 

I've been traveling for the last 8 days and I took my resistance bands with me. They were certainly good for mantainance but when I hit the iron this afternoon I felt like I worked a lot more. However I feel I can still do some work with the resistance bands because there are certain angles that seem to move through with the free weights and not with the bands.

 

I appreciate all of your advice!