Exercises with Rubber Bands

When talking about physical exercises, we must always start from the premise that any type of sport or exercise will always be beneficial for our body. Therefore, we must force ourselves to do it continuously in our lives. In this article we are going to talk about exercises with rubber bands, their benefits, their drawbacks and how to carry them out to improve our physical form.

When we consider in a more or less serious way to start practicing some sport or physical exercise, the first thing that comes to mind is the expense that we will have to pay to be able to get in shape. Gym fee, appropriate clothing and footwear, machines or gadgets if we want to spend hours at home, a whole series of obstacles that can make us give up our decision to train.

To avoid this first blockage, today I bring you a series of routines that you can practice in the comfort of your home without an exorbitant initial expense.

Exercises with rubber bands are a cheap way to start getting in shape if you are one of those who cannot stand a closed and crowded place like a gym, or for those of you who are not going to be able to go to the gym for a while because you are on vacation. For example and you do not want to leave your training routine. But we must not be mistaken with respect to this type of training. It may be that some of the exercises are more comfortable but there will be others that we cannot perform or that are more difficult when it comes to execution.

We can say that elastic bands are a substitute for some machines to tone our body, but we cannot say that they are a substitute for all the elements that we can find in a gym.

Instructions

We are going to see a series of instructions and steps so that the exercises with this type of element are as beneficial as possible.

1. Elastic bands, also known as elastic bands or resistance bands, were initially used for joint or muscle rehabilitation.
2. Being very light elements, low priced and very easy to handle, it has quickly passed into the world of sports.
3. The most important thing about elastic bands when using them for sports is that all of them will offer us resistance when practicing our physical exercise routines.
4. We must remember, just as we always do when we talk about physical routines, that for any exercise to have positive results for us, we must practice it regularly during the week.

We are now going to see what types of exercises we can do with elastic bands and what muscles they are designed for.

1. The first exercise that we present to you is the one that you have to do with push-ups. They are done the same as always but in this case they can be somewhat more complicated. We place ourselves in the plank position(in the following image you can see how this position is performed) and we pass the elastic band through the upper back, a little lower than the shoulders (on the shoulder blades). We wrap the ends of the band around our thumbs and place our hands on the ground to assume the push-up position. We lower the chest towards the ground while we flex our arms. Before reaching the ground with the chest, we strongly contract the abdomen and chest. We push ourselves against the ground to return to the starting position.
2. Now we are going to perform the so-called seated row. We sit on the floor, with our backs straight. We place the elastic band on the soles of the feet, in the center. We stretch our legs. With both hands we grab the elastic band and stretch our arms in front with the palms of the hands facing inwards. We flex our arms to pull the band towards us with a straight back at all times (this article on how to do back exercises may interest you). We return to the starting position slowly.
3. The next exercise in our routine can be squats. For this exercise, stand with your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart. We step on the elastic band and hold the two ends strong with our hands, arms bent and resting on our shoulders. We perform a squat, bending the knees with a straight back. We squeeze the abdomen and the buttocks at the same time.
4. Another exercise can be the standing press. We stand up, the same as for the previous exercise, but this time instead of bending down, what we do is stretch our arms above our heads. We start with the palms of the hands facing inward and we rotate them as we stretch the arms, until we finish with the palms facing forward.
5. Bicep curls. For this exercise we stand with our feet a little closer together than in the previous exercise. We place the feet on the elastic band. We take the ends with the arms stretched to both sides of the body. The back always straight. We flex the arms pulling the band until they are completely flexed on the chest. We return to the starting position slowly.

These are some of the exercises that we can do as routines with elastic bands or rubber bands. Remember that something very important after having done any exercise table is to spend some time stretching our muscles to relieve them of the effort used.

What do you need

In this section we are going to talk about the different types of elastic bands that exist in the market and which one we should use depending on our physical preparation.

• First, we find the simplest elastic bands. We are going to use them if we are beginners in this type of exercise or if we want to tone our body in a gentle way. They are simple rubber bands and in a simple way. They usually measure a meter or meter and a half approximately and about 15 centimeters more or less wide. Its thickness will vary depending on the resistance. They are usually differentiated from each other through colors. They give us greater freedom of movement since they do not have grips. However, their drawbacks are that they offer little resistance and their durability is less. But they are a good option to start with this type of routine.
• At a higher level we find the elastic bands that have a handle or grip. They are made of a thick elastic cable that we can hold by means of a handle at each end. They are bands that offer a little more intensity and resistance when performing the exercises.
• Finally, we now refer to the elastic bands or rubber bands that offer the greatest resistance of all. They are very similar to the previous ones. The main difference is that instead of a single cable they carry several, usually three. Therefore, by having more cables, the effort we have to make in the exercises will increase.

Tips

Let’s finally see a series of tips on why using elastic bands for your exercises are very beneficial.

1. They are the best option for training in our own home.
2. They are easy to transport. We can take them with us so as not to stop our training routine, for example, if we go on a trip.
3. With them we can work all muscle groups: arms, legs, shoulder, chest and back. We just have to take care of the way we place it on our body.
4. They help us work on basic physical qualities. In other words, rubber bands are a perfect alternative to be able to work with resistance, speed and strength exercises for both the upper and lower part of our body. They also help us improve our flexibility (here is an article on flexibility exercises), since we can include them in various stretching exercises.
5. Rubber bands can also be used to add variety to our workouts. They provide an extra element to the typical toning exercises.
6. They are perfectly suited to different fitness levels. We have already seen the models of exercise bands that exist depending on our physical level.
7. With elastic bands we can add a greater variety of movement to our workouts. If we normally carry out a series of exercises without changing them, our muscles adapt to these exercises, to this resistance and to that force, so that, after a while, we will not notice an evolution. Therefore, it is very convenient to mix different types of exercises and resistance.
8. They are less aggressive elements than the typical weights, so the risk of suffering an injury decreases.
9. The elastic bands or rubber bands help us to train for different sports, since they can simulate the movements that we make, for example, in tennis or golf and even baseball. They are widely used to prevent various sports injuries that are very common in this type of sports, such as knee tears and injuries. At the same time they are highly recommended also for people who practice athletics.
10. As we said at the beginning, elastic bands or rubber bands were used before sports for the rehabilitation of muscle or tendon injuries. Therefore, in addition to all the benefits exposed, they are ideal for physical therapy. In other words, after an injury they are highly recommended to rebuild the muscles that have been atrophied due to lack of activity during the period of the injury.