Strength training at home
Get a full-body workout with a cheap set of elastic resistance bands
Not long ago, I impulsively bought a set of mini exercise bands — thick rubber loops designed to engage your muscles as you stretch them.
I was seduced by ads promising they could improve my posture, which is lousy after years of slumping over a computer. They claimed a handful of quick exercises would unhunch my shoulders while I “tone my muscles” and “sculpt my physique.”
Getting a full-body workout with a set of $20 elastic bands was enticing, since I lack the budget or space for fancy fitness equipment.
The benefits of resistance training — workouts that build strength and muscle — are well known. It reduces your risk of diabetes and heart disease. With more muscle, you burn more calories and are less prone to injury. It has also been shown to strengthen bones and reduce age-related decline in muscle mass.
Could resistance bands, which are relatively cheap, portable and easy to use, be a worthwhile alternative to a gym membership?
Bands build strength and endurance.
The idea of stretchy workout bands is over 100 years old. Some are long, thin tubes; some, like mine, are thick, flat loops with colors designating resistance levels. And they’ve seen a recent resurgence during the pandemic home-fitness boom.
Like weights, exercise bands put stress on the muscle, which over time makes the muscle adapt and get stronger. The farther you stretch the band, the greater the resistance.
There are some key differences though. Bands do not rely on gravity, so people cannot use momentum to jerk the weight into position, which can overload the joints and ultimately works less of the muscle, said David Behm, a professor and exercise scientist at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s School of Human Kinetics and Recreation. Bands also allow for movement on a number of different planes and axes, he said, whereas free weights limit you to mostly up-anddown movement.
Bands can engage the body’s major muscles just as well as weights, providing a full-body strength and endurance workout, said Todd Ellenbecker, a physical therapist at Rehab Plus Sports Therapy in Scottsdale, Arizona, and an author of the book “Strength Band Training.”
Research supports this. One study of middle-aged women compared 10 weeks of twice-weekly training sessions using elastic bands with a similar program that used weight machines. The women were tested for upper- and lower-body strength before and after
the program, and results showed that muscle mass, strength and endurance improved at a similar rate in both groups.
A systematic review of 18 studies also found no significant difference in muscle activation levels between those using elastic bands and those using free weights.
Ellenbecker said he works with athletes at all levels who exclusively use bands for resistance training, “and they are successful and injury-free.” But, as with any exercise, you need to be consistent with the exercise, he added. The American College of Sports Medicine guidelines call for strength training at least twice a week, with multiple exercises and multiple reps.
And don’t overdo it, he said. “People tend to gravitate toward bands that are way too strong, or they stretch them too far. It never hurts to start light and build yourself up.”
A well-placed band can improve your form.
Gerard Burley, founder and owner of a Washington, D.C., gym called Sweat DC, said exercise bands may be the best option for people new to strength training and can help you master good technique. For example, a common problem when doing a squat is that the knees buckle in.
“The body’s lazy and likes to take the easiest way out,” said Burley, who goes by Coach G. A mini band around your legs just above the knees helps prevent this. While squatting, focus on pressing the knees outward to keep the band from slipping, while keeping the head and chest up.
Advanced athletes use them too. For example, tennis players will often anchor a band to a wall or pole and loop the other side around the throat of their racket to add resistance and improve the power of their forehand, backhand or serve, Behm said.
Let them help you do a pullup.
Exercise bands also provide assistance with hard-to-master exercises such as pullups, said Vanessa Liu, an online fitness trainer and nutritionist who uses them regularly with clients. In fact, certain bands are designed to loop around a pullup bar for extra support.
But don’t get too reliant on them. “Eventually, you’ll want to take off the band and do it yourself,” Liu said.
Use them to deepen stretches too. To stretch the hamstring, for example, lie on your back with the looped band around one foot and gently pull that leg toward you, keeping it as straight as you can.
Target the back muscles for posture.
Mobility in the body is what allows you to bend over and pick up a box or sit and stand with ease. As we get older, the connective tissues in our joints change, making us stiffer and less flexible.
“People do mobility exercises with bands to improve posture, reduce stiffness and move more freely and fully,” Liu said. She often works with clients who have developed stiffness in the shoulders and neck from sitting at a computer.
For posture, Ellenbecker recommends an exercise he calls an “external rotation with retraction,” which works the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder and the rhomboids in the upper back. Grasp the band in front of you with both hands and your palms facing up. Slowly move your forearms horizontally outward like you’re feeling under a desk, while lifting your chest and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Return to the starting position and repeat.