If we haven’t persuaded you to buy resistance bands already, I’m hoping that we can change your minds this time. There are many reasons why I consider resistance bands a necessity for at-home workouts and it’s not just because it’s nearly impossible to order weights or kettlebells right now. Resistance bands are versatile in both form and function and they’re useful to beginners and pros alike.
You can use resistance bands to stretch, work on mobility, and do rehab. You can also use them to tone, build, or strengthen your muscles. Because there are many different types of resistance bands (different widths, lengths, resistance levels, materials, etc.), they’re very easy to customize to your needs.
Here are some of the biggest reasons why resistance bands are such a good tool to have:
They help you level up. Bodyweight exercises are a key component to our fitness routines, but they can get easier as you get in better shape. Resistance bands are a great way to make those bodyweight exercises more challenging. You can use them on squats, lunges, burpees, pushups, etc.
Resistance bands also create tension throughout the exercises, not only when you’re “working on the muscle” as you would with weights. So for example, doing a bicep curl with weights means that you only really work out the muscles at the top of the bicep curl. Doing it with a resistance band means that your muscles are working against the tension throughout the rep and adapting to that tension as it increases and decreases.
They force more muscles to participate. If you’ve used resistance bands, you’ll know what it’s like to have your muscles shake as you get used to the tension from the band. In order to work against the tension and also maintain your form, stabilizing muscles are engaged. This is one of the reasons why resistance bands are often used in physical therapy, since injuries are often a result of muscle imbalance.
Stabilizing muscles can easily be neglected depending on your workout routine, so adding some resistance bands can ensure that you don’t miss strengthening your stabilizing muscles. Additionally, the need to maintain form and balance also works out your core and forces you to focus on your form and control a little more.
They’re great for functional training and compound exercises . . . for many reasons. Unlike working out on a machine, you have more freedom of movement. Resistance bands are also very effective when used in combination with weights.
And while resistance bands can give you a workout and challenge your muscles, they also won’t be as likely to cause joint pain or injury like weights do, so they’re generally a safe but still very effective.
As you can see, resistance bands aren’t only great because they’re affordable, very portable, and take up little-to-no space. They’re also a really good way to exercise and strengthen various muscle groups