Fact Check: Are Resistance Bands Actually Effective?

More often than not you’ll see individuals using resistance bands in the gym or during home workouts. However, it’s said that fitness bands aren’t as useful as they seem to be.

Is that correct?

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Effectiveness of resistance bands

These bands are fitness tools that help in building strength, stability and mobility. Now, it’s a given that one resistance band cannot help in developing muscles the way an entire set of weights would. Nevertheless, resistance bands do provide a sense of resistance training and help in a similar way.

These bands come with various resistances. As a beginner, you should go for the thinnest one and see how well it works for you.

The thicker the band, the more the resistance. If you plan on using only these bands for your workout, it’s best to have bands of various resistances to help with progressive overload and change of pace.

Over the years, many have used these bands to focus on improving their fitness levels successfully and are as effective as training with free weight.

Additionally, the improvement in strength and endurance by using fitness bands is almost the same as using weights.

Interestingly, you can do almost every exercise with a resistance band, such as push-ups, shoulder press, deadlifts, rows, etc. You can also do squats, but make sure the band is tight enough to provide resistance throughout the motion.

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Here are some training tips when using resistance bands

While fitness bands are effective, knowing the training tips will help you in understanding the effectiveness better when you’re using the bands.

Always check the quality: If a resistance band snaps, it will hurt you. Therefore, do a quality check of the band by looking for tears and breaks before using it.

Choose the correct band: These bands do not look as challenging when not in use. However, some bands are quite difficult to work with, considering the amount of resistance they provide.

So make sure you pick a band that suits you, and you have the strength to work with it. As time moves on and your strength improves, move to the next level of resistance.

Increase resistance: If you want to move to the next level of resistance but not a whole new resistance band, you can double up your current band. That will increase the resistance, which will require you to use more strength to work out with it.

Start slow: If this is the first time you’re using fitness bands, you need to start slow. That means you cannot start working with the bands unless you’ve found the balance and the ability to control it. Always remember that resistance bands can snap, which can lead to injury.

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Benefits of resistance bands

There are benefits of using fitness bands and knowing them will help you make an informed decision about whether you should take them on or not.

Adaptability: As resistance bands come in different sizes, you can do quite a few exercises that work all the muscle groups with them. That will allow you to focus on your overall physical fitness and not just a part of it.

Easy to carry: As fitness bands are easy to carry, you can practically take them anywhere. In fact, if you’re on a vacation and worried about missing the gym, these bands will help you stay in touch with your workout routine.

Affordable: These bands are much cheaper than traditional iron weights.

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Bottom line

Resistance bands are effective and can help you improve your physical fitness. You need to make sure you’re doing the exercises correctly and keep increasing the resistance of the bands. That’s how you’ll improve your endurance and strength.