Challenge Your Whole Body With This At-Home Resistance Band Workout
Your average home workout loads up on plenty of bodyweight exercises, and for good reason: Pushups and squats are fundamental pieces of any fitness routine, and you need to hold mastery over them.
But after awhile, they can get boring. And while they can definitely push you to gains, those mainstay moves can’t do everything. That’s why many add home gear, things like adjustable dumbbells, kettlebells, and parallettes. But you actually don’t need all that gear to get a good home session.
You can actually get a vicious home workout with a piece of gear that may be lying around in your gym bag, an underrated version of the resistance band, the miniband. Yes, this tiny, stretchy band can give you a vicious workout, and it’s a lifesaver if you’re stuck at home and you’ve exhausted basic bodyweight exercises and their variations. It’s the perfect home workout companion, and it won’t exactly break your wallet either.
Why and How Resistance Bands Work
To be clear, this miniband workout won’t get you Captain America jacked. What it will do, however, is challenge stabilizing muscles you forgot you had while still pushing you through classic size- and strength-building motions.
Workouts like this supplement the training you do in the gym, and if you’re stuck without gym access, they’re a perfect way to mix your training up for a few days, or even weeks. They’ll help you when you do get back in the gym, too, strengthening smaller muscle groups to fuel you to bigger gains when you get back to hitting the weights.
Essentially, they make you a more well-rounded gym-goer. Think of yourself as a golfer: You can’t only focus on their long drive. You have to practice their chips and your putts for a complete game. That’s what you’re going to do with this workout. (Need a miniband? Get it above.)
Why Bands Work
Both standard resistance bands and minibands differ from your traditional weight training in two key categories: accommodating resistance and line of pull.
Accommodating resistance is the principle of the movement becoming more difficult through the range of motion. Chains and bands are two very common forms of this foundational movement modality. Chains have a meathead rep, but really, they’re just metal accommodating resistance: With every inch higher the chain gets elevated from the ground, another link comes off the ground. This creates greater weight dangling as you move upward through a movement. Bands are much more approachable than chains -- and easier to use in the house, too.
The other key thing bands offer is an ability to mix up your “line of pull”. Pick up a dumbbell and do a biceps curl, and really, you can only curl it in one direction. But bands let you curl in multiple directions, changing angles and challenging different stabilizing muscles, everything from abs to obliques to rotator cuff muscles. You can adjust what direction you pull from making room for vertical, horizontal, pulling, and pushing motions.
The general goal of most miniband workouts is simple: Get yourself moving and keep the tissues active. Band work can help you harness your movement pattern quality, aid in joint health, and test muscles you may be missing in your standard routines. There’s a reason pro sports teams all have stashes of minibands. And if the pros take them seriously, you should, too. Try them in this workout.
The Key to Resistance Band Exercises
You’ll do a variety of exercises you might consider “standard” in this workout, but the miniband will add challenge. The key is taking advantage of that challenge. Keep the miniband taut throughout this session, pulling it apart and tense. Your goal is to maintain good standard form on “classic” exercises: Apply tension to the band steadily and aggressively so that it looks as if you’re not using a band at all. This applies to standard resistance band training, too: The variable resistance will change as you do, say, a biceps curl, but aim to keep lifting at the same rate.
The Workout
Directions: Do this workout as a circuit. Do three rounds of the circuit, resting one minute between each. You’ll be wrapped up with the entire session in about 15 minutes.
Miniband Squat
Wrap a miniband around your knees, just above your knees. Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width, core tight, knees pulling the miniband outwards. Bend at the knees and push your butt back, lowering your thighs until they’re about parallel with the ground; stand back up, continuing to pull the miniband tight. That’s 1 rep; do 15. Some basic squat tips, which apply to this squat variation, are below.
Miniband Square Step
Start with the band wrapped above your knee in an athletic stance: Feet slightly wider than shoulder width, core tight, knees bent, standing on the balls of your feet. Step two feet to the right with your right leg, then two feet to the left with your left leg. Step two feet back with your right leg. Then move left two feet; step your right foot in that same direction. Move forward with your left leg; step your right foot forward in the same direction. Keep working this pattern all the way around; 1 round is one rep. Do 4 rounds.
Miniband Hip Thrust
Lie with your back on a bench, couch or chair, feet flat and shoulder-width apart, band just above your knees, knees spreading the band. Drive your heels into the ground and squeeze your glutes, extending your hips and creating a straight line from shoulders through knees. Old for 2 seconds, then lower. That’s 1 rep; do 10.
Miniband Half-Kneeling Archer Row
Do 20 reps with each arm, following the form cues below.
Miniband Pushup
Do 15 reps, setting the band at your wrist. Follow good basic pushup form, shown below.
Miniband Bird Dog
Get in bird dog position, holding one end of the miniband with your right hand, other end looped onto your left foot. Extend your left foot back as you reach your right arm forward. That’s 1 rep; do 8 per side.
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