During these quarantine days, resistance band workouts for men can be of great help to keep yourself fit. It is a piece of effective fitness equipment that can be used just to stay in shape or even to grow muscles at home.
A resistance band is a simple elastic band used for strength training. Its purpose varies greatly because of it’s wide use in different aspects. Some use it to keep their muscles active by performing simple stretching exercises with it. Meanwhile, some people consider its potential of being as effective or in some cases better than free weights when it comes to growing and toning muscles.
Different types of bands used for resistance band workouts for men
1. Power resistance or Loop bands
These types of resistance bands are usually used for high-intensity body workouts. This type of band is not recommended for beginners as they have considerably more resistance than other types.
2. Tube resistance bands with handles
This is the most common and widely used resistance band. You can use this type of band to perform several exercises. These tube resistance bands come with different levels of resistance. Thus, it is easier for people to choose the right resistance band for them.
3. Mini bands
These bands are similar to power resistance bands but are smaller and wider. They are useful in increasing strength and stability in your upper and lower body.
4. Light therapy resistance bands
These are long, thin, and light resistance bands that do not form a loop. They are recommended to people recovering strength after an injury and to elderly people.
5. Figure 8 resistance bands
These bands, as the name suggests are shaped like the figure eight. They have soft handles and high elasticity. They can be used for different upper as well as lower body exercises.
Resistance bands can be used to exercise pretty much every muscle group in your body, such is its versatility. Nevertheless, here are some types of resistance band workouts for men along with their focus muscle groups.
Resistance band workouts for men for bigger arms
1. Resistance band rows
This is a common resistance band exercise. Anchor the band around a railing, holding each end with your hands. Pull the handles into your chest while focusing on squeezing your shoulders together in the back. Slowly, return to the initial position. Repeat the exercise for 10-20 times.
2. Resistance band triceps kickbacks
To do this resistance band workout for men, step in the middle of your band and bend forward at your hips, keeping your back straight. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees with your hands holding the handles of the band tightly. Now, take your elbows from bent to 90 degrees to straight back behind you, pulling on the band until your elbows are straight. Gradually, return to the initial position and repeat the exercises for a considerable number of reps.
3. Resistance band biceps curls
This is similar to your normal bicep curl usually done with free weights. Hold the handles of the band by your hands, pinning the band under your feet. Keep your core tight, your shoulders set back, and pull your hands towards your shoulders to perform a bicep curl. Slowly move your arm back to the initial position and repeat the exercise.
Here are some more additional arm exercises you can do with the help of resistance bands.
Resistance band workouts for men for your chest
1. Resistance band push-ups
Hold the ends of the band tightly in both of your hands and wrap the band around the broadest part of your upper back. Get yourself in a normal push-up position and perform push-ups with a resistance band around your back to provide the extra resistance to your shoulder blades. Like the normal push-up exercise, resistance band push-ups also help in building your chest muscles. Push-ups with resistance bands are more effective than normal ones for obvious reasons.
2. Reverse grip flye
This is another effective resistance band workout for men to build chest muscles. Step on the resistance band with feet shoulder-width apart. With your palms facing inwards grab the band close to your feet. Then start standing up tall with your core engaged. With straight arms, raise your hands from underneath until they reach chest height focusing on bringing your elbows together as you move your arms upward. Gradually, go back to the initial position and repeat the exercise.
Here are a few more resistance band chest exercises for you to attempt.
Resistance band workouts for men for stronger abs
1. Resistance band crunches
This exercise is not much different from your normal crunches. Attach the band around a railing or some sort of anchor. Hold the ends with your hands, palms facing upwards. Get into a crunch position and start performing normal crunches with your hands holding the ends of the band.
2. Resistance band bicycle crunches
In this resistance band workout for men, you need to fix both of your feet into the handles of the band that is attached around some railing or anchor. Get yourself in a crunch position and start kicking your legs as if you’re riding an imaginary bicycle.
Here are some more resistance band exercises for building up your abs.
If you are a beginner to bodybuilding you must be having a lot of queries. One such question that bothers all beginners is how many exercises they should do per workout session. Well, worry no more as here’s an article that gives you the answer to “How many exercises should I do per workout?“ in an elaborate way.
Benefits of choosing resitance band workouts for men
- They are extremely portable. You can carry a resistance band with you while traveling or even take it to your office to work your muscles a bit during the breaks.
- They are much cheaper than free weights even though they are equally as effective as free weights.
- Resistance bands go easy on the joints, unlike free weights. Lifting excessive free weights may lead to joint compression which can be avoided while using the resistance band.
- While you’ll need a variety of free weights as you progress with your workouts, a single resistance can work as multiple dumbbells of different weights. To increase the resistance you can simply narrow the grip of the band.
- Resistance bands are very versatile. They can be used to exercise each muscle of your body by making slight variations in some of the common exercises.
- A resistance band is a perfect home workout equipment. It’s easy to use, is inexpensive, doesn’t take a lot of space, and is very effective in growing muscles.
Thus, we can conclude that a resistance band is indeed a very useful fitness euipment. Although the mechanism is quite simple, the results we can get from it are extraordinary.
We hope this article was helpful for you. If you think we have missed out any point, please feel free to mention it down in the comments below.