When starting a strength-training routine, most people head to the weight rack. But when it comes to working your muscles, dumbbells aren’t the only tool available. Resistance bands have become an increasingly popular way to add a strength component to workouts and increase muscle tone.
Resistance band exercises are popular for good reason: compared to other fitness equipment, they’re inexpensive, easy to store and simple to use at home (or anywhere for that matter).
But do resistance band workouts really work? Who should be using them? And what is the best way to work out with a resistance band? For answers, we turned to orthopedic clinical specialist and physical therapist Erika Mundinger.
“Can you get toned, can you get strong, can you get a good workout with resistance bands and hit weight-loss goals? Absolutely,” Mundinger says.
What’s the difference between resistance bands and dumbbells?
First, what’s the difference in strength training with resistance bands versus weights? “If I grab a 15-pound dumbbell, the resistance of that 15 pounds stays consistent throughout the entire contraction,” that’s known as an isotonic contraction, Mundinger explains. “And then there’s isokinetic, which is what we get from the resistance bands, and that’s where the resistance changes as I move. [When] I grab that resistance band to do a bicep curl towards me, that resistance is going to get harder on the top and easier as I bring my hand back down. The more we are going through the motion, the resistance actually changes. So it just strengthens the muscles a little bit differently.”
Various bands come in different levels of resistance. “Each brand is going to have their own pretty rainbow color scheme,” Mundinger says, “and it’s pretty standard that lighter colors are typically lighter resistance, and as it gets darker it gets harder.” When you can consistently maintain your form through a full range of motion with a band, you can begin to work your…
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