When it comes to plyometrics, we can’t think of anything better and more convenient than resistance bands to gain more muscle strength and endurance. These inexpensive bands, over the years, have earned our love and appreciation for their multi-functional versatility.
Not only does exercising with resistance bands help to activate our core, stabilize metabolism rate and tighten our glute muscles and ligaments, but they also help us lose excess body fat – making them an irresistible addition to our daily workout routine.
However, can these small round elastic bands be useful to us for professional-level athletic training? Will resistance bands benefit athletes who are preparing for international sports competitions?
Well, not only are we going to explain to you our answer to these questions in detail in this article, but also recommend you the best 10 resistance band exercises for athletes. Grab a seat and enjoy reading!
Why Athletes Should Use Resistance Bands For Exercise
Why do we love resistance bands? They are extremely useful when it comes to speed training your muscles to be more flexible, to be able to jump higher and run as fast as a cheetah.
This is also a part of plyometrics that can greatly help athletes and every sportsperson to strengthen their leg, hips, and hand muscles for competitive matches of football, skiing, boxing, basketball, and running marathon races.
Just as expected, athletes are required to undergo extensive training with the help of HIIT exercises. Therefore, resistance bands are simply the best training buddy one can ever have to get those muscles working within one’s comfort zone such as home or backyard, without having to physically go to the gym.
Now, don’t just randomly start attempting to exercise with resistance bands out of excitement without prior knowledge and experience as this may result in accidental injuries. To kickstart your new athletic workout routine, here are the top 10 easy resistance band exercises to get you started.
10 Best Resistance Band Exercises For Athletes
Based on the verdict of our training experts, these particular resistance band strength training exercises significantly increase muscle endurance and muscle flexibility. That’s why without further ado, you should try out these simple band exercises from today.
1. BAND PULL-PARTS:
Just as you can guess from the name itself, you need to pull the band with both your hands apart from each other. This exercise puts muscle tension on radiator cuffs and the trapezius muscles on your back. You can carry this out in the following three steps:
Step 1: Hold the two ends of a resistance band with the two of your hands in a standing upright position.
Step 2: Now pull the band with both hands apart.
Step 3: Your shoulder blades should be squeezed together and the hand should be at the same level as your chest.
2. SCARECROW PRESS
If you want to strengthen your upper body muscles such as the rotator cuffs, shoulder and chest, this simple band exercise should do the magic. Although this exercise is popularly done using dumbbells, an elastic band can be an alternative as well.
Go for lighter resistance first for the first few days. You’ll also need to fasten the belt to a pole. Here are the next steps you need to follow:
Step 1: Stand straight and keep your elbow in line with the shoulder. Make sure to chest up.
Step 2: With one end of the band tied up, take the other end of the band in one hand and rotate.
Step 3. Repeat the same process with the other hand.
3. LYING LATERAL LEG RAISE
What sets this exercise apart from the rest of this list is that it’s more comfortable and suitable for lazy people like you and me because we can do this exercise simply by lying on the floor.
If you want to tighten your ankle and shin muscles and also lose excess fats in your thighs, you can carry out this exercise in the following steps:
Step 1: Take a small, lightweight elastic band. Tie it above your ankles but below the knees.
Step 2: Now lie down on your left side on a clean floor mat. Remember, the overall weight of your body should be resting on your hips.
Step 3: Keep your left foot glued to the ground (no, not literally) and slowly raise your right foot in an upward straight direction. By the way, none of your legs should be bent during this process.
Step 4: Leave your right foot up there for, let’s say, 2-3 minutes. Then switch sides and repeat the process with your left foot. Do this exercise for at least 10-15 minutes.
4. STANDING EXTERNAL ROTATION:
Professional athletes need a lot of energy and stamina in their hands and leg muscles to run faster and jump higher. This exercise particularly targets the upper body muscles, tightens them, and makes them stronger.
Step 1: In a standing position, place your arms to each side of the body and hold the two ends of the band with both of your hands.
Step 2: Chin up and chest up. Your arms should be a little bent at around 90°.
Step 3: Take a deep breath and pull your shoulder blades in a downright position.
Step 4: Now that you are in your starting position, push your forearms in an outward direction.
Step 5: Let go of your hold of the band to return to the starting position and repeat the same process a couple of times
5. HIP EXTENSIONS FOR BFR:
For this exercise, you’d want to make sure you’re standing hip-width apart. If you want to make your hips rounder, this is the ideal workout exercise. Follow these 3 steps:
Step 1: You need to tie one end of the elastic band to the door, with the anchor of the door positioned at the bottom.
Step 2: Then attach the other end to your left ankle. Both your legs should be evenly positioned on the ground, side by side.
Step 3: Now push your left ankle backward. Don’t bend your head and back in the process, they should be kept straight.
Step 4: Return your ankle to the starting position and repeat the same process with both the ankles for 10/12 minutes each.
6. DEADLIFT:
This is basically a light warmup exercise to increase your blood flow and tighten your core muscles before conducting a strenuous physical activity. We recommend doing this warm-up exercise for injury prevention. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Put a heavy elastic band on the ground then stand on it with both your feet placed side by side.
Step 2: Take one end of the band in your right hand and the other end in your left hand.
Step 3: Raise both your arms in an upward direction without bending them.
Step 4: When your hands are straight and parallel to the standing ground, stay like this for a few seconds.
7. OVERHEAD SQUATTING:
As you can guess from its name, you have to do this exercise in a squat position under band resistance. By the way, you’ll need a small-sized band with light resistance for this. Let’s breakdown the whole process into 3 easy steps:
Step 1: Tie the elastic band a little above your knee caps and get into an overhead position.
Step 2: Now bend your knees and go into a sitting down position.
Step 3. Push out your hips in an outward direction.
Step 4: Now stand up to get back to the starting position.
8. BENCH PRESS:
The banded bench pressing is one of the common exercises well-known for maximizing athletic power by tightening your upper body muscles. Here are the steps you need to maintain:
Step 1: Tightly anchor a moderately heavy band behind the bench, one loop on each end.
Step 2: Lie down and put down your head on the bench. Grab both ends of the elastic band with both your hands.
Step 3: Now bench press as you normally would in a gym.
9. STROKE PULLS:
Putting muscle tension on your biceps under band resistance is one of the best weight training exercises to maximize muscle strength.
Step 1: Firstly, place your palms in a forward direction. Next, in a standing position, keep both feet on an elastic band with the handles close to your sides.
Step 2: By squeezing your biceps, put your hands up in a curling motion up to your shoulders. Keep in mind – your elbows should not curl, they should be kept on both sides.
Step 3: Now lower your arms down to replicate the original starting position.
10. FIRE HYDRANT EXERCISE:
The name’s interesting, and so is the exercise! This exercise particularly targets the smaller muscles in our thighs, legs, and not to forget – the glutes! Don’t worry, this workout has got nothing to do with fire, it’s safe and easy.
Here you go with the directions:
Step 1: On a floor mat, get down into a tabletop position. But before that, you need to secure an elastic band right above your kneecaps.
Step 2: Lift your left knee out to its side. Your hips should stay upright and not curl to the side.
Step 3: Get your knee back to the starting position. Repeat the process for 10 more reps before switching to the right knee.
Final Thoughts
So, do you happen to feel lonely while working out and wish there was a partner accompanying you? Say no more! Resistance elastic bands are the best workout buddy you could ever have – not to mention, more reasonable, efficient, and portable than dumbbells or any other gym equipment out there.