Hi everyone, and welcome to another article on sports tapes! 😄
After writing an article on "start and progress to rings", today we are going to discuss the resistance bands.
If you ever did not know what elastic bands were used for before, chances are that since 2020, we have heard a little more about them. In any case, it is a piece of equipment that allows a lot of things and thanks to which you will be able to:
- Warm up
- Gradually recover from an injury
- Correct your posture
- Do strengthening exercises
- Ballasting on bodyweight exercises
- Work on mobility and flexibility
You will understand, there are a multitude of possibilities with these elastic bands.
In this article, I will try to give you as complete a guide as possible on their operation or use, and you will even find a small training program with, at the end of the article!
Use & Dynamics:
An elastic band is easy to carry, it's not fragile and what's more, it weighs next to nothing; especially given the levels of resistance and therefore weight that can be achieved with it, and which vary with the type and thickness of the band.
The resistance will depend on the level of tension exerted. So the tighter the band, the stronger the resistance and the more difficult the exercises will become. What follows from this is that this level of tension will vary within each repetition; which explains the weight range that you will find indicated on some bands.
This dynamic is very important to take into account depending on the exercise for which you use them. Whether to assist or weigh down:
As a general rule, it is preferable that the tension of the bodybuilding rubber bands is maximum when you are in the most difficult position of a movement. (Example: for a classic push-up, it is at the very bottom of the movement that it is the most difficult; and it is therefore welcome that the assistance of the band is at its maximum, which will help you more quickly to strengthen yourself to do your first push-ups without a band).
Elastic bands are suitable and effective for the vast majority of bodyweight exercises; whether for assisted or weighted. We'll get to them right after.
They also have the advantage of forcing a certain sheathing and of controlling each part of the movement “to go” as “return” since they are constantly trying to pull us towards their point of attachment. This also helps improve proprioception, the ability to become aware of your body in space. For classic bodybuilding exercises, adjusting the weight is the best setting to vary the difficulty. But it is also possible to use chains and elastic bands to modify the resistance during an exercise. We are not going to lie to each other, it concerns that certain advanced athletes who have very specific objectives and programs, often in certain sports such as powerlifting or work with elastic bands, will often be integrated, in particular because it is effective in improving explosiveness 💥
Vary the resistance of the bodybuilding rubber bands:
There are several ways to vary the level of resistance when using resistance bands:
- Tighten it more, moving further away from the band's attachment point before starting the exercise:
- By shortening the part of the strip that will actually be stretched:
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Work with unilateral exercises one leg or one arm after the other:
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Double the bands. On the other hand, it will reduce the amplitude, so it's not for all exercises, but it's always good to keep in mind:
- Switching to a thicker band is an obvious possibility to increase resistance:
- Using several bands at the same time, which will quickly allow you to reach even wider resistance ranges without actually having to buy 14 different bands:
And it's good because the additional bands quickly become redundant that I decided for mine to only offer 3 well-chosen bands with around 100 kilos of resistance accumulated, which should already be more than enough for most! 💪
If you need material, equipment and find value in my work, a good way to thank me and provide you in my shop, which guarantees you very good quality material and intelligently designed by someone who knows how to use it.
Before moving on to the exercises, you will need some attachment points for your tapes. Either you can wrap it around an object, you can tie it to something by making a loop with it or you can also use your own body, of course. My little personal tip to be able to attach the band at the height I want at home is very simple, all you have to do is:
- Obtain a shopping bag with handles and place a filled bottle inside
- Wedge the bag in the door frame and close it
- Place the elastic bands inside then perform the exercises you want
I also have a full program free of 30 days of routine, without material to do at home. If you want a little more inspiration and without further ado, I leave you with this little parade of exercises.
We arrive at the exercises which will be separated into different categories:
Strengthening the upper body with elastic bands
Pectorals:
Shoulder reinforcement:
Triceps strengthening:
Back reinforcement:
Lower body strengthening:
Before giving yourself a little routine that you can do at home with the elastic bands, I'm going to answer a very common question:
Can you really gain muscle just by pulling on resistance bands?
So first of all, pulling on resistance bands is already a lot better than doing nothing at all. This will be very practical for a beginner who does not have access to a room or does not want to go there; but who wants to start playing sports and building up a little muscle. On the other hand, in this case, I would quickly advise to do body weight or to integrate as much as possible, because it will allow many more polyarticular exercises and a greater range of variation more and more difficult to continue to progress.
But as far as muscle gain is concerned, it will be reserved for the most beginners, those who are not used to loading their bar at 100 kilos in the gym. In normal times and for that, a small program with small onions like that to the weight of the body and with elastic band, that will be already largely sufficient to maintain its muscular mass, even to progress even more one way or another. , if only by strengthening his joints or the functional side of his muscles.
I leave you with this strengthening routine as promised. It mixes pure body weight and the use of elastic bands with alternatives to make the exercises easier or more difficult depending on your level:
This remains a generic routine that will not suit everyone, so feel free to modify it as you prefer, you will also find my personal programs much more elaborate on my website.
Hope you could find something useful in this article, to watch the video and discover the 90 exercises offered. click here .
Take care of you ! 😄
Eric flag
