Resistance Bands

There are a number of ways you could utilize your exercise bands. You can use them for increasing or decreasing resistance when training, use them for warming up, rehab or even training!

Most of ATX equipment comes with resistance band pegs, this allows you to play around with the strength curve of a lever machine. The closer you are to a lock-out the more weight you are going to be lifting.

Gym bands are also brilliant for decreasing the resistance in training. Hack Squats are probably one of the best examples on where decreasing the weight load at the bottom of the movement would be the most beneficial. This is one of the primary reasons why ATX Leg Press Hack Squat Machine comes with a built-in roller which allows you to hook up a resistance band to decrease the weight load at the bottom.

To be completely honest, most of our customers buy the resistance bands as an aid for chin ups and dips. Not everyone has the necessary upper body strength to perform these movements with a perfect form straight away while others want to get more out of their workouts. Resistance bands are ideal for this application.

Rehab is another field where resistance bands are used extensively. If you are having shoulder issues, chances are your rotator cuff muscles could use some strengthening. Training your rotator cuff muscles on a cable machine might be suboptimal as the starting weight might be too heavy. While weight plates don’t provide the same resistance curve as you would get with bands.

There is a whole glute industry built around booty training with resistance or loop bands. But the muscle groups you can train with just a set with a resistance bands don’t end here. To give you some inspiration, we’ve came up with a list of exercises you can perform with bands.

• Biceps Curls
• Upright Rows
• Seated Shoulder Press
• Side Lateral Raises
• Front Shoulder Band Raise
• Floor Press
• One arm fly’s
• One Arm triceps extensions
• Banded Triceps Extensions
• Overhead Triceps Extensions
• Banded Hammer Curls
• Seated Rows
• Face Pulls
• Deadlifts
• Stiff Legged Deadlifts
• Rear Delt Flys

The list goes on and on! To get the most of your workouts we would recommend getting a variety of resistance bands to cover all the exercises listed above.

We would not recommend looping your exercise bands on a door handle or around the base of the door.

For all the travellers and those who are tight on space, Spud Inc came up in an ingenious solution to resistance band training – The Door Jammer. It is the easiest way to attach resistance bands to a door.

If you want to use the cable attachments, you can opt for the Spud Inc Door Jammer Pulley System. This increases the number of exercises you can perform exponentially. Even if you are a serious trainer, it has a handy set up for the days that you can’t make it to the gym

With proper care, gym bands can last a very long time. This care includes keeping them out of direct sunlight. They contain latex which is a natural product. It degrades with UV light and heat. So store them in a cool and dry place.

Oxygen, particular in low humidity environments can lead to oxidation and drying out. So keeping them in a sealed container will increase longevity.

There is no colour coding system for resistance bands. It would be great if there was a colour coding system like that used in competition powerlifting weights. However the resistance level by colour varies across suppliers.

Building muscle and strength is done by progressively overloading the muscles. It does not matter if you do this with exercise bands or weights. If you had to do a lot of travelling and did not have access to weights, resistance bands will be more effective.

Ultimately if you had access to both, I believe weights would be more effective. I am not sure if there are any studies that prove this. My belief is based on the fact that if the effectiveness was anywhere near equal we would see a lot of people training exclusively with resistance bands.

Why would you go to the hassle and expense of buying gym equipment if a selection of resistance bands did pretty much the same job?

There is a Youtuber called James Grage who trains with just resistance bands. He swears by their effectiveness. This is based on them being more accessible, portable and being able to train outdoors makes it more enjoyable. These factors do influence training results as it means you are more likely to train consistently.

However I think even James would acknowledge that an NFL team or similar will abandon the weights room any time soon. But for the average punter, if you enjoy training with resistance bands outside more than training in an over crowded gym you will likely see better results.

Resistance bands are the perfect training tool for a traveler! They don’t weigh much, take up very little space and allow you to perform a plethora of exercises. You can certainly carry them on the plane provided they don’t contain any prohibited chemicals or substances.

Resistance bands have a stretch limit. For ATX bands. The maximum recommended stretch is 150% of their original length, anything over that will put you at a risk of snapping them.

It is important to note that, you should check your resistance bands regularly for any tears and avoid looping them around anything sharp.

Resistance bands are perfect for building glutes! There are thousands of videos online demonstrating a variety of glute exercises with just resistance bands.

Check out @Glute.Guru on Instagram if you lack inspiration!

The regular resistance bands will be too long for you to perform most of the glute exercises, we recommend the ATX Mini Band Set or the ATX Loop Band for glute specific training.

Yes, you can wash resistance bands. They will be coated with your sweat, skin particles and dirt. To keep them clean, just wipe them down with a damp cloth and mild soap. Avoid heavy cleaning products as they can damage the rubber or latex.

Everything we do burns calories, from walking to breathing and sleeping. Resistance band training will help you to burn additional calories which combined with a balanced diet will help you shred fat and gain lean muscle mass.

How much fat you will lose will depend on your training intensity, frequency and calorie consumption. For best results, try to track your calories and stay at a maximum of a 500 calorie deficit a day.

No matter how long and intense your workouts are, you will not burn fat if you are eating too much!

There are a few factors to consider when it comes to the longevity of resistance bands. Storage, application, thickness and material would be the most important ones.

Here are the things you should do to extend the lifetime of your resistance bands:

• Keep it out of the elements, direct sunlight and salty/acidic air will damage your resistance bands.
• Keep it clean – wipe the built up sweat, dirt and skin particles off your resistance bands regularly, use a damp cloth and mild soap for best results.
• Don’t leave them in a stretched state – a constant load will wear out your resistance bands quickly.
• Avoid looping the bands around sharp or abrasive surfaces.
• Check for tears – you should inspect your resistance bands regularly for any damage as a small tear can lead to the band snapping.