In today’s short article I wanted to tell you about one cheap, easy to use and damn effective exercise kit you could all benefit from….

The RESISTANCE BAND
Many people may think that’s just for women in fitness classes with an easy resistance. You’re very wrong! Resistance bands can serve a purpose in I think everyone’s fitness program as well as being incredibly convenient.

Perfect for:

– Warming your muscles up

– Improving flexibility and posture

– Exercising at home/hotel/work/on holiday/anywhere

– Working all major muscles, especially in the upper body

Every time I go on holiday I chuck into my bag (a little bit sad maybe) a resistance band and a skipping rope. It means I can get a full body cardio and resistance workout done in my hotel room.

It seems a lot easier to work the lower body without any equipment. Press ups and tricep dips are some of the only exercises that spring to mind for upper body exercises for most so having a resistance band is great for giving your upper body a real workout wherever you are.

Best resistance band exercises to do:

Bicep Curl

Shoulder Press

Bicep Curl – Shoulder Press

Upright Row

Front Raise (Alternate or two hands together)

Seated Row (wrap resistance band around feet)

Lateral Raise

Al Lateral Raise & Front Raise

Static Front Hold

Resistance Band Punches

Side Bends

Seated Chest Press (Place behind the back of the chair)

Crossover Fly (Place behind a steady stationery post, step into it to increase tension and bring hands from wide part to together in front of your body)

Back Fly (As above but face the post where band is secured and move arms out to the side)

Squats (Stand on band and keep hands by shoulders as if you were doing a barbell squat)

 

If there are any you don’t know just have a little check on the internet.

You could try doing 3 sets of 10 reps of each/selected exercises or you could do them all in a row for a set number of reps/time. You will probably be looking for higher reps (10-20) with low rest depending on the tension of the band.

This type of exercise will help to stimulate muscle growth, hit the full range of motion by working the muscles in the concentric as well as eccentric phase and increase strength.

So for a small investment you can get big benefits. I managed to get a set of 5 resistance bands of different tensions/difficulty for under £10 on Amazon.

Take care,

Jamie ‘Exercise Anywhere’ Stedman