Favorite, Fun and Effective Bodyweight and Resistance Band Workouts

Not having access to a fancy high-tech gym facility can no longer serve as an excuse to avoid a regular workout! With bodyweight-only moves as well as resistance band exercises, you can create an intense training session just about anywhere.  Read on to learn our favorite tried-and-true suggestions for equipment-free exercises.

Do We NEED “Heavy” to Make a Difference?

Whether one considers himself a seasoned veteran in the weight room or a novice in the gym, training with the help of resistance bands can make a significant impact on the building of strength, lean muscle mass and muscular endurance.

Both size and strength of muscle tissue come about as a result of time under tension. The reference to the word “tension” need not reflect loading up barbells or choosing the heaviest dumbbell in the room.  When utilized properly, resistance bands have to potential to challenge muscles in different and unique ways, all in the name of safely promoting functional training.

Advantages of Resistance Bands

When considering setting up a home gym, resistance bands score high in terms of affordability.  They also do not require a tremendous allocation of space. This same feature makes bands a popular favorite among those for whom frequent travel figures into their regular lifestyle. Bands weigh a negligible amount and tuck easily into the corner of any suitcase.

Any weight-training program one currently engages in at the gym can receive an upgrade simply by incorporating resistance bands. They can serve as useful warm-up’s or even last-exercise finishers. The versatility of resistance bands makes them an added bonus when training any and every part of one’s body, adding just enough to enhance movement patterns and strength gains. Resistance bands can also provide a variety of flexibility and stretching exercises.

Understanding the Concept of Accommodating Resistance

Even in the absence of dumbbells, bands can pack a meaty punch. Let us consider the execution of a basic bicep curl. When an athlete curls a dumbbell toward the top of the move, there exists a point during which the lift actually “feels easier” for the muscle. Then, as the exercise approaches its descent towards the starting point, the length of the level presenting the challenge to the bicep decreases; gravity no longer seems against the lifter, so the muscle need not create quite as much force as during the ascent challenge.

However, when executing a bicep curl with a resistance band, one will experience the phenomenon of “accommodating resistance”: the farther one pulls the band, the more it creates resistance. In this case, as one nears the top of the curl, the exercise does not feel easier. Here, one must expend a good amount of work energy to achieve that all-important contraction at the very top of the move. The stretched resistance band fights the lifter, requiring him to accelerate through the entire range of motion of the exercise.  In doing so, the muscle fibers get challenged in a completely different manner. That “top squeeze” now necessitates considerably more force as it fights the band’s resistance.

(Incidentally, combining dumbbells with resistance bands further increases the challenge!)

Creating a Workout Circuit

Those who travel for business can vouch for the challenge of fitting a workout into a week packed with meetings, seminars, and dinners. When pressed for time, a bodyweight-only resistance band workout circuit can hit all of the major muscle groups in a relatively short amount of time.  The amount of space afforded in a typical hotel room can suffice for such workouts.

Those who travel for leisure, too, may not wish to take time away from sightseeing, swimming, touring, or catching rays on a tropical beach to find and utilize the hotel gym. Once again, a resistance band workout can fit in between just about any recreational activity while not taking up too much “peak sunshine” time!

When designing a band circuit, keep in mind the following ~

• One or two “pull” moves
• One or two “push” moves
• One or two leg moves
• One or two core exercises
• Flexibility/Stretches

Rows, bicep curls, and lateral lifts fall under the category of “pull” exercises. The opposing muscle groups comprise “push” moves: push-up’s, chest presses, tricep kickbacks and shrugs. Leg moves include squats, pistols, lunges (forward, rear, lateral), and calf raises. Core moves such as planks or bridges work well even without utilizing the band. However, resistance bands come in particularly handy for enhancing the stretch reflex and improving flexibility.

Depending on how many of each exercise one includes, a typical circuit might take less than 30 minutes.

Take the Drop Set Challenge

Even in the absence of heavy barbells or hand weights, a resistance band can help create an entire drop-set training circuit. In this scenario, exercises begin with a set of 10 repetitions utilizing the resistance band, then immediately transition into 10 reps of the same move utilizing only one’s body weight. After a brief 60-second rest, repeat this for Round 2.  Rest again, then perform a 3^rd set.

This process works well because it takes advantage of having “pre-exhausted” the muscle with the band set, only to find that the bodyweight set then feels more challenging than expected. Try this with a classic squat.  Place the resistance band under both feet and bring hands (holding the ends of the band) up to shoulders. Perform 10 squats with this resistance; then drop the band and immediately perform 10 more squats unassisted. The burn you feel may surprise you, especially by the 3^rd set.

Bodyweight-Only Training

The beauty of bodyweight training lies in the fact that it can serve as the perfect introductory gateway to strength workouts while still offering a challenge to top athletes. In fact, aside from serving solely as a means to build lean muscle mass, the collection of cardio exercises that require no equipment seems endless. Beyond just executing countless push-ups for muscular endurance and cardio, one can walk, run, sprint, hike, swim, jump and climb mountains to elevate the heart rate while donning little more than comfortable clothes and appropriate footwear.

Once again, one can combine bodyweight exercises with cardiovascular moves to create a circuit that changes each time one engages in it. As long as the number of repetitions remain high enough to induce fatigue, and the intensity of the chosen cardio activity remains high, muscle mass will develop.

Here we outline a series of exercises to combine with cardio moves to create a unique circuit every time ~

• Push-ups and jumping jacks
• Planks and marching in place
• Walk for 2 minutes, then stop and do 15 squats
• Reverse lunges and burpees
• Side planks and mountain climbers
• Wind sprints followed by toe touches
• Glute bridges and side shuffles

Each of the above combinations can work well for a timed set or a particular number of each. Play around with mixing and matching different exercises to keep your brain working as hard as your body.

Take-Home Message

Bodyweight exercises can and will build muscle “independent of an external load,” according to data published in the journal Physiology and Behavior. The resistance bands, while considered an external load, still train the body in a vastly different manner than traditional weight room equipment.

However, we must note that at some point, a body gets accustomed to these sorts of workouts; at this juncture, one may notice a plateau in muscle development. Eventually, to make any further progress should one desire that, the principle of progressive overload must factor into one’s training regimen.

References:

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a756325/10-best-bodyweight-exercises-for-men/#

https://www.fhittingroom.com/blog/fitness/4-bodyweight-workouts/

https://www.onepeloton.com/blog/bodyweight-exercises/

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a30199046/pallof-press-exercise/

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a32093962/resistance-band-workouts/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27329807/