Resistance Bands and Resistance Bands, unassuming pieces of equipment, are probably ideal for injury rehabilitation and low impact workouts for the elderly, but also for bodybuilders who want to gain muscle mass!
Today bands are more than just an entry level alternative to heavy free weights. They are used worldwide by elite athletes in all sports to build strength, power, speed and even muscle size. Find out how to incorporate them into your muscle routine!
Resistance band and resistance band: what's the difference with free weights?
Body Resistance and Free Weights (i.e. dumbbells and weights) have several things in common, all of which are essential to a fitness routine. effective resistance training: they both offer some form of resistance, they allow freedom of movement, variable movement speed and progressive resistance.
Despite the similarities, you might assume that due to the light and flimsy appearance of resistance bands and resistance bands, weights are clearly the superior resistance training equipment.
However, studies have shown that muscle activity and peak load during elastic resistance exercise are similar to free weight training!
In other words, your muscle fibers don't know the difference between dumbbells and resistance bands in a given range of motion, provided the resistance is more or less the same.
In parallel, do not hesitate to read: Top 10 upper body exercises without equipment
Benefits of resistance bands and resistance bands
More range of motion
Working on both the horizontal and vertical plane
Unlike free weights, resistance bands and elastic bands do not rely on gravity to provide resistance. This increases their potential for use in more functional movement patterns that mimic everyday life as well as sport-specific activities.
Because free weights rely on gravity, they can only provide resistance in a vertical plane (the direction of gravity). So if you're doing a free weight exercise in the horizontal plane, like moving your hand from the left side of your body to the right side while holding a dumbbell, there's no resistance. This is not the case with elastic bands.
Learn more about our resistance bands: 5 criteria for choosing the best elastic band
Change pull direction
Because elastic resistance does not rely on gravity, it is also possible to redirect the emphasis on muscle work in the middle of a set by changing the line of pull on the bands.
In a 1998 study, researchers offered a specific example of this, reporting that the stress placed on the quadriceps and hamstrings during squat and walking exercises with elastic tubes changed when subjects modified the direction of pull.
This ability to change emphasis is important for those looking to target specific muscles, whether for aesthetic or athletic reasons.This is also important for people with injuries, as shifting more force to certain muscles can help protect certain joints
For example, putting more emphasis on the hamstrings when squatting or walking can help protect certain structures around the knee. This is difficult to accomplish with free weights because, as mentioned earlier, they require the direction of the force to be vertical, due to dependence on gravity for resistance.
An article on this subject: Going for 50 pull-ups: how to progress?
A constant voltage
Another advantage of resistance bands and resistance bands is that these fitness accessories provide continuous tension to the trained muscles. When you lift a free weight in a direction other than vertically, the tension on the muscle varies and can actually be removed at certain points.
Again, it boils down to the difference between needing and not needing gravity for resistance. For example, on a dumbbell curl, as you curl the weight all the way up, the dumbbell drops toward your shoulder.
Tension is removed at the top as the dumbbell is no longer lifted against gravity by the biceps. When doing bicep curls with elastic resistance, tension is present throughout the range of motionbecause the resistance comes from the elastic properties of the band, not the weight of the dumbbell.
A linear variable resistor
Recruit more muscle fibers
Arguably the most definable feature of training with resistance band and resistance band is the rlinear variable resistance, which means that when the range of motion increases, resistance also increases.
For example, when doing a bicep curl with a resistance tube, as you curl your hand towards your shoulder, the resistance becomes progressively greater. This is due to the physical properties of the elastic material, which we have all experienced at some point with a rubber band: the more the elastic is stretched, the more resistance it offers.
As the range of motion (and therefore resistance) increases, the number of fibers it recruits to the target muscle also increases. The more muscle fibers are used, the greater the adjustments in muscle strength. This is an advantage that free weights cannot offer.
In parallel, do not hesitate to read: Review on weight lifting elastics: Effective or not?
Mimicking the muscle strength curve
Another valuable by-product of this linear variable resistance is that in most cases it mimics the muscle force curve better than free weights.
A strength curve refers to how the strength of a muscle or muscle group changes over a range of motion. Most muscles increase in strength over the range of motion up to a point.
Again, using the dumbbell curl as an example, as you bring your hand up towards your shoulder, the bicep gets stronger until about halfway through. Thus, the biceps are weakest at the start of the exercise and strongest halfway through.
When doing free weight curls you are limited in the resistance you can use by the strength of the biceps at its weakest point (the beginning of the exercise) As a result the muscle does not get not have adequate resistance at its strongest point in range of motion.
However, when performing curls with elastic bands, the resistance increases with range of motion, so the muscle gets greater resistance at its point strongest, stimulating greater strength adaptations.
No more cheating
Another key benefit of elastic resistance is that it prevents the user from cheating on the exercise, a common practice with free weights, especially among beginners. Cheating involves using momentum to move the weight.
Once this momentum has been created, the muscle fibers no longer need to be fully activated to continue moving the weight through the rest of the range of motion. In other words, the momentum is doing most of the work at this point, not the muscles.
The physical properties of resistance bands and elastic bands simply don't allow you to cheat using momentum. The only way to continue a movement while performing an exercise with elastic resistance is to use more muscle fibers to keep stretching the band.
For maximum results: How to build muscle at home with resistance bands?
Our model of resistance band / resistance band
To take advantage of all the benefits mentioned in this article and make them accessible to as many athletes as possible, we have developed a model of resistance bands and elastic bands ™: More than an alternative to machines and weights, these bands help to improve muscle definition and strength while being safer for your joints in the long run.
Train effectively at home with over 100 achievable full-body workouts. And you don't just get the bands: they come with a door anchor, carry bag, and user guide to optimize your muscle results.
In summary: Resistance band and resistance band
Resistance bands and resistance bands bring many advantages for athletes who want to simply gain muscle, by training at home without paying a gym membership.
This type of accessory offers more range of motion, constant muscle tension, variable linear resistance and above all does not allow you to cheat with momentum! Don't hesitate to ask about our Elastic Bodybuilding Resistance Bands™ and enjoy one of the best quality/price ratios on the market French!
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