With resistance bands you can do a pretty complete workout. The most versatile (also literally) are the traditional bands to which you can click handles and other tools, which is not possible with so-called loop bands.
TRADITIONAL RESISTANCE BANDS VS. LOOP BANDS
Let’s take a closer look at the differences between those two types of fitness elastics.
You often come across tire sets with handles and door anchors in advertisements at the moment. And it must be said: they are quite a good alternative to training barbell and dumbbells. Because you can use handles, training is very similar to training with cables in the gym. Loop bands, where you only have to grip the elastic itself, are usually experienced as less comfortable.
Two types of resistance bands: traditional (left) and loop bands.Another advantage of the traditional resistance bands is that you can more easily add resistance, simply by clicking an extra cable on the handles. With loop bands you have to use a progressively thicker band to go heavier, which does not make training and a good execution any easier.
Loop bands are extremely suitable to make bodyweight exercises heavier, such as push-ups and pull-ups, and also exercises with dumbbells. And of course you can also train all your muscle groups with loop bands alone, although you will need a door anchor and that is usually not included with a set of loop bands.
RESISTANCE BANDS VS. REGULAR WEIGHTS
If you normally train with barbells, dumbbells and/or cables, you can’t create exactly the same stimulus with resistance bands. After all:
- with resistance bands, your exercise arsenal is more limited;
- with resistance bands you will usually have to train lighter and therefore in higher rep ranges*;
- with elastic, the resistance is not constant: it increases because the stretch and the tension on the bands gradually decreases, so that they provide less and less help and the exercise becomes more and more difficult towards the end. That is not wrong in itself, but it causes a different stimulus than training with ‘normal’ weights.
* Either way, train your sets to near muscle failure and very long sets (say above 25 reps) to complete muscle failure. If you can only use little resistance, you will have to do very long sets.
EXERCISES WITH TRADITIONAL RESISTANCE BANDS
With traditional resistance bands, including handles, ankle straps and door anchor, you should be able to at least more or less maintain your muscle mass during a longer period of no gym, during a lockdown for example. In the video below you can see which exercises you can use to train your entire body.
EXERCISES WITH LOOP BANDS
You can also come a long way with loop bands, although your options are somewhat more limited and training with fat tires in particular can be uncomfortable. Some exercises require a post or pillar, but you can also use a door anchor.
UPPER BODY: PUSH
- Chest: activating chest press (3:35), push-up (4:40), single-hand chest fly (5:55), low-angle cross-over (7:33)
- Shoulders: delt raises (9:10), shoulder press (9:42)
- Triceps: kickbacks (10:45), pushdown (11:22)
UPPER BODY: PULL
- Back: bent-over single-arm row (1:03), two-arm row (1:56), pulldown (3:15)
- Rear delts: pull-aparts (4:00), single-arm pull-aparts (4:09)
- Biceps: biceps curl (4:48), hammer curl (5:40)
LOWER BODY
Bulgarian split squat (1:30), single leg glute bridges (3:30), stiff legged deadlift (4:26), terminal knee extension (5:40), step squat (6:50), calf raises (9:09)
COMBINE WEIGHTS WITH BANDS
If you have weights, for example a set of dumbbells, you can increase the resistance by adding bands. For example with (split) squats and the floor press.