Resistance bands are great training tools for muscle building. They are lightweight and portable and you can carry them in your gym bag. Gym-goers have accepted that resistance bands can add versatility to workouts and they are a low-cost and high-impact kit that offers enhanced mobility and better balance.
You can also build muscles and improve your overall physical fitness safely and effectively with resistance bands. There are several reasons why resistance bands can be a staple for your workouts.
Reduced injury risk
As resistance bands offer controlled resistance, they do not stress the joints. This makes them safer for building muscles as opposed to heavy weights. The resistance can be adjusted to your individual needs.
Enhanced muscle activation
Free weights might challenge the muscles but cannot activate as many muscle fibers as resistance bands. As the bands maintain a constant resistance throughout the entire range of motion, they create greater muscle tension increasing muscle activation. As you gradually pull the band, the rising resistance breaks down muscle fibers, and the body replaces them, leading to muscle growth and increased strength.
Easy to target muscle groups
Resistance bands offer a greater range of motion and allow different body positions and angles, making targeting specific muscle groups much more effortless. You can easily target the muscles that traditional weights seldom exercise. You are improving your overall athleticism and performance by mimicking functional movements using resistance bands, such as pulling, pushing, twisting, and bending. Furthermore, it strengthens the muscles used in everyday activities and prevents injury.
Resistance bands for building muscles are relatively inexpensive but more versatile and effective. They build muscles by offering constant and adjustable resistance throughout the entire range of motion.
Types of resistance bands
You can only choose the best resistance bands for building muscles if you are familiar with different resistance bands. Not all bands are created equal, and there lie several differences between the types. Irrespective of the style, the resistance bands are usually color-coded, representing the amount of resistance they can offer. Here is a general guide to the band color and resistance offered-
Yellow-colored resistance bands – 5 to 30 pounds
Black resistance bands – 20 to 55 pounds
Blue resistance bands – 35 to 70 Pounds
Green-colored resistance bands – 45 to 115 Pounds
Gray resistance bands – 60 to 170 Pounds
Now, let’s consider the types of resistance bands available.
Loop bands
Loop resistance bands are also called power resistance bands, as they are suitable for several kinds of workouts, such as bodyweight assistance, full-body workouts, and bodyweight resistance exercises. They are also used as therapy bands for assistive recovery from injuries. In construction, they are a continuous flat loop like a massive rubber band. As loop bands are incredibly versatile, they can be used for athletic-focused or bodybuilding training.
Power loop resistance bands are great for muscle strength and endurance. They offer better muscle balance and coordination with an increased range of motion. Also, they are ideal for unilateral movements and multiplanar exercises.
Tube resistance bands with handles
These bands have handles attached to both ends. Tube resistance bands are best at mimicking gym machines or dumbbell exercises such as chest presses, back rows, and curls. They help to build muscles through pressing and pulling movements. Compared to loop bands, tube resistance bands with handles offer less resistance (around 50 pounds), but still, it is possible to target any muscle group using these bands.
Tube resistance bands offer hypertrophy through resistance control and enable muscle cells to grow and increase in number. These are best for muscle endurance exercises and also for burning fat.
Therapy resistance bands
Therapy resistance bands are long, ‘free’ bands that do not loop. They are for people needing assistance to regain strength after an injury. But they also provide low-impact resistance training, which can be a great warm-up. Women usually combine therapy resistance bands with Pilates and other fat-burning workouts for added resistance. It helps with muscle toning. Therapy bands offer 3 to 10 pounds of resistance. While this much resistance might not be very effective for muscle building, still, it’s great for physical therapy, rehabilitation, and muscle strengthening.
The 8 bands
The figure 8 bands have the shape of 8 as the name suggests; they are looped in an intertwined figure with soft handles at the top and the bottom. This resistance band can be used for both upper and lower-body workouts. They can support lateral movements like the loop bands and mimic free-weight exercise movements like the tube resistance bands. The 8 bands are best for muscle-building exercises that involve pushing and pulling.
Offering 8-20 pounds of resistance, figure 8 bands are suitable for muscle toning, strengthening, and endurance.
On the market, resistance bands are available for dozens of brands. It’s essential to choose the right brand for safety.
Top Resistance Bands for Building Muscles
We picked the best resistance bands for building muscle from several brands and tested them to the limit. Our thorough review of these bands helped you choose the best ones.
LIT AXIS is a great resistance band for building muscles because it does something that few other resistance bands do which is the integration of smart device technology into resistance bands.
Usually, a significant drawback of muscle building with resistance bands is that there isn’t an accurate and easy way to measure the resistance or progress. LIT Method, the fitness brand behind this product, has taken all the guesswork with its smart workout bands. LIT AXIS smart resistance bands have integrated Bluetooth sensors that share vital metrics like resistance (weight moved), reps, time under tension, and muscle imbalance with the LIT Method app.
The kit has two adjustable resistance bands that offer 0-60 lbs and 30-100 lbs resistance, which is enough for any muscle-building workout. The clever design of these resistance bands allows you to use them as loop bands or resistance bands with handles. Furthermore, you can also access the LIT on Demand Digital Platform that gives you access to LIT AXIS program sets that also include resistance band muscle-building workouts.
WODFitters Pull-Up Assistance Bands
The WODFitters resistance bands come as 5 color-coded bands offering variable resistance. They are flat loop resistance bands built with continuous layers of tough rubber. The set allows you to progress through the resistance band workout for muscle gain as your body gets comfortable with the current resistance level. They can support pull-ups, chin-ups, muscle-ups, and ring dips and are ideal for developing muscle memory.
WODFitters pull-up assistance bands can easily handle excess stress without getting deformed under pressure. You can also use these resistance bands for mobility training.
Bodylastics Stackable Tube Resistance Bands
Bodylastics Stackable Tube Resistance Bands is a set of five different resistance bands that offer a combined resistance of 96 lbs. You get two well-padded handles and two ankle straps for full-body workouts. This resistance band kit is standard, but its durability and quality are premia, making it our choice for muscle-building resistance band workouts. It comes with built-in safety guards which is an additional security feature. Also, it includes a detailed instruction manual with links to free exercise demonstration videos. While these resistance bands are not as versatile or have smart device tech like LIT AXIS, the added strength of woven cords inside the tubes prevents overstretching.
HPYGN offers 5 resistance bands with different levels of 10lbs, 20lbs, 30lbs, 40lbs, and 50lbs in this set. Combined, these bands offer a total resistance of 150 lbs, providing the same level of challenge as most heavy-lifting muscle-building workouts. It can sustain any resistance band workout routine for muscle building; you also get handles, ankle straps, and a door anchor for workout versatility. If you are seeking a home solution for muscle building then you can go for this set of resistance bands.
Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Exercise Bands
A product with a 4.5-star average rating from over 100,000 Amazon reviews, Fit Simplify resistance loop exercise bands offer you versatility through 5 color-coded flat resistance bands. They are great for beginners who want to start muscle-building workouts using resistance bands. The lightest band in the set offers resistance equivalent to a 5lbs dumbbell, while the most robust resistance band has 35lbs resistance. During testing, we notice that the Fit Simplify resistance loop exercise bands are great for lower-body workouts but are better than tube bands or longer bands for upper-body training.
Conclusion
Resistance bands can be an effective, low-cost tool for building muscles without overstressing your joints. You can have the same muscle-building benefits as traditional weight training without the risks of injury. According to the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports, resistance training with bands has similar results on maximal muscle strength, growth, and power as traditional weight training.
This is why resistance bands are great for building lower or upper body muscles through low-impact workouts, at a fraction of the cost.