You didn’t sleep very well last night, and you’ve woken up with a kink in your neck. Doing the same motions every day at your work is starting to take its toll on your body. You don’t seem to handle the pace of your life as well as you used to, you’re always a little tense inside. And it’s getting harder to reach your shoelaces. It’s time to stretch!

Muscular shortening and stiffness is one of the easiest physical problems to get. If you don’t take steps to prevent it and it will eventually take its toll. Fortunately, it is also one of the easiest ailments to prevent, and the solution is easy and enjoyable to take. Stretching exercises using resistance bands is one of the simplest workouts you can do at home, and no treatment or pill works faster to make your body a more comfortable place to live. In addition, using resistance bands is a great way to develop functional strength. Have you ever tried stretching with a dumbell or free weights? I didn’t think so. Stretching exercises with resistance bands is a great dynamic stretching tool to eliminate those tight joints.

Stretching before a run or working out a kink at the desk is where most of us draw the line; any more of a focus on stretching, like doing stretching exercises using resistance bands, starts sounding complicated and time-consuming. In reality, it doesn’t have to be. Great benefits in flexibility and freedom of movement can be had in just a few minutes a day, with very simple resistance band stretch exercises.

Our muscles, like the rest of our body, are intended to work marvellously well. They tense up when they’re told, and relax completely when their work is done. They move us about, keep us warm, store tension and stress that we can’t handle in the moment, and help to circulate our blood and lymph.

The trouble arises when we use our body in ways it wasn’t intended. Improper postures keep our muscles always active; unusual or repetitive work routines stress certain groups of muscles and let others get weak; the tension that our muscles and fascia (broad sheets of connective tissue that hold us together) are meant to store for short periods never gets released, and more gets piled on top; and some of the toxins that we eat and breathe end up in our tissues, serving as an irritant. Left to its course, modern life will inevitably cause us to be tight, uncomfortable, unbalanced individuals.

This is why we need to be stretching. Slow, careful, easy stretching resistance band exercises on a regular basis. There are a thousand and one ways to stretch using a resistance band, but the simplest, broadest stretches are the best place to start. When doing any stretches, remember these tips:

• Stretching, by its nature, has to be relaxing. Ease into it, to where you feel a good stretch but no real pain, and stay there for awhile.
• Minimize distractions and concentrate on what you are doing. If you keep your mind on how your body feels your stretch session will turn into an exploration, instead of a chore.
• And don’t hold your breath! You will release no tension whatever if you’re turning blue.

With these in mind, check back on the blog for examples of stretching exercises using resistance bands, and start loosening up.

How many times have you read that if you want to lose weight that you need to do regular aerobic exercise? The truth is that resistance exercise (strength training) can be just as important, if not more important for weight loss success.

The reason is because more calories are burned with resistance exercises post exercise. If the aerobic exercise (walking, swimming, cycling) is challenging enough then the resting metabolic rate (RMR) will be increased temporarily for up to a few hours after the workout. Compare this to resistance exercise (weight lifting, resistance band exercises) which increase the RMR permanently.

Even though you are not burning more calories during the workout with resistance exercise, the important thing to take into account is that the RMR accounts for 60 to 75 percent of daily calorie expenditure, so even a small RMR increase will greatly benefit fat loss.

The study “Fat metabolism and acute resistance exercise in trained men” conducted by East Carolina University highlights this point. In a nutshell, the study suggests that resistance exercise improves fat metabolism by upregulating adipose tissue lipolysis and whole body fat oxidation. While aerobic exercise burns fat primarily during exercise, anaerobic work burns fat primarily in the interval following the workout.

Study Publication Abstract

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Theraband exercises are considered an integral part of any rehibilation program. Many physiotherapists will suggest to their clients who have had shoulder, knee, or ankle surgery, to do thera band exercises as part of rehab, particularly as self exercises which they can just do at home, to regain strength in the muscles where the injury occurred. The Thera-Band exercise band is not only useful for rehabilitation purposes to aid in the recovery of sports injury or for the elderly; it is also very popular fitness equipment for those wanting to do resistance band exercises while traveling or at home, as a replacement for machines or free weights instead of having to go to a gym.

There are several different types of theraband exercise bands available. Each band has a different color and offers a different level of resistance. For physiotherapy mostly the light resistance bands are used, which are either white or yellow in color.

To use a theraband, at one end of the band tie a loop which is big enough to fit over your foot. At the other end of the band tie several knots so you hold on to it with your hands.

Here are two examples of common theraband exercises which assist in the recovery of ankle and knee surgery to develop strength in the operated region.

Ankle Strengthening Theraband Exercise

Sit in a chair and place the loop of the theraband around the foot which you had surgey on. Make sure the loop is securely around the foot to prevent it from slipping off. While holding onto the knotted end of the band, straighten your knee joint by lifting your leg off the ground. Your leg should be extended directly in front of you. Now bend and flex your ankle opposing the resistance of the theraband. The motion should be similar to pressing down on the gas car pedal. Repeat this exercise for 3-5 sets of 25 repetitions, doing this several times per day.

Knee Flexion and Extension Theraband Exercise

Sit in a chair and place the loop of the Thera Band around your foot. Make sure the loop is securely around the foot to prevent it from slipping off. While holding onto the knotted end of the band, bend your total knee as much as possible, and then straighten is as much as you can against the resistance of the band. Repeat this exercise for 3-5 sets of 15 repetitions, several times per day. Doing this after surgery is beneficial because the muscles forget how to function properly. The active movement of the quadriceps assists in straightening the knee, while exercising the hamstring aids in bending the knee.

If you exercise regularly, you know that it reduces stress, increases productivity, helps you sleep and does wonders for your sense of well-being. If you travel, particularly on business, these benefits are much too valuable to give up.

Sure, your routine has been disrupted and circumstances seem to be stacked against you. The branch of your local gym is across town. The hotel gym, if it exists, is either overcrowded or closed when you need it. Or perhaps you prefer sweating in solitude, particularly after a day of dealing with people. And you’re not comfortable with running in strange streets or tackling the hotel’s dark stairwells, a substitute StairMaster under the best of circumstances.

What’s left? Your hotel room, which has everything you need for a complete workout - a padded floor, a VCR and you. Your traveling fitness program can be as simple as your favorite workout video or the latest regimen in your fitness magazine. Or, with a little planning, you can create an individual routine that complements what you do at home. If you must have props, there are plenty of packable ones - plastic barbells that gain weight when filled with water, a jump rope that folds easily and can burn 150 calories in 15 minutes, a chin-up bar that fits in a doorjamb or resistance bands that provide the resistance of a full home gym so you can do ab exercises with resistance bands and other resistance band exercises.

Recently hotels have begun to offer in-room exercise equipment such as treadmills, StairMasters and recumbent bikes. Ask about this when making your next reservation. Or take the purist’s approach, using just your arms, legs and body weight. Push-ups provide a good upper-body workout, even if you do the modified, from-the-knees version. But do them right - hands at chest height, a shoulder width apart. Point your elbows either to the side or the back, and don’t let your head or stomach sag.

For a lower-body workout, one-or-two-legged squats go a long way. To continue your quest for a flat stomach, throw in a few sets of abdominal crunches. Lie on the floor with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, navel pressed toward your spine. With one hand behind your head and the other on your stomach, press your lower back against the floor, exhale, tighten your abs and curl your head, shoulders and chest off the floor. Hold this position for a few beats, then relax and repeat.

When you’ve fine-tuned the details of your personal workout, print them out on paper, laminate the paper and place it in your suitcase on top of your clothes. When you unpack at the hotel, prop it in front of the TV.

Plan a 15-minute warm-up before you set off for a day of meetings, just to get the juices flowing. At day’s end, try for a more complete regimen in your room, followed by a swim in the hotel pool or a soak in the hot tub, your in-room Jacuzzi or a plain old bath. Sleep will come easy.

If you exercise while traveling, not only will you feel better on the road, you’ll be better prepared to pick up your regular routine when you return home.

Who says you have to buy expensive machines to get a flat stomach or lose weight? This is not true at all. Doing exercises using very inexpensive resistant bands, which will only set you back about 15 dollars, sticking to an effective training program and by working out every other day as part of your new lifestyle, you will get the firm abs that you have desired and have lost the weight which you only dreamed about. The key components to getting in shape and getting firmer abs include having a healthy diet, resistance training (with resistance bands and weights), cardiovascular training, and abdominal exercises. A training program which incorporates these elements will be helpful in burning calories, developing strength, and building muscle. But you first need to lose the belly fat in order to show the abdominal muscles.

One way I like to include abdominal workouts into my routine is to do ab crunches in between sets of bench press, pull-ups or other weight training exercises. When training I will usually rest 1 or 2 minutes in between sets when lifting weights, which is a perfect opportunity to work the abs. So by the end of a good upper body workout, you can have as many as 10-20 sets of abdominal exercises under your belt.

This is a unique way to work to do ab crunches. Using resistance bands you can enhance the results that normal ab crunches can deliver. To do an ab crunch with a resistance band, you first need to attach the center of the resistance band to an anchor. The door attachment strap which you can buy with a resistance band kit comes in handy for this exercise. Attach the door attachment to a door handle. Ensure the bands are anchored high enough so it provides enough resistance. From a kneeling position, place the resistance band handles against the forehead area. Next, do ab crunches making sure the elbows are moving toward the middle of the thighs. Exhale as the abs are contracted. Repeat 50-100 times. The kneeling resistance band ab crunch is a medium level exercise so make sure that you don’t overdo it if you are a beginning exerciser.

Another ab exercise which I have found to be very effective is the bicycle crunch. Here is a demonstration of how to do the bicycle crunch with good form.

If your plan is to not only build lean muscle but to also lose weight, then cardiovascular exercises should be incorporated in to your training program, and consistency is very important. You should try and do thirty minutes of activities like walking, running, cycling, or swimming daily three times per week at the very least.

There is no rush to achieve your fitness goals. If you haven’t trained in a long time, start off slowly making sure you are doing exercises with good form, and focus on progression. With progression you will get increased strength gains and more muscle! If you feel that an exercise is too easy, increase the weights or resistance to make the exercise more demanding.

Resistance training is a form of strength training and is used to develop strength and size of skeletal muscle. An effective resistance band training program which focuses on progression should see strength gains of 5% per week for at least a few weeks. Resistance bands exercises are being incorporated into a lot more workout programs because the bands are compact making it easy to take with you when traveling. In addition, there are many resistance band exercises you can do to work the entire body, so you will never become bored with any one workout very easily. Exercises which you do normally can be done with resistance bands. Whether it be crunches, some push ups, pull ups, pull downs, some bicep curls, or flies.

Although a very effective small piece of fitness equipment, there isn’t much to exercise resistance bands at all and they are very inexpensive to buy. Resistance bands are made up of pliable materials such as latex and rubber. I recommend Flexbands, which are more durable and flat in design making them easier to handle. Unlike free weights where the greatest resistance is applied at beginning of a movement, like with the bench press, resistance bands offer the most resistance at the end point. As you stretch the resistance band the the resistance of the exercise is increased. The heavier the band is, the harder it would be to stretch the band which adds to the resistance.

Different bands provide more or less resistance. Resistance band kits will come with about 5 or 6 bands which are a different color and each provide a different level of resistance. Each resistance band is a different thickness (i.e. heavier) which ends up creating a different level of tension when doing an exercise. Just like with using free weights or machines, if you find one particular exercise too easy, then you should opt for a resistance band with added resistance for a more advanced resistance exercise. You will be sure to see strength gains faster.

When you buy a resistance bands training kit, make sure you ask for ankle straps for additional leg workouts and door attachment for other additional training options. You can never have enough resistance band exercises to do. Changing it up all the time is what makes it so fun.

During resistance exercise the muscles will function in several different capacities. First, the muscles actually performing the movement are known as prime movers. During the same activity, other muscles will assist or help the prime movers in executing the movement. These muscles are known as synergists. In order to facilitate proper posture and bodily alignment during the exercise, still other muscles will function as stabilizers. An intelligently planned resistance band training program will take into account all three of the above listed functions. This is also the reason why resistance exercises which use free weights, barbells and dumbbells, prove to be also very valuable because we need to balance and control their movement, whereas with machines they will usually only stress the prime movers.

An effective resistance band training program may look something like this. The resistance band exercises will be undertaken three times per week on an every other day schedule, making sure that the whole body is trained with a variety of resistance band exercises, and that the resistance training program is progressive in nature. That is, with each resistance band workout that we perform, we strive to use either a heavier band with more tension, more reps, or both with good form. By good form we mean stretching the resistance band in a very deliberate, slow, controlled manner, never bouncing or attempting to throw or heave the tubing. Minimize any role that momentum or gravity may play here. With a little diligence and persistence, it may be possible to actualize strength gains of up to 5% per week for a period of several weeks.

When performing resistance band exercises continue to breathe freely, inhaling as the band is lowered and exhaling on effort as the band goes up. Holding your breath while straining under load may have a negative effect on performance and is not recommended.

In this post I will focus on resistance band leg workouts. If you want to work your legs, make sure you ask for leg straps when you buy the resistance tubing. Although you are primarily using your legs in the workout, you are developing strength in other parts of the lower body. If you want to target those wide hips, buttocks or thigh muscles but don’t have the time to do aerobic exercises, then you should try these resistance band leg workouts instead which are suitable for a beginner fitness level. Keep in mind that you don’t need to go to the gym to do these workouts, you can exercise at home.

The resistance band leg workouts use an exercise resistance band for added resistance. As you stretch the band it increases the resistance, making each exercise a bit more challenging to complete. Believe me, after 5 minutes of doing this resistance band workout, you are going to feel like you just had a great workout. Strong, well toned muscles are the key to staying young. Using resistance bands are very effective in developing muscular strength and toning the muscles.

Resistance Band Hip and Outer Thigh Workout

In addition to targeting the ‘saddlebag’ area, this workout also works your entire lower body, from your lower back, abs, thighs, and calves.

A) Start by standing with your hands on your hips and a resistance band around your ankles. Position your feet under your shoulders stretching the resistance band slightly. Bend your knees, inhale, and squat back, keeping your abs pressed up against your spine, your back flat, and your chest open.

B) Exhale and press into a standing position as you simultaneously extend your right leg to the right, feeling the effort in your outer right thigh, hip, and buttock. Return to the squat position and repeat the exercise with your left leg, this time extending your left leg to the left, feeling the effort from the resistance in your outer left thigh, hip, and buttcok. Continue squating and alternating legs for 1 minute.

Resistance Band Buttocks Workout

The benefit of this exercise is that it targets the buttocks area, in particular the lower section of your butt which peeks out below your swimsuit. We all want to feel more comfortable wearing a swimsuit at the beach, right? So let’s get started with the workout…

Start by standing with your hands around your hips and a resistance band around your ankles. Push your abs towards your spine and shift your body weight toward your left foot. Shift your right foot back behind you, feeling the effort in your buttock. Bring your right foot forward a few inches and then back again a few inches, repeating this same motion for 1 minute, breathing normally the throughout the exercise. Alternate legs and repeat the exercise.

Resistance training has increased in popularity and is being incorporated in more fitness programs because of the variety of exercises which you can do with exercise resistance bands and due to the convenience of being able to exercise at home instead of having to go to the gym. Resistance training is effective for developing both upper and lower body strength.

“Resistance” refers to any force your muscles attempt to overcome in order to move. For example, when you stretch an exercise resistance band you are increasing the resistance. Resistance training exercises can be performed using dumbbells, machines, your own body weight, gravity, and of course exercise rubber bands as they are all different forms of resistance. When you do a push up, you press your hands into the floor and straighten your arms to lift your body weight upward, otherwise known as resistance. Doing push ups all the time to develop strength and fitness would become monotonous very quickly, which is why it would be a good idea to incorporate resistance band exercises in to your resistance training program.

All forms of resistance training involve performing a few repetitions (usually between six and fifteen reps) using relatively heavy resistance, as opposed to aerobic activities like cycling which involve high repetitions and low resistance. You should use enough resistance to make each set challenging enough to tire you out and, in effect, stress your muscles. The effect of the exercise is that it will literally tear your muscles apart.

It’s important that you give the muscles that you’re working out at least 48 hours of rest between resistance training workouts. This is because it takes that amount of time for the muscles to repair, rebuild, and recover. By the way, the same holds true for any particularly intense aerobic or strength training workout. Most aerobic exercises aren’t intense enough to tear up your muscles (at the microscopic level). But notice that when you do all out wind sprints or heavy duty hills, your muscles are sore for a couple of days afterwards.

Eventually your muscles adapt to the resistance they push against by becoming stronger. That’s why you can lift progressively heavier weights and why, eventually, you’re going to have to look for a way to make those push ups more challenging.

Increasing the number of sets you do, slowing down your reps or adding a resistance exercise band to your workouts are three ways of increasing training intensity for increased strength and endurance.