Resistance Bands US Home

Posted on 10th May 2012 in blog
Resistance Bands US Home

Why Resistance Bands?

When the first resistance bands were developed, they were a far cry from what we have available now.  In the 1960’s and 1970’s, they were originally developed and used for rehabilitation of injuries.  They provided physical therapists with tools to help patients increase their functional mobility by strengthening the muscles surrounding joints.  The original resistance bands were simply long flat pieces of rubber that were cut to fit by the therapist for individual use.  The therapist simply cut off the required amount and showed the patient how to use it for exercise.

Today, rehabilitation clinics still use resistance bands as an essential component of therapy, but in the mid to late 1980’s resistance bands began to catch on outside the therapeutic circles and started to be used for regular exercise.

From a simple flat band of rubber, companies began experimenting with different materials and designs and what we have available today is the result of those experiments.

Resistance Bands Re-Purposed

For purists, the original flat bands are still available under many names, including the original company’s name, Thera-Band, but today there are a multitude of companies that produce resistance bands under many different names.  It can be a frustrating journey to find the right price and the right quality.

Resistance Bands US is here to provide you with as much up-to-date quality information possible to help you in your purchasing decision.  We have over 30 years combined experience in both fitness training and physical rehab behind us.

Unlike other sites, however, we are not simply all about the sale.  We also come from backgrounds that value exercise and good health, and to those ends, we are also going to provide exercise tips, routines for using your resistance bands, workouts using your resistance bands with other equipment, and a host of other goodies.

Home fitness does not need to be an expensive proposition.  Many times people will spend thousands of dollars on fancy equipment that literally sits in their bedroom or study gathering dust.  I speak from experience on this-I finally sold my old Nordic Track Cross Country skier at a garage sale several years ago.  I was tired of tripping over it and I never used it.

Resistance Bands take up very little room and are easily taken with you if you travel or move.  They can be used almost anywhere and you don’t need a lot of floor space to exercise with them.  People of all fitness levels and in all physical conditions can use them.

And you can tone and build muscle in a manner similar to free weights or big machines, without the expense of a fitness club or a room in your house devoted to exercise.  The only real drawback to resistance bands is that unlike the big bulky machines, they’re not sitting in plain sight all of the time guilting you into using them; the motivation is all yours, and we’ll be here to help.

 

Resistance Bands and Balance Ball

Posted on 2nd July 2012 in blog
Resistance Bands and Balance Ball

Using a Balance Ball with your resistance bands adds another level to your training possibilities.  Balance balls, also known as stability or Swiss balls are the extra large rubber composite balls used to do various strength and training exercises.  They provide extra intensity for exercises ranging from sit ups to push ups and when coupled with resistance bands, can really fine tune muscle fitness.  Balance Balls range in size from 55cm-75cm in circumference-the size you would buy depends on your height and your comfort level.  In general, anyone under about 5’6” tall should pick one of the two smaller sizes.  It is important to remember that these balls are exercise equipment and care should be taken that a balance ball is not used as a toy.  People can be injured from improper use.

Some basic ball exercises include the following:

Balance ball crunch:  Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the ground.  Lean back and walk your feet forward until your legs and hips are being supported only by your body weight.  The ball should be in the small of your back.  To do sit ups, simply cross your arms over your chest and crunch up.  You should feel this the entire length of your abs.  You can work your sides by doing twist crunches.  To do these you simply crunch up toward one side-aiming the elbow of one arm to the opposite leg.

Pushups can be one a couple different ways.  Standard sit ups are done by placing your feet only on the ball and raising your body up by your arms in push up position.  You can either hold here, in plank position, or you can bend your arms down for pushups.  Make sure to keep proper push up form while doing these.

There are numerous simple exercises that can be done with resistance bands and a balance ball.resistance bands

One of the easiest is to sit on the ball and place the middle of the band under your feet.  From this position you can do bicep curls.  Make sure to sit tall and keep your abs in while doing these.

Resistance bands and balance ball can provide you with a complete workout experience targeting large muscle groups both in concert and in isolation.  Some of the exercises can be made more difficult using the balance ball.  Many of our seated resistance bands workouts can be done sitting on the balance ball as well.

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