The convenience and versatility of resistance bands can’t be beat. These portable, lightweight fitness tools are seamless to use anywhere and offer an excellent total-body workout that strengthens, tones, and torches calories. By using resistance bands in your workouts, you can fire up multiple muscle groups and slim down without needing fancy gym equipment or a pricey membership. To help you get started, we spoke with an expert who explains how to get lean and lose weight with resistance bands.
The 5 Best Ways To Use Resistance Bands for Weight Loss
If you want to lose weight and sculpt a lean body, grab your resistance bands and listen up! According to Ronny Garcia, CPT, from Blink Fitness, you can train using resistance bands with weight loss in mind in five productive ways.
- Full-Body Circuit Training: This form of exercise ensures your heart rate stays elevated, engages all major muscle groups, and builds strength. By incorporating resistance bands, you experience constant tension with each exercise, which activates more muscle fibers and bumps up the calorie burn.
- Resistance Band HIIT: The added resistance the bands provide during a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session makes each exercise more intense, helping to build muscle tone and strength.
- Compound Exercises: These types of exercises promote balanced and functional strength and core stability, which can result in a lean physique.
- Core-Strengthening Exercises: Adding resistance bands to classic core exercises enhances total-body stability and helps sculpt and define your ab muscles.
- Active Recovery: Don’t sleep on active recovery days! Using lighter bands during these sessions helps boost your flexibility and range of motion, resulting in faster recovery time and injury prevention.
Building Muscle and Burning Fat: How Resistance Bands Compare to Weights
“Resistance bands provide constant tension throughout the range of motion, whereas traditional weights only provide resistance during specific parts of the lift,” explains Garcia. “Resistance bands can be used to target a variety of muscle groups (both upper and lower body.) Traditional weights are limited to specific movements due to the nature of the equipment.”
In addition, Resistance bands are easier on your joints, as their elasticity absorbs part of the impact. They’re also lightweight and portable, making them ideal for at-home workouts, travel, or the gym.
The Best Resistance Band Exercises To Lose Weight and Get Toned
1. Banded Squats
- Position a loop resistance band around your thighs, just above your knees.
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core.
- Press your hips back as you lower into a squat, descending until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Maintain tension in the band by pressing your knees out a bit.
- Push through both heels to rise back up to standing.
2. Banded Pushups
- Loop a resistance band around your upper back, under your shoulder blades.
- Hold onto the ends of the band with each hand.
- Assume a high plank with your hands on the floor below your shoulders and your body in a straight line.
- Bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the ground.
- Press back up to a high plank.
3. Standing Row
- Secure the band to a sturdy object at chest height.
- Stand tall, facing the anchor point, with your feet hip-distance apart.
- Hold one end of the resistance band in each hand with your arms lengthened in front of you.
- Activate your core and maintain a tall chest.
- Bend your elbows and row the band toward your torso.
- Gradually extend your arms to the start position.
4. Banded Glute Bridge
- Position a loop resistance band around your thighs, right above your knees.
- Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground.
- Activate your core and press your knees slightly out to create tension on the band.
- Press through your heels to push your hips toward the sky, squeezing your glutes at the top.
- Hold the position for a moment.
- Slowly lower to the mat.
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Alexa Mellardo