Resistance Band Workouts: 50 Exercises for Strength Training at Home or On the Go

by Karina Inkster

Overview

Improve Your Strength and Body Composition with 3 Types of Resistance Bands!

This is your one-stop-shop for anyone who wants to improve their strength and body composition without having to purchase a gym membership. Fitness coach and author Karina Inkster will teach you about the overall benefits of strength training, and resistance bands in particular. You'll learn how to choose resistance bands, how to use them at home with a door anchor, and how to use them safely. An overview of the 3 types of resistance bands will help readers put together their own “mini gym” that can fit into a small bag.

A collection of 50 resistance band exercises that work all the major muscle groups will inspire readers to create—and maintain—a regular strength training practice, whether they’re working out at home, outdoors, or while travelling. Once readers are familiar with the various exercise possibilities, they’ll learn how to put together their own strength programs.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510753471
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	198,183
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Karina Inkster is a fitness coach, author, and podcast host. Karina’s award-winning online programs offer vegan fitness and nutrition coaching to clients around the world. She’s the author of two books (Vegan Vitality: Your Complete Guide to a Healthy, Active, Plant-Based Lifestyle, and Foam Rolling: 50 Exercises for Massage, Injury Prevention, and Core Strength), a writer for several magazines, and host of the No-Bullsh!t Vegan podcast. She holds a Master’s degree in Gerontology, specializing in health and aging. When she's not working with her clients, writing, or weight lifting, you'll find Karina playing accordion, piano, and Australian didgeridoo; hanging out with her two cats; or sneaking spinach into her husband's smoothies. Visit her website at www.karinainkster.com.

Read an Excerpt

If you want to improve your strength and body composition without a gym membership, this book is for you. You’ll be able to work out at home, outdoors, and while travelling. My fitness coaching clients have performed their resistance band strength workouts everywhere from airports and long-haul flights, to sailboats, to empty conference rooms at the office, to campgrounds in the forest, and everywhere in between!

In this book, you’ll discover the benefits of strength training, and resistance bands in particular. You’ll learn how to choose resistance bands and how to safely use them to increase your strength. I’ll go over the three types of resistance bands so you can put together your own inexpensive gym that fits into a small bag.

A collection of 50 strength exercises that work all the major muscle groups will inspire you to create—and maintain—a regular strength training practice. Once you’re familiar with these exercises, you’ll learn how to put together your own workout programs. After all, having 50 exercises to choose from is well and good, but they won’t be of any use unless you implement them!

Strength training—also called resistance training—is one of the most effective ways of improving your body composition, preventing injuries, increasing your bone density, revving up your metabolism, and improving your day-to-day functioning. Given these wide-ranging benefits, everyone, at any age, should be strength training!

The most common form of strength training is lifting weights at a gym. However, not everyone enjoys going to gyms, and not everyone has access to these facilities. I work with clients all over the world, some of whom live in extremely remote places like the middle of Outback Australia or a tiny island in Bermuda with only 20 houses and no roads. These places certainly don’t have gyms! Other clients have new babies and must strength train at home while their partners are at work. Some want to save money by not purchasing gym memberships, while others prefer training at home for logistical reasons like saving time traveling to and from a gym, or being able to fit in a quick mid-day strength training session while working from home.

This is where resistance bands come in. If you want to work out wherever you like, including at home and while traveling, resistance bands are the most effective, user-friendly choice.

As more and more people learn about the incredible benefits of strength training, more and more types of exercise equipment are being
produced. The options can be overwhelming! Rest assured that the humble resistance band is one of the most effective, well-studied, economical, and travel-friendly equipment options available. Professional athletes from countless different disciplines have been using resistance bands in their training for decades, especially when traveling.

This book contains everything you need to learn a wide variety of resistance band strength exercises, and put them together into a fun and effective workout program you can perform anywhere.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Benefits of Strength Training 1

Bone Density 2

Muscle Mass and Healthy Aging 4

Fat Loss and Body Composition 6

Strength Training Recommendations 9

Before You Start Strength Training 9

The Importance of Consistent Training 10

The Scale is Not a Useful Tool for Measuring Results 12

Introduction to Resistance Bands 15

Benefits of Resistance Bands 15

Where You Can Use Resistance Bands and Anchor Points 17

Types of Resistance Bands 19

Tubing with Handles 19

Mini-Bands 19

Pull-Up Assist Bands 20

How to Adjust Resistance Level/Weight 21

Resistance Bands 21

Mini-Bands 22

How to Choose an Appropriate Resistance Level 22

Resistance Band Exercises 25

Resistance Band Exercises 26

Mini-Band Exercises 26

Pull-Up Assist Band Exercises 27

Breathing 27

Performing Reps 28

Tempo 28

Arnold Press 30

Band Pull-Apart 32

Band-Assisted Pistol Squats 34

Band-Assisted Pull-Ups 36

Band-Resisted Sprints 38

Band Resisted Forward Sprints 39

Band-Resisted Backward Jogging 40

Band-Resisted Lateral Shuffle 41

Banded Squat 42

Bent-Over Rear Delt Fly 44

Bent-Over Row 46

Biceps Curl 48

Bicycle Crunch 50

Chest Press 52

Clamshell 54

Face Pull 56

Front Raise 58

Glute Bridge 60

High Curl 62

High Plank Row 64

High-Low Chop 66

Hip Hinge 68

Hip Raise 70

Hip Thrust 72

Kneeling Pull-Down 74

Lateral Raise 76

Lateral Walk 78

Low Curl 80

Low-High Chop 82

Lying Abduction 84

Mountain Climber 86

Overhead Extension 88

Overhead Press 90

Pallof Press 92

Pec Fly 94

Psoas March 96

Pull-Through 98

Push-Up 100

Quadruped Kickback 102

Side Plank Reach 104

Side Plank Row 106

Single-Leg Bench Squat 108

Single-Leg Deadlift 110

Single-Leg Hip Extension 112

Skater Squats 114

Split Squat 116

Standing Rear Delt Fly 118

Standing Row 120

Standing Wide Row 122

Straight-Arm Pulldown 124

Torso Rotation 126

Triceps Kickback 128

Triceps Press-Down 130

How to Create Your Own Resistance Band Workout Program 133

The Six Fundamental Strength Movement Patterns 133

Squat 133

Hip Hinge 134

Lunge 134

Upper Body Push 135

Upper Body Pull 135

Plank 135

How to Design Your Resistance Band Training Program 137

Warming Up Before Your Workouts 137

Cardio First or Strength Training First? 138

Reps and Sets 138

Straight Sets, Supersets, Tri-Sets, and Circuits 139

Compound Versus Isolation Movements 143

Training Splits 144

Core Training 146

Sample Workout Programs 147

Two Workouts Per Week 147

Three Workouts Per Week 148

Four Workouts Per Week 150

Five to Six Workouts Per Week 153

Beginner Five- or Six-Day Workout Program 153

Advanced Five- or Six-Day Workout Program 156

Core Workout Examples 159

How to Ensure Your Muscles Recover Effectively from Strength Training 161

Take a Rest Day 162

Active Recovery 162

Foam Rolling 163

Massage 163

Stretching 164

Yoga 165

Sleep 166

Strength Coaches on Using Resistance Bands with Their Clients 169

Acknowledgments 175

About the Author 177

Index 178