How To Perform Chest Press With Resistance Bands

Article by Thomas Leroy

Exercise bands are so versatile you can use them anyway you want to train any muscle you want and work out anywhere you want too. To build some chest muscle, a great exercise is the chest press with exercise bands. You actually need a bit more than just your tubes.

Indeed, you will need a stationary object to wrap the band around, like a post. I’ve seen people tying their band to a door handle, but I’m not sure it’s the safest thing to do. That’s why I recommend to get some sort of door attachment. Hopefully some exercise bands manufacturers provide it with your set of bands. This opens the door to so much more exercises.

Here’s how you perform the chest press with exercise bands:

1. Wrap the band around a post or pass it through the door anchor provided with your set. Grab the band by the handles, each in one hand, your back to the post or door. The band should be at chest height, but with a door attachment system can also be placed lower so you train on another angle.

2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, you may have to make one little foot step so you have one a bit in front of the other to stabilize your body. Have your hands with handles to your chest height, palms down. That’s the starting position

3. Press the handles in front of you, still at chest height, by extending your arms parallel to the floor. You will feel the tension in your chest. Get back to the starting position by keeping control of the tension, you’ve just performed one chest press rep.

You should be able to perform 8 to 12 reps and if you can go over 12 then it’s time to use a stronger tension resistance band. There are more chest exercises you can do with exercise bands, chest press being only one of those.

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Burning Stubborn Fat And Building Muscle With Elastic Exercise Bands

Elastic exercise bands can be used to effectively burn stubborn fat and build muscle. If you’d like to know the real reason as to why these bands are more effective than other fitness equipment, pay close attention here.

For the last decade or so, the medical community has been using elastic exercise bands for musculoskeletal problems. Studies have proven that various musculoskeletal problems can be corrected if an exercise regime is followed right from the start.

Using any form of fitness equipment has been proven to be quite effective for treating such issues. But the medical community has started using these bands because of their low cost.

Unlike traditional fitness equipment, exercises with elastic bands are harder. You can actually feel your muscles worked out right away.

You may do a lot of free weight exercises quite well. But if you try to replicate the same exercise with these bands, it’s going to be even more challenging. Therefore, these bands make your muscle stronger and burn fat faster.

Working out various parts of your body

The biggest benefit of the elastic exercise bands is that they help you apply progressive resistance on various parts of your body from head to toe. You are not limited to only certain set of exercises. With the bands, you can actually target almost all muscle groups in your body.

With the traditional fitness equipment like the bowflex, treadmills and free weights, you won’t be able to get a full body workout.

You’ll be able to work out your upper body and lower body mildly. But none of it will be really that effective.

The only way you can target various other muscle groups is with the help of body weight exercises. Body weight exercises can be effective but you can’t get progressive resistance from them. It’s a slow process and you won’t notice any immediate results as you would with the free weights or exercise bands.

On the other hand, elastic exercise bands help you target every single muscle group on your body and you can actually increase your resistance levels as you go. You are not limited in any way. You just have to buy the right set of handles, add the bands to the handles and you’ll get the resistance you need.

Burning fat with these bands

The resistances you get from these bands make your workouts very effective. There’s no easier way to burn fat than to use elastic exercise bands. But working out with these bands will only help you get moderate results. You won’t be able to transform your body and your fitness level unless you get all parts of the weight loss equation right.

A lot of people are looking for the magic pill to lose weight. The truth is there’s no magic pill to weight loss. Your results can be accelerated with the use of elastic exercise bands if you use them consistently. But you will never be able to get what you want if you don’t remain consistent to your goal and plan.

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Free weights or bands – which ones give the best results?

Article by Tom Kalka

With so much conflicting information out there about fitness and exercise, it’s no wonder that clients often want advice about whether or not to use machines for exercise as opposed to free weights and bands.

But as a professional trainer, my answer is simple – I say, “Machines, free weights and cables”.

Confused? Don’t be. The fact is that each of these types of equipment has benefits and drawbacks that the others do not. Ultimately a good workout regimen will use a variety of exercises and equipment in order to produce “muscle confusion” which is a core element of fitness boot camps. So let’s take a closer look at each one of these and when you would use them.

Machines

We’ve covered this area before – machines are great mostly for safety reasons because they limit your range of motion. But this same limit is also why we’re not crazy about them, as limited range of motion means you cannot work each side of your body independently. Therefore you wind up with one side stronger than the other and your weaker side never catches up. So if you work out from home this might be a good thing, but you will eventually find yourself needing to change up your exercise routine.

Free Weights

In my experience, guys love free weights, ladies, generally are much more intimated by them. Hopefully, this explanation will bring everyone back down to earth and realize the benefits and limitations to free weights. When using free weights you are going to need to recruit the more muscle fibers in the muscle you are working because of the need to stabilize the weight though-out the ROM. Not to mention, that when using dumbbells you will also have to exert the same force on both sides of your body to move the same weight. Another benefit to free weights is the fact that you can change the angle in which you hold the weight, or the angle in which you push or pull the weight, all of which allow you to target different muscle fibers and more fully develop the muscle.

The limitations with free weights are that they are much more dangerous to use if you don’t know what you are doing, or you think you know what you are doing but are wrong! Without a spotter, it can be very difficult to increase the amount of weight you use because of the dangers of dropping the weight or not being able to lift the weight into the proper starting position.

Bands or Cables

The invention of cables machines was an attempt to find a balance between both free weights and machines. You will see many different types of cable machines in your local fitness facility but you can also find them in many homes as well. The famous Bowflex is a great tool to use as well as the Crossbow and other variations as well. The problem with these tools include: most clients have no clue how to perform the exercise properly not to mention that they cannot figure out the correct configuration with the machine to hit the muscle they want to target. While being safer than free weights, you still have to maintain stability using cables which is a great benefit, not to mention that you can hit the muscle at many more angles with cables.

In conclusion, the best answer I could provide is that a proper exercise routine should incorporate all three types of tools, not to mention the numerous other tools available to you including: video tapes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, walking, jogging, and running, swimming, kickboxing, etc. The real secret is to constantly shock your body and never allow it to get use to doing one thing. This way, your body has to continually grow to keep up with the demands you are putting on it.

Ab exercises with resistance bands

Article by Michele Ross

Developing your abdominal muscles can be a very frustrating task. The main reason being that most of the fat your body stores goes right there to your belly. It’s much easier to get say, your biceps and triceps in line than your abs. I have found that one of the best ways to help with developing your abs is to do ab exercises with resistance bands.Resistance bands can add variety to your workout and are great for people who are just starting out and seasoned veterans alike. You can work every part of your body with resistance bands but I have found that they are especially good for working your abs. They allow you to move freely and with a greater range of motion so you can get the most out of every rep. Because of the variety resistance bands offer, your body will be well challenged which will lead to better development. They also vary in degree of difficulty so there is no need to think that it will be too easy or too hard.Another great benefit of using resistance bands is that you can use then anywhere. If you don’t have the time to make it to the gym one day you can easily pull out your resistance bands and get your ab exercises done. They are lightweight and take up limited space so traveling with them is also an option. If you are someone who is always on the go and you think that you can’t get your workouts in, think again. Just hook them up to any stable object and you are ready to go.Some great ab exercises with resistance bands include:• Kneeling resistance band crunch (AWESOME exercise!)• Ab crunches• Stability ball crunch with resistance band (a little more difficult)

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Stretch Band Workouts Stretch Bands

Article by Angela Rubicsa

Most Stretch Bands are between 15mm and 60mm thick and are 10cm to 20cm wide. The thicker the Stretch Band the larger is its resistance. Newcomers should thus utilize a thinner band (usually coloured yellow or green), intermediates should utilize a medium thick band (usually red and/or blue) and complex customers may choose too high resisting ranges (black, gold, gray, violet). The color code may change between varied brands and materials, thus look scrupulously on the colour code that applied to the actual stretch resisting band.lower body structure squatGrab a grip of the band together with your ft shoulder width apart, maintaining your torso straight. Stand on the band whilst your hands are holding it in a half bicep curl. Lower yourself lightly untilThe final piece is the cost. Dumbbells can be expensive, in particular when you keep consuming heavier ones since the progressions in your particular workouts. Do not turn into surprised in case you spend around $ 150 for a set of dumbbells weighing 20, 30, 40, and fifty lbs.The health important things about resistance bands are many and much reaching. The low effect movements build joint force with out inflicting damage, as workouts similar to pushups are prone to do. These movements build lean, drawn-out muscles, that are more attractive than the bulky muscle tissue created by weight training. The process that builds this muscle also will improve your versatility and range of motion. Following the muscle is built, your body can certainly burn much more calories (and stored fat) than it did before.What is also exceptional about stretch bands is that you can shop their particular needs away and transportation them easily. It does not take a lot of effort to hang their situation in a closet right after a workout. In case you are a businessperson who is usually traveling, owning stretch bands are perfect for letting you exercise routine on the way and not needing to concern yourself with lugging around heavy weights.Stretch bands do have a drawback. The just one drawback is that they are likely to stretch out and lose their elasticity over time. My bands have made it via 2 rounds of P90X and are only now beginning to lose a number of their elasticity. Not bad for $ 40!

Triceps Resistance Bands Exercise : Triceps Extensions

To train your triceps as well as other muscles and get a full body workout, resistance bands are really just what you need. You don’t even need much room, you can train anywhere without spending too much money. Triceps extension is one arm exercise you can perform the same way you would with dumbbells.

Grab the exercise band by the handles, each in one hand. This may be better for you to try fist with the Light resistance band. Step with one foot on the band, in the middle of the lenght.

You’re going to train one arm at a time. Lift the handle up behind your neck. Your elbow should be bent, just next to your head and stay there, keep it in. This is the starting position.

Now extend your arm all the way up over your head. That’s a triceps extension, you need to keep proper form, control the movement.

Go back to the starting position by bending your arm, not too fast, still keeping the elbow in and up, your hand is now back behind your neck.

You can perform these triceps extensions using your two arms. Just grab each handle and move them up over your head in the starting position explained earlier, and extend the same way.

Your can also increase the tension by stepping on the band with yur two feet. This will provide you more resistance and make the exercise more challenging. You can also then use a heavier resistance band when it becomes too easy.

Depending on the resistance you use, you will still want to be able to perform 12 reps per set. When you can then again, increase resistance with a heavier tension exercise band.

Triceps extensions is just one exercise you can perform with exercise bands. There are many others you can do and still with the same comfort, versatility and portability.

Can You Build Muscle With Resistance Bands?

“Pumping Iron” came out mid-70 and burned the concept of bodybuilding into the minds of the general public like no other movie or event before it.  Over 30 years have passed by, and yet the myths and misconceptions that still exist in the minds of the public are amazing.

Back then it was, “don’t lift or you’ll become muscle-bound,” and today, it is “I don’t want to get bulky.”  It used to be, “just showy muscles, nothing to them,” and now, it’s “I just want to tone a little.”

One misconception that I want to deal with is the notion that you cannot build muscles with resistance bands.  That somehow the only true means of building muscle is with weights.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let’s be clear first, muscle does not know what the source of any resistance is.  It knows resistances and it knows that it is lifting against something.  Whether that something is a bag of rocks, chains, dead weights, or resistance bands is not relevant, per se.

A muscle straining against elastic tubing or “rubber bands” strains the same as it does with an Olympic bar with plates on it.  The issue is not the source of the resistance but whether you are straining to maximum effort.

The challenge, or the misconception, comes from that fact that most people are only familiar with the light, medium, and heavy bands that sell at places like Kmart or Wal-Mart.  A person buys one, takes it home, and does 50 reps with it.  There’s no tension to start and it feels springy.  Hate it.  Throw it away.  I’ve done that too.  No muscle building here.

But there are systems, like the Bodylastics that I use, which have bands with labeled tensile strengths.  You can use these graduate bands to increase resistance from light to impossible.  I’m not kidding about how hard it is pull some of these bands.

What’s important in muscle building is to force your body to work harder than it has before, say the previous workout.  Let’s say the last workout you used bands equal to 50lbs for 11 reps, then your objective for today is to do 56lbs for 8 to 10 reps. 

That’s because your muscles grow not from the exercise but from the recovery after the exercise.  Whether you train to failure on with an Olympic barbell or with resistance bands is really not relevant.  It’s what happens after the workout.

As your body repairs the tiny tears and depleted energy cells, it makes it a little stronger and little more efficient in anticipation that you may do that crazy lifting thing again.  If on the next workout, you do not challenge your muscles; your body kicks back and relaxes.  But if your push yourself a little more; your body says, “wow, need to take some of that nutrient and build a little more.”

I am no guru and I understand that I am simplifying this.  Nevertheless, the key point is that you build your muscles after the workout. 

If you diet is terrible and you are burning the candle at both ends, then it really does not matter whether you pumping iron or rubber bands.  The equation for building muscle is: training to failure plus clean balanced diet plus lots of rest equal great body.

So, this is a very long answer to the question of whether you can build muscle with resistance bands.  The answer is, “yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”  Oh sorry, wrong story – the answer is yes.

Oh by the way, the follow-on question should be, “but, can resistance bands build muscle as well as weights?”  That would be no, but let’s hit that another day.

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