Why Resistance Bands Could Be The Fitness Solution You’re Looking For.

by JLL Fitness · Published March 14, 2018 · Updated September 28, 2021

If you’re looking for a fitness solution that’s cheap, versatile, safe and can be done anywhere at any time, then resistance bands could be the answer for you!

Resistance Bands are often over looked in the fitness world or have a certain stigma attached to them that they’re only used by a certain fitness level. But that’s not true! In this article, I’ll explain why resistance bands can be used by everybody.

resistance bands

Cost Effective

What a lot of people look for when buying fitness equipment is the cost. Everyone has a budget which is why resistance bands tick the box for so many people. You can pick one up from the majority of sporting goods stores for as little as £1.00. For that low cost, you get a lot of value for your money. You get a piece of equipment that can work practically any muscle in the body (but more on that later). The most effective way to burn fat and to build muscle is to train with resistance. The most popular way to do this is to use free weights such as dumbbells or kettlebells. However, these come at a large cost the heavier the weights you buy. Creating resistance with a resistance band gives you a great workout, at a fraction of the cost. You’d be surprised at how much you can achieve.

Versatile

As I mentioned previously, the resistance band is an incredibly versatile piece of fitness equipment. They can work practically any muscle in the body. Getting creative with a resistance band means that you can perform standard free weight moves such as bicep curls, tricep extensions, hammer curls, lateral raises, rows and so much more. The beauty of using a resistance band to perform these moves is that the lack of weight means you can perform a higher volume of repetitions which aids in building muscle and burning fat.

resistance bands can also be used to add resistance to body weight moves which increase your performances. Moves such as press-ups, squats, donkey kicks and lungees can be made more difficult by adding a resistance band to the equation.

Compact

Resistance bands are so small that they take up very little room. Free weights and weight machines can take up lots of room. They’re not always practical to keep around the house. Resistance bands can be stored practically anywhere when you’re not using them and what’s more, they can be taken anywhere as well! So, there’s no excuse not to get a good workout in when you’re nowhere near a gym on vacation or on that business trip.

Use It Anywhere

The versatility of this equipment extends to the sheer amount of places that you can use it. It can used around the home, in the gym, at the office, at the park and practically any place you can think of in between. This is good for motivation as you’re not confined to the same four walls when working out which will increase productivity. At least if you choose to take your resistance band down to your local park, then you have the rest of world passing you by to occupy you while you workout.

Appeals to Everyone

Most people think that resistance bands are only good for people getting into fitness as you’re not doing any heavy lifting when exercising. This isn’t true though as resistance bands can be beneficial to everybody no matter your fitness level.

Depending on the band that you choose, different sizes can provide varying difficulties of resistance. This means that you can get a good workout no matter if you’re gym a veteran or if you haven’t lifted a weight before in your life.

Good No Matter What Your Aim

Fitness covers a vast majority of areas these days. People choose to undertake a fit and healthy lifestyle for various reasons and resistance bands can help no matter what your aim. You can use resistance bands for fat loss, muscle building, yoga and even physiotherapy.

I’ve talked about fat loss and muscle building previously. However, Yoga is something that can be enhanced with the use of resistance bands. They can add more difficulty to certain poses. They can also help your form and enable you to perfect Yoga poses. Poses that can be made more difficult using resistance bands are the warrior pose, forward bend, tree pose, bridge, dancer pose and much more.

Resistance bands are also great for physiotherapy as they allow you to work muscles that are usually hard to hit. People who need physio on joints such as knee joints or shoulder joints can easily do so with the help of a resistance band. This is also beneficial as they’re low impact so they won’t put a massive strain on joints that you’d normally get with using free weights.

resistance bands

Safety

One of the biggest draws of exercising with resistance bands has to be the safety aspect. Using big, heavy weights can have a lot of benefits. However, if you let your ego get the better of you then going to heavy has massive safety issues and you could end up causing muscle or ligament damage.

This isn’t a concern with resistance bands, as they allow you to do your usual moves with controlled movements. They’ll also help your form for the times that you do want to lift heavier in the future.

Although they often get over looked, resistance bands offer a huge amount of benefits for every user. Check out previous JLL Workout of the Week videos where we give some great ideas on how resistance bands can be used.