How to Use Resistance Bands for Your Home Workout

Regular and consistent resistance training provides many health benefits. But items that we usually associate with resistance training—like barbells, dumbbells, weight plates, and big exercise machines—are heavy, expensive, and take up a lot of space. So, unless you want to get a gym membership, bodyweight exercises are the perfect strength training workout. Enter resistance bands!

Resistance bands—also known as workout bands or exercise bands—are stretchy, elastic, rubber bands or tubes that are used for both physical therapy and general fitness. They've been around since the early twentieth century when they were used primarily for rehabilitation on people with damaged muscles. But in the 1990s, they made a move into the fitness industry. They've grown more and more popular ever since. Even high performers like quarterback Tom Brady herald them as their go-to strength-building gear. 

Advantages of resistance bands

One of the most attractive elements of these bands is how compact and lightweight they are. They can be stored in your junk drawer or tucked away in a cupboard, which makes them perfect for your home or office. The fact that they can be balled-up and jammed into a bag or backpack also makes them ideal for travel.

While you can easily spend hundreds of dollars purchasing a home weight system, you can find a good set of resistance bands online for about twenty bucks.

They're also cost-effective. While you can easily spend hundreds of dollars purchasing a home weight system, you can find a good set of resistance bands online for about twenty bucks. Sure, you can get into fancier and more expensive systems (like the X3 Elite Band), but most of us will do just fine with the cheaper option.

Resistance bands can feel a little unsteady or wobbly, which means that you will need to work harder to maintain good form. This is a good thing! This instability factor means your workout targets what we fitness pros call your stabilizer muscles as well as other muscle groups. Where a weight machine may allow you to lift a heavier load, resistance bands allow you to develop greater control, which can make you more stable and protect you from future injury.

Unlike free weights or weight machines that only allow you to perform a limited number of movements, these bands provide resistance to just about any motion, in almost any body position. With a little ingenuity—and some heavy furniture to tie the bands to—you can do nearly any workout....

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