How to build muscle using resistance bands

So simple yet so effective, resistance bands can definitely bring a bit of fire to your training. We chatted to Aquanation trainer Lachlan Kewley on the best ways to bring these bad boys into your workout routines.

Are resistance band workouts just as good as weight training?

For Kewley, this all depends on your individual goals. “Resistance bands can provide adequate stimulus to induce positive changes, anything is better than nothing so resistance over general weight changes is completely fine if that’s what you enjoy,” says the trainer.

Kewley explains that the resistance bands offer is variable throughout the range of motion, which can certainly create a bunch of stimulus challenges for your muscles. And for Kewley, the variation in resistance is what makes these so great for your workout.

“So, the more the band is stretched the higher the resistance to the stretch becomes - the benefit here is the ability to increase stretch at the end range of motion,” the trainer explains.

Kewley uses the example of a squat to demonstrate the varied resistance of the bands. “With a squat you’re going down into a squat and the band becomes pretty loose and as you propel yourself up (so the concentric phase) with your heels pushing up to the roof, you see that stretch starting to increase as you increase that range of motion.”

He says because you’re “changing where the load is applied, not the load itself” you can combine or replace with traditional training to provide variation in training load and challenge the muscles in different ways. 

How to mix and match your super sets

If you’re a fan of super sets in your training, resistance bands really lend themselves to this type of workout. Kewley reckons by adding bands to weight training, you’ve got the best of both worlds. “By switching between the two forms of training you can provide an effective form of activation followed by strength or volume,” says Kewley.

The trainer recommends a couple of easy ways to incorporate resistance bands into your supersets. “ You could start with a strength movement like a deadlift followed by a banded hip extension to volume (to fatigue), or you can also do a drop set of a bench press followed by a push-up with a band around your arms to fatigue.”

Burn baby, burn!!

How to pick your bands

Not all bands are created equal. And although they all serve the same purpose of isolating muscle groups, depending on the level of resistance you’re after you’ll want to find the right band for your training. Luckily, Kewley has an easy to follow guide: 

“Thickness indicates how much they will stretch and therefore their resistance, generally, greens and blues tend to be lighter load and reds and blacks tend to be heavier.”

Are there any downsides to banding up? 

“There’s no such thing as a disadvantage of including them in your workout,” Kewley confirms. The trainer explains that if muscle growth is your goal, changing things up is your best game plan and resistance bands can be fantastic way to do just that.

“Constantly trying to change your workout no matter what your goal is encouraged, the more you do the same thing the more your body learns to cope with the load,” says Kewley.

The trainer recommends incorporating one resistance band exercise before a completing a workout that is specific to what you’ll be doing. “So if you’re going to be doing a lower body workout do something that will activate your hips or hamstrings,” the trainer recommends.

If you’re looking to get a bit more out of your compound lifts (deadlifts, bench press etc) and you’re hitting a plateau, Kewley suggests  you “potentially lower weight down and put a band on, this can extrapolate the concentric phase of that movement and can almost exceed your results in some regard.”

Even resistance bands require proper technique, so make sure you’re guided by a trainer to get your form right straight away.