Resistance bands were first used in the early 1900s for the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Originally made of surgical tubing, resistance bands worked so well that they continued being used in medical circles for injury recovery and, by the mid 1900s, began moving into home fitness and health arenas in a preventative health capacity. Today, exercise bands are widely used in a variety of venues to acquire basic fitness, train for better sport performance, increase range of motion, workout major and stabilizing muscle groups, etc.

Muscles respond to an applied stimulus by growing stronger, becoming more flexible and developing a quicker movement response. Resistance bands can be used to achieve all of these goals and are actually better in many cases than using weights alone.

Reasons for Using Resistance Bands

1. More Versatile Movement

Free weights and weight machines found in a gym are dependent on gravity for their effectiveness. In other words, they are pulled down by gravity and depend on your muscles to move them (usually in a vertical motion). The problem with this is that our muscles are designed to respond upon multiple planes and to multiple movements. Exercise bands are lightweight and flexible and can be manipulated in multiple directions for a more complete muscular workout.

2. Greater Range of Motion

Weights seldom allow you to reach a full range of muscular motion. Resistance bands, on the other hand, allow you to reach full extension on all planes. Thus, soft tissue is stretched and lengthened on multiple planes during strength training exercises with resistance bands. Not only do you get a full range of stretching through active movements, but you also obtain such ranges through passive movements.

3. Stronger Natural Movements

The body is designed to move in either a vertical, horizontal, or rotational direction and, quite often, in a combination of these. Free weight training severely limits your natural body to basically vertical movements due to being gravity controlled. However, fitness bands allow you to complete thousands of exercises which include diverse strength training routines in important areas such as kicking, running, swinging, jumping, etc.

4. Portability

Consistency is the name of the game in muscle development and fitness. Because life moves quickly, it can often be difficult to get to the gym for weight training on a regular basis. Exercise bands are light weight and take up very little storage space. They can easily be used at home, the office, or tucked in a suitcase for business trips and vacations.

5. Affordability

Resistance bands are affordable and can be acquired by anyone without a large investment. A high quality set of resistance bands can be bought for under $30.00.