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Bands! A valuable addition to your training!

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Full disclaimer: Rubberbanditz gave me a free collection of three bands (7/8″ wide, 1 1/8″ wide, and 1 3/4″ wide – the black, purple, and green one respectively). I chatted with the owner and said I would make a post on band training and mention his site. If you’d like to help support Beast Skills and the free information I provide on this site, my Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, then please feel free to head on over to Rubberbanditz and grab some bands today!

Even if you don’t, here’s some information to show you why bands can be a valuable addition to your training – whether you’re just starting off, or a seasoned veteran.


Portability/Ease

One of the greatest things about bands is their ability to travel anywhere. Even if you travel with a small carry-on bag, you’ll be able to fit at least one band in for the ride.

Once I’m at my destination, I often hunt down the nearest gym to get in my workouts. Carrying a few bands with me to this new gym is easy and can help with many of the exercises I do in my training.

And on the off chance I can’t find or get to a gym? The bands provide an incredibly simple way to work out anywhere. Here’s a video I made showing just 24 exercises, many of which you can do in a hotel room. There are so many more you can do, if you spend just 5 minutes playing around with these things.

Excuses are a thing of the past when you can unpack a band and start working out in less time it takes me to write this sentence!

 

Variety

In the video above, you can start to see the variety of exercises I can perform with bands. To list some of the categories out:

– Upper body assisted exercises (assisted chin-ups, assisted push-ups, assisted muscle-ups)
– Upper body resisted exercises (band resisted push-ups)
– Lower body assisted exercises (assisted one legged squat – one of my favorite!)
– Lower body resisted exercises (banded good mornings)
– Mobility exercises (dislocates, stretches)
– Grip work (wrist curls)

Rubberbanditz currently focuses a lot of its image on bodyweight exercises, which I love. This is why my video focuses on purely bodyweight-centric exercises you can perform with them, but I didn’t even mention a huge number of barbell (and even kettlebell) exercises that can be done with bands! From resisted or assisted squats and deadlifts, to band-resisted kettlebell swings, to band-suspended kettlebell bench (which has to be felt to be appreciated!), and even Olympic lifting! And those who live for conditioning, you haven’t done anything until you’ve tried band-resisted sprints!

So while the bodyweight and gymnastics communities greatly benefit from including bands in their training, the powerlifting and weightlifting communities use them plenty of times too. Whatever your training entails, you can probably benefit by incorporating some band work!


Value

I love barbell lifting and a good barbell and weights are absolutely worth the price you will pay, but I understand not everyone has the funds for dropping hundreds of dollars for equipment, or even money for a gym membership.

I started Beast Skills because I wanted to provide information for people in this situation. Maybe they only had a basement to work out in. In this scenario, everything you buy for your home gym has to give back many times over. Bands are an absolute steal! Spend some money on bands and take them to a local park and you can get a cheap workout that would save you tons of money over most regular gym memberships.

 

Rubberbanditz bands

As for the Rubberbanditz bands themselves, I’ve only had them for a couple months now, but I’ve been happy with them so far. This is not just because I got them for free! They are a quality product. They have held up to all the exercises I’ve put them through, and have not broken down yet. I’ll continue to put them through a lot more abuse over the next year!

 

By now I hope you see how valuable bands can be to your training. I’ve worked in the fitness industry for over a decade and I buy A LOT of books, videos, and equipment. There are certain things that should be staples in anyone’s training, and bands are one of them. Add them to your gym bag today!!

-Jim

 


Oct 09, 2016 | Category: Blog | Comments: none

 


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