In different workout routines—like a row or pull-down, for instance—the resistance is flip-flopped: It’s heaviest when your muscle groups are at their weakest, and lightest at their strongest level, which is additionally a plus as it may well allow you to progress by means of your energy coaching by engaged on the purpose the place you battle probably the most, Dr. Reiner explains.
What’s extra, bands are an “glorious means” to ease into energy coaching or rehab from harm, Dr. Reiner says. That’s as a result of they create a slower development in comparison with weights, since you may make workout routines more difficult in smaller increments by merely shortening the size of the band (versus choosing up the subsequent set of weights, which can be a number of kilos or extra heavier.) “You’ll be able to inch your means towards full-on energy coaching that means,” Dr. Reiner says. Plus, in a rehab (or prehab) state of affairs, you should use them to isolate particular muscle teams and work in numerous planes of movement just by altering your place to the band, Dr. Reiner explains, which may be a straightforward, efficient approach to pinpoint particular areas.
They’re additionally stellar for getting in some type of energy work when you could have restricted entry to different gear, she provides, like these occasions whenever you simply can’t make it to the fitness center after work or are touring with no weights at your disposal.
Besides, bands are budget-friendly (you should buy a five-pack on Amazon for $24), moveable (simply toss ’em in your fitness center bag or suitcase), and extremely versatile (they work with tons of various workout routines—from conventional energy strikes like lunges, bridges, and presses to extra stability-focused workout routines like pull-aparts, clamshells, and lateral walks).
Lastly, the truth that they’re principally simply outsized rubber bands could make them much less intimidating in comparison with a cumbersome set of free weights. “It’s rather a lot much less scary to have a look at a resistance band than a dumbbell,” Hart says, which might make them a extra approachable instrument for anybody new to, or in any other case overwhelmed by, energy coaching.
However there are some downsides value realizing about too.
Moreover the truth that bands can solely present energy coaching to a degree, making them a not-so-great-choice in case your aim is heavy beneficial properties, their shifting resistance degree may hinder your energy beneficial properties by means of your full vary of movement, if you’re counting on bands alone and no weights, Dr. Reiner says.