4 Reasons You Should Train With Resistance Bands

Resistance training is a great tool to improve your health and wellness, reduce your risk of injury, and promote longevity. It helps strengthen and increase muscle mass, maintain bone density and joint health, and improve mobility. In addition, resistance training improves health related quality of life regarding mental health, sleep quality, stress management, emotional and social functions…basically, it’s important for our vitality. 

But where do we start? Should we use resistance bands or free weights to train? Many people are familiar with free weights (e.g. picking up a dumbbell and curling it.) Although they both offer similar benefits, both tools differ for many reasons. Let’s dive into how they differ, and why you should consider implementing resistance bands into your exercise routine.

1. More planes of movement
   Resistance bands offer resistance in more planes of movement and don't rely on just gravity. Thus, you can tap into ranges of motion that are hard to get into with a traditional free weight, such as punches, kicks, rotation (golf swings, baseball batting, tennis serves), anti-rotation (think Pallof press for your core), and more

2. Linear variable resistance
   Resistance bands load the muscle through a concept called linear variable resistance. This is when resistance follows a strength curve where there is more tension towards the top of the lift, when the band is the most stretched. This is akin to our muscle group’s strength curve as it follows the length-tension relationship. The muscle’s strength increases over the range of motion until around midway, where there are the most cross-link bridges formed. So the muscle is then the weakest at the beginning. Thus, using the resistance band allows our body to strengthen the muscles in the stronger ranges of motion (eg. towards the middle and end range of a bicep curl) where a traditional dumbbell would be less effective (only provides the most resistance in the beginning half of the range of motion where the muscle is weakest). This means the muscle is receiving greater resistance at its strongest point in the range of motion and therefore is receiving more adequate resistance to better stimulate strength adaptations.

3. Additional assistance to perform difficult movements
   For certain movements that have high barriers to learn, such as pull ups, dips, planches, front levers, etc., resistance bands offer a great entry point to learning those movements. You would want to grab the thicker power bands though, as the thin bands and tubes aren’t strong enough to support your body weight. Check out this video to see how you can apply the bands to assist with learning your desired movement

4. Tool to help mobilize stiff joints
   Applying the same concept in the last point, the tougher power bands can help loosen stiff joints. Knowing the structural anatomy of our joints, we can apply a force that can mobilize a joint in the direction that is the tightest and free up some space to allow more mobility. This can help get into those hard and uncomfortable end ranges, like a deep squat or overhead snatch.

A small sample sized study showed that adding resistance bands into your training in addition to free weights can increase peak force and power, meaning you can push more weight, get stronger, and increase muscle size and hypertrophy. This can also increase your performance out in the field, whether it is sprinting, football, tennis, golf, etc. An important thing to consider is that a systematic review showed that these benefits were greatest when people with resistance training experience use loads of greater than 80% of their 1RM (one rep max) and people without experience use loads of less than 80% of 1RM1. In other words, those with more experience should push for more resistance.

This should help you see the awesome benefits of adding resistance bands into your exercise routine. I have tons of varying resistance bands in my gym bag that I use every time I work out. They are inexpensive, light, and portable, and you can even bring them with you during trips to keep your joints and muscles healthy and in shape. A great investment if you ask me!

Reference:

1. Lin Y, Xu Y, Hong F, Li J, Ye W, Korivi M. Effects of Variable-Resistance Training Versus Constant-Resistance Training on Maximum Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 13;19(14):8559. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19148559. PMID: 35886409; PMCID: PMC9317775.