Resistance Bands for Bodybuilding: How to Get Bigger with Bands
Using resistance bands for bodybuilding is a great way to diversify your workout, keep your muscles guessing and maintain an anabolic state of muscle growth.
On top of that, if you ever find yourself away from a gym, or locked out because of a pandemic, having a trusty band within reach means you’ll never miss a workout.
Why use resistance bands for bodybuilding?
Of course, bands can never replace free weights. If you’re seriously into bodybuilding, you don’t need me to tell you that free weights are your no.1 best buddy.
But, if you’ve been using free weights for a while, you’ll also know that it’s easy to hit a plateau. And when you’re in a plateau, it doesn’t seem to make a difference how much you lift – you just don’t make any progress.
This is where adding variety to your workout can help tremendously.
Exercise bands have a unique action on your muscles which can serve a useful function for bodybuilding and increasing powerlifting performance.
Unlike free weights, the resistance level of elastics increases as the band is stretched. This means that your muscles get a higher level of resistance when they are in a stronger position (i.e. after the half-way point of the movement).
For bodybuilders, while bands could never replace weights, using them as a supplementary training tool will keep your muscles in a state of confusion, which is the key to avoiding the dreaded plateau of no gains.
What kind of resistance bands can you use for bodybuilding?
For gaining muscle mass, you need to lift heavy. So let’s not concern ourselves with any puny elastic bands. For bodybuilding, you need something heavy duty.
208cm resistance loops, known also as pull up bands, are the weapon of choice for bodybuilders and powerlifters looking to increase gains.
These band are available in very high resistance levels, which makes them an effective free weight substitute for bodybuilding and powerlifting athletes.
They can also be used in combination with free weights, which has been proven to significantly increase performance compared to using weights alone.
Unlimited workout possibilities
The number of exercises you can do with resistance loops is practically unlimited.
Check out our full resistance loop workout guide, which includes 50 key exercises to hit every muscle in your body.
Being a loop makes them easy to attach to fixed objects, giving you an anchor point from which to do strength exercises.
They’re ideal for doing isolation exercises, for example for biceps and triceps, making them the perfect tool for cutting and chiselling a perfect physique.
Click here to get your bodybuilding resistance bands today
Available in five strengths: Red (15-33LB); Black (22-70LB); Purple (30-90LB); Green (50-125LB); Blue (65-175LB).
Another kind of exercise band which can be used for bodybuilding is a resistance tube with handles:
Check out our resistance tube exercise guide to see how to use it.
