Imagine if you will, Susan a couple of years ago: I’ve been strength training with my body weight for many months. I’ve been adding reps (in the case of things like squats and pushups) and time (in the case of wall sits and plank). As the weeks go by, this is all taking longer and longer, until I’m spending over an hour doing the exercises most mornings. Plus, it’s kind of boring to do 50 of, well, anything – even if I’m listening to a podcast.
It was time for me to add some external resistance. I didn’t want to go to a gym: I live 10 miles from town which would mean about 40 minutes of driving round trip. Plus, I worked at a gym for more than 20 years and didn’t really relish going back to the gym bro culture.
So, I bought a set of resistance bands.
Reminder: In this Strength Your Way series, I’m sharing the path and resources that helped me build my own strength training program over the past several years. I’m neither strength coach nor personal trainer. I’m not telling you how to do this but rather giving you a bunch of ideas to explore on your own so you can create something that works for and evolves with you. As always, listen to your body, trust your experience and self-knowledge, rely on the guidance of people who are research-centered, and always check with your health team recommendations that are best for you.
If you do strength training consistently (and your body hopes you do), at some point, your body will adjust to body weight moves and will stop getting stronger. Like me, you will need some kind of external resistance to strengthen muscle, connective tissue, and bone. I found the bands to be a great way for me to progress resistance gradually, cut down my training time, and not break the bank.
Upsides and Downsides of Resistance Bands
Upsides:
Bands are light, versatile, good for travel, and inexpensive (I bought mine for under $20).
Bands give resistance in both directions of all movements. That is, because of the elasticity, you are pushing and pulling against them both when you go up and down.
Downsides:
Bands tend to break down over time (it’s sometimes called “dry rot”) especially if you use them a lot. Keep an eye on them to be sure they don’t snap on you which would be startling at best and dangerous at worst.
The actual resistance they provide is highly variable depending on how tightly you pull them (for example, someone short doing biceps curls or squats while standing on the band will get less resistance than someone tall). This is not a problem per se but it can make tracking what you’re doing a challenge.
Some exercises are difficult to do with them (for example, bench press) although they offer an aspect of creativity and experimentation that is kind of fun.
Once I started using multiple bands, I needed shoes or a platform to stand on to protect my feet. This may be less of an issue for someone who hasn’t broken both of their 5th metatarsal bones or who likes working out in shoes.
To share some ideas for moves you can do with Resistance Bands, I’ve made you a video! You can watch the whole thing in under 30 minutes or use the timestamps to check out a particular move.
Strength Your Way: Resistance Bands Moves video
Ideas for Resistance Bands Strength Moves Time Stamps
Note: my audio is a little off but just turn up the volume and you should be able to hear everything just fine.
0:00 ~ Intro
1:27 ~ The Gear
4:57 ~ Upsides & Downsides of Bands
8:30 ~ Start to progress to lower repetitions
9:30 ~ Legs/Hips - using platform
10:42 ~ Squat with Band
11:38 ~ Deadlift with Band
13:18 ~ Slide out Bridge
14:48 ~ Chest/Back
15:15 ~ Variations on push up
16:31 ~ Row with Band
18:15 ~ Arms
18:45 ~ Biceps with Band
19:20 ~ Triceps with Band
20:20 ~ Shoulders/Balance
20:28 ~ Lunge with band
21:50 ~ Overhead press with band
22:30 ~ Deltoid fly with band
23:36 ~ Core/Impact
24:00 ~ Jump “Rope” + Fake Skiing
25:00 ~ Moving Plank – Walking Plank + Side / Regular Side
26:16 ~ Bird Dog variations
28:30 ~ Kneeling (or lunging) Chop with Yoga Block
29:58 ~ Outro
Resistance bands can be a great way to progress your training at minimal risk. And as always, consistency is the big mover here. Keep asking yourself: is this something I can do every week for the foreseeable future? Benefits will not come from strength training once a month or from doing it for a couple weeks and then not doing it again. Rather than taking a big swing with an ambitious plan, I recommend adding just a little at a time — both in terms of resistance and numbers of exercises.
By the time I added the bands, doing strength training had become simply part of my morning routine. Better to go slowly and incrementally — not just for your body (connective tissue takes much longer to get strong than muscles do so it’s important to take your time) but for your habit-building.
I would love to hear questions, concerns, ideas about any aspect of building a consistent, incremental, progressive strength training program. Please drop a comment below, on the video or pop me an email.
Next week: The barbell! Let’s get strong, everybody.
Resources
Strength Your Way post and Strength Your Way: Your Body Weight video
Strength Your Way: The Bands video
There is a ton of research about the impact of resistance training for everybody, particularly folks over 50. Here is one study that I found particularly compelling called the Live Active Successful Aging (LISA) study. There is research and several books from a researcher at Tufts University which is old but still pertinent (h/t Cecilia Mills). (The basics look good to me and only if it is progressive!)