Resistance bands are the best equipment for workouts at home. They are easy to carry whether you exercise at the home, gym, or outdoors. Exercise bands are made of highly stretchable rubber material, and fitness freaks use resistance bands for strength training, losing weight, and gaining muscle.
Resistance bands are best for people who want to work out at home. However, it is essential to choose the right bands according to your fitness goals . Whether you want to gain strength or lose weight, there are special resistance bands for every fitness goal. This post shares some tips for choosing the right resistance bands according to your fitness goals.
Table of Contents
Types of Resistance Bands
Resistance bands come in the form of flat bands and tubes. The resistance tubes are made of heavy-duty latex rubber and have handles at the ends. They are available with different levels of resistance, from light to heavy. The handles allow you to hook them on the doors and walls and hold the other end for exercise.
On the other hand, the resistance bands don’t have handles or cuffs. They are merely flat bands that people old with their hands or legs during the exercise. You can use them to exercise long muscles such as hips and thighs.
Resistance Band Colors
Both the resistance tubes and bands come in different colors. Each color of the bands represents a different level of resistance. They are available in black, blue, green, red, and yellow colors. The color codes represent the levels of resistance that the band offers to the user.
Yellow bands: The yellow bands offer the least resistance and should be used for muscle groups that need a less intense workout. They are suitable for shoulders and shins as these are the parts that need a low-intensity exercise. If you want light stretching to stay active, you can use yellow bands to work out.
Red bands: Red bands provide medium resistance to your body. The resistance level is higher than the yellow bands and can be used for medium intensity workouts. If you want to lose weight and gain strength, you should include red bands in their exercises.
Green bands: Green bands offer a medium to heavy resistance. They are suitable for large muscles like the chest, back, and legs the need an intense workout. If you aim to gain strength and muscle, you must use green bands for the exercises like presses and squats.
Blue bands: They are known as the heavy resistance bands. Being stiffer than red, green, and yellow bands offer a highly intense workout for the major muscle groups. They are suitable for young people who are strong and want to do intense workouts. If you aim to lose weight and gain strength, you can use the blue resistance bands.
Black bands: Black-colored bands are the bands with the most resistance. It would help if you were strong enough to use the black resistance bands. The professionals and fitness experts who have experience in performing the exercises generally use black resistance bands. The beginners should not use them as they don’t need the highest level of resistance for workouts.
How to choose the resistance bands to meet your fitness goals
Losing weight
If you aim to lose weight, you should buy a mix of light and heavy resistance bands. Some muscle needs light workout like shoulders and arms. The yellow and red colored bands are perfect to tone up the arms and shoulders. However, it would help if you had medium and heavy resistance bands for hips and thighs.
Losing weight requires you to perform more repetitions with medium resistance. Therefore, you need flat bands with medium resistance to do the exercise, like squats and situps for legs and core.
Gaining Strength
Gaining strength needs intense workouts with more repetitions and fewer sets. It would help if you used medium and heavy resistance bands for strengthening your muscles. It would help if you used a combination of red, green, and blue bands to offer medium to heavy resistance required for strength gain.
People who recover from illness and want to gain strength should use the yellow and red bands until they gain sufficient strength.
Building muscles
People who want to gain strength and build muscles should use heavy resistance bands. Blue and black colored bands are perfect for you to gain muscle. Users can use them in combination with weight training and cardio. Bands can increase the resistance of your weight training exercises.
Final Words
Resistance bands are highly popular among gyms in Brisbane, Australia. The machines like the pilates reformer Brisbane make have resistance bands to help the users perform the workout. Whatever be your fitness goals, there are resistance bands available for you. It is best to consult a gym instructor or fitness professional to help you choose the right resistance bands to meet your fitness goals.