Resistance Bands are a great tool to use in conjunction with dumbbells to target your muscles in new ways. RBs also travel well and offer you the ability to take your strength workout anywhere. The following links take you to some resistance band routines you can print and use when travelling or just want to change things up.
Benefits of RB Training:
- If you are a beginner, RBs help you with learning proper technique with a reduced injury risk.
- Great when you need something portable during the holidays and travel.
- For girls that typically press heavy, RBs can be substituted once every few weeks to take the muscles to a burn level. Go with the 15-20 rep range and tax those fast twitch muscle fibers that get rarely worked.
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blresistanceban.htm
http://exercise.about.com/library/blupperbodymix.htm
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blbandworkout.htm
Corinne's own Resistance Band Four Week Schedule
Stretching with a Resistance Band
http://exercise.about.com/library/blbandstretch.htm
Ideas:
- Keep a resistance band at the office and a print out of a full body routine. Next time you have to work late and miss your workout, eat a stashed 1/2 protein bar, grab your resistance band, your workout routine, close the door, and get to business. Do one set of an exercise, squat for 20 seconds, do the next set, squat for 20 seconds...move on down the line doing two sets of each exercise for 10-12 reps with squats, alternating lunges, lunge pumps, crunches, etc. thrown in between and you have a full workout done in 30 mintues!
- Take your band on a trip and do the upper body workout one day and a lower body workout from your trainer the next day. The third day take a walk or do 20 minutes of stair climbing in a hotel.
Want to know what to look for in purchasing a resistance band? Here's a great article about that very thing.
http://pilates.about.com/od/pilatesmat/a/BuyBands.htm