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Resistance band exercises might look boring, but they can add significant value to your weight training workouts.
Resistance bands are simple-looking elastic bands that come in varying tensions and offer great resistance to help develop muscle and strength. They're effective, cheap and portable, and provide a full body workout for beginners and experts alike.
Whether you're improving your at-home exercise routine or want to go gym-free, resistance bands deserve a place in your everyday fitness training.
Resistance Band Exercises for Men
Here's a look at the five best resistance band exercises men can include in their training routine to work on each muscle in their body.
1) Horizontal Woodchop
Horizontal woodchop is a great core exercise that targets your obliques and abs as you rotate your body through each rep. When doing this exercise, make sure you don’t jolt back; rather move slowly to get the best out of this move.
Here's how it's done with a resistance band:
- Anchor the band to a post or door. Face sideways, and hold the end of the band with both hands.
- Extend your arms fully. While rotating your upper body, pull the band across your body.
- Slowly return to the starting position, and repeat.
2) Hammer Curl
Hammer curls not only improve your grip strength and target your forearms, but they also engage several stabilizing muscles, such as the trapezius and deltoids. However, when doing this move, remember to keep your elbows close to your body.
How to do it:
- Stand tall on a resistance band, and with your palms facing towards your hips, hold each side of the band.
- Keeping your palms stable and in position, slowly curl the band up till your thumbs reach your shoulders.
- Lower your hands to the starting position, and repeat.
3) Pallof Press
The pallof press is basically an anti-rotation hold move that helps build a stable and strengthened core. This exercise targets many abdominal muscles, such as internal and external obliques, rectus abdominus, and erector spinae.
How to do a pallof press with a resistance band:
- Start the exercise by attaching the band to a stable object at your stomach level.
- Hold the end with both hands, and step a few feet away from the attached point.
- Turn your body in a way that it gets perpendicular to the band.
- Pull the band at your chest level, and slowly press it out with your arms extended straight.
- Bend your arms to move them back towards you, and resist the band from rotating your torso.
- Return to the starting position, and repeat.
4) Triceps Kickback
Triceps kickbacks are an isolating exercise that works wonders for your triceps. Adding a resistance band to this exercise makes the tricep kickback even more effective by targeting all three heads of the triceps - the medial head, lateral head, and long head.
How to do a triceps kickback with a resistance band:
- Attach the band to something solid and stable at your waist height.
- Hold each end of the band with one hand, with your palms facing towards your body.
- Bend slightly forward at your waist, and bend your knees to pull the band behind till your arm gets fully extended.
- Return to the starting position, and repeat.
- Make sure to use your triceps for the pulling movement.
5) Thruster
Band thrusters are an excellent leg exercise that combines a squat and an overhead press. This exercise primarily targets the hamstrings, shoulders and quads, and also helps elevate the heart rate, enhancing your overall fitness level.
How to do thrusters with a resistance band:
- Stand upright on a band, with your feet positioned at shoulder width distance.
- Hold each end of the band with your hands at shoulder level.
- Engage your core muscles, and keep your chest lifted lower down into a squat position.
- Get back up explosively, and push the band over your head.
- Slowly lower your arms to the starting position, and repeat.
Takeaway
The aforementioned resistance band exercises should be incorporated into your full body workout schedule to hit every muscle in your body. Just be mindful of your form, and perform each move slowly and at a controlled pace.
