When it comes to exercising, a lot of people have a love-hate relationship with it, especially with stretching. Even though stretching is extremely beneficial for our body, many are quite reluctant to try it.
Namely, if you incorporate it into your daily routine, you will decrease the chances of experiencing stiffness and it will keep your muscles flexible and strong. One of the best ways to do it is by using resistance bands and today we will show you the best ways to utilize them.
Amazing Ways To Employ Resistance Bands During Exercise
For Lower Body
During this exercise, you should lie on your back with the resistance band wrapped around the bottom of one of your feet. Cling to the resistance band with one end in each hand. If you’re up for something that’s a bit more demanding, then you could pull the ends of the resistance band closer to the foot to make it tighter.
Furthermore, make sure to keep the unbanded foot bent with the leg on the ground. Straighten it with the band towards the ceiling until you start feeling the stretch in the hamstring. Bend the foot and hold for up to thirty seconds and then you can switch sides.
Try Out Banded Squats
If you’re looking for some solid resistance, then you should definitely give this a go! Avid exercisers at DiaBettr.com suggest that banded squats can help you activate your gluteus, hip abductors, and quads. So how can you do it?
Set yourself up like you are planning to do an air squat. You can put the band in the middle of the thighs or beneath your knees. If you want to really focus on your glutes, then you should place them right above the knees.
Next, you should lower your body into a squat, pushing the hips as if you want to sit in a chair. Ensure to keep the back straight and continue to get down until the thighs are parallel to your floor. You should be in this position for up to three seconds.
Then you should lift from the bottom of the squat and ensure the knees are not caving in. When you’re about to finish this exercise, squeeze the glutes at the top.
Adding More Suggestions Below
Push-Ups
Most people would not think of using resistance bands for push ups.
The push-ups are a functional callisthenics movement you can do anytime, anywhere without the need for any equipment.
They are an incredible upper body strength exercise that builds your chest muscles, shoulders and triceps, but also involve many of your core abdominal muscles.
Hold the resistance band at both ends of the loop and sling it around your back. Keeping the band in place, get into a press-up position. At first, you might find that the band slips out of place – but with practice, you’ll be able to keep it in place.
Side-Lying Leg Lifts
This is a great exercise for anybody who wants to tighten the hip-abductor muscles. So how can you do it? Put the resistance band above the knees, or you can also place it around the ankles. Then lie on the side with the legs stacked and straight.
Support your head upon the hand, and then you can either support yourself with the left arm, or you can rest it on the biceps. Lift the upper leg towards the ceiling as high as possible without harming the hip and then gently lower it for one repeating. The tempo should be slow and calm.
There are so many different things you can do with the resistance bands, but we’ve managed to show you just a couple of them. Depending on the parts of the body you want to focus on, you can try out at least one of these examples that were mentioned.