Traveling a lot and don’t have the opportunity to work out? Bored of running in the winter or doing push-ups and squads in the living room? Resistance bands might be the perfect solution for your problems, especially during the dark and cold winter period. Resistance bands, which in this blog refer to looped and flat elastic bands without handles, are one of the best choices for a versatile training if you are trying to improve your fitness and get stronger. Why? The following sections will describe the many advantages that resistance band workouts have to offer:

1. Train Anywhere

Resistance bands are extremely portable, and you can take them anywhere. They are light weight and easily stored in your backpack, purse, or suitcase. Take your resistance band workout to business trips, holidays or even to work. No matter where you are going, you will have a portable gym in your pocket. This short video outlines the many possibilities to use resistance bands, anywhere:

2. Train Anytime

Resistance band workouts are highly versatile which means you can train at any time. Just woke up and in need for mobilization to start the day? Want to fight your food coma right at your workplace? Or do you want to empty your batteries doing a full body workout in the evening? Go for it! You can perform a variety of resistance band workouts at any time of the day based on your specific requirements.

3. Versatile Strength Training

You can perform over 50 exercises using resistance bands, to train almost any muscle in your body. By narrowing your grip, the resistance of the elastic band is increasing enabling you to control the difficulty of the exercise.This creates countless possibilities to train your body and adapt the level of your workout according to the progress of your training – it is like having several dumbbells in just one elastic band.

4. Dynamic Stretching Using Resistance Bands

Studies show that the fitness industry is transforming, and stretching is becoming the new workout. Using resistance bands, you can complement your mandatory stretching program after your workout by performing static and especially dynamic stretching. Remember that you should always stretch after working out to increase your flexibility, range of motion and improve your posture as well as your performance as an athlete [1].

5. Easy On the Joints

Unlike free weights, resistance bands are not depending on gravity and therefore reduce the joint compression, which helps preventing injuries on your joints in the long-term. Due to the flexible and variable execution of movements during an exercise, the workouts are also not as repetitive and therefore easier on your joints [2].

6. Tailor Your Resistance Band Workout 

No matter if you are playing soccer, volleyball, badminton, or football you can tailor your resistance band exercises to your needs within these specific areas. Due to the described versatility of the workouts, you can train all fitness aspects including speed, endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination, balance and much more, targeting different areas of your body.

7. Grow and tone your muscles

Research has proven that resistance band exercises grow your muscles and tone them at the same time. Toning your muscles is simply the process of losing body fat so that muscles appear on the surface of your skin. There are no specific exercises to tone you muscles. Free weight training and machine weight training have some advantages in muscle hypertrophy (growth of muscle volume) and muscle activation, but resistance bands are not far from it! Give it a shot and you will be amazed how strong you will get.

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