Dan Rochfort

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Low Impact Exercise, Part 1: Resistance Bands

October 2, 2017 by Dan

Low impact exercises become more and more appealing as we get older. The mind is willing but the body isn’t. Scientific studies tell us that we need to continue exercising right up to our last breath if we want to maximise performance and maintain optimum bodily functions yet often, to put it bluntly, our joints are knackered. Resistance Bands to the rescue!

Resistance Bands are just one of the many ways you can give yourself a total body workout whilst reducing the damage to your joints.

  • Cost effective. They are relatively cheap compared to many exercise products
  • Highly versatile. You can use them to isolate almost every major functional muscle
  • Space efficient. One of the few items that you can take pretty much anywhere with you that won’t comprimise the weight or space in your bag
  • Range of options. There are many different levels of resistance to chose from; beginner through to advanced
  • Increase strength, stamina and flexibility
  • Constant tension. Often we let gravity take over in the eccentric (lowering phase) of a lift when using weights thus minimising the effectiveness of the exercise. With resistance bands there is a constant tension throughout the whole move
  • Strengthen the connective tissue. The fascia that connect muscles and bones is just as, if not more, important than the muscles themselves

Resistance Bands can help build muscles around the joint and minimise further damage. You can just anchor them round a door handle or even get your training partner to hold the other end that way both of you are working out.

Upper Body

Whether it be weekend rugby or working as a landscape gardener Monday to Friday your elbows and shoulders in particular soon let you know they’ve had enough.

  • Overhead Press (Band under feet)
  • Bicep Curl (Band under feet)
  • Chest Press (Band behind back)
  • Reverse Flyes (Band under feet)
  • Tricep Pushdown (Band over pull up bar)

Core

Our core is used in almost all daily acvities so it is essential we target all muscles of this area; both front,back and sides.

  • Bicycle Crunch (Band anchored around table/ chair leg*)
  • Side twists (Band around door handle)
  • Romanian Deadlift (Band under feet)

Lower Body

Many of you spend long periods at work where you’re sat at a desk or simply not active. This can have a detrimental impact on the biggest muscles of the body; the legs. We can use resistance bands to stimulate our leg muscles, promote growth and increase tone and definition.

  • Squats (Band under feet)
  • Calf Raises (Band under feet)
  • Hamstring Curl (Band around table/ chair leg*)

 

I recommend combining these exercises in the order that I have listed them to create a total body workout. Start with the band of the lowest resistance (red in the case of the ones I’ve recommended- see link above) so that you familiarise yourself with the movement, technique and setup.

Don’t rest between each exercise and complete the circuit (superset) three times resting for one minute between each circuit.

*Ensure the table or chair is adequately weighted to prevent movement of the anchor point

Top tip:

Alternate grip type to hit muscle groups from different angles ie.hammer grip on the bicep curls instead of underhand grip every time

Filed Under: Fitness, Injuries Tagged With: injury prevention, Low impact, Resistance bands

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