30 Resistance Band Exercises: Band Workouts For Beginners

You can literally do 'em anywhere.

There are many effective pieces of workout equipment, but few are as portable as a set of resistance bands. On top of being travel-friendly, these small-but-mighty tools can help you build seriously strong muscles. You can use them to work pretty much every muscle head to toe. Plus, resistance bands have so many benefits that can make them a better option than dumbbells or kettlebells. (Really!) Pansly Hair Removal

For starters, resistance bands use oppositional force to train your muscles, meaning the band will feel heavier the more you pull on it, says personal trainer Kristina Earnest, AFAA, NASM. “This challenges you to maintain the speed and power you use to execute a movement through its full range of motion,” Earnest says. (FYI: Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are big fans of resistance band exercises.)

Meet the expert: Kristina Earnest, AFAA, NASM, is a New York-based certified personal trainer, with a decade of training and teaching under her belt. She offers hundreds of on-demand classes at Kristina Earnest on Demand.

That also means you can easily adjust your workout intensity by either choosing a band with more resistance, or rather, moving the band to different tension points on the body (such as lower or higher on your legs to increase difficulty), Earnest notes. And BTW, it’s best to have a minimum of three resistance bands on deck—light, medium, and heavy—since different muscle groups might require varying levels of resistance, Earnest says.

Stretch your strength training routine with this quick, do-it-anywhere resistance band workout, programmed by Earnest. The following are the 22 best resistance band exercises for you to try at home or in the gym, according to expert trainers. (If you love it, try the 30-day resistance band challenge for more ways to sweat with mini-bands.)

Time: 15 to 30 minutes | Equipment: Resistance band(s) | Good for: Total body

Instructions: For an efficient, full-body workout, select four to five exercises from the below list. Do each exercise for 45 seconds each (with all-out effort), then rest for 15 seconds. After completing one set of the selected exercises, you can take extended recovery as needed or continue onto the next set. Complete four sets total. (For extra difficulty, do two rounds of four sets.)

Complete 30 to 45 seconds of reps on one side then switch to the other before heading to your next move.

Why this move is great: Using resistance bands instead of dumbbells creates more tension at the top of the movement, making this variation more effective.

This counts as completing 1 action.Perform 10 to 12 repetitions.

Complete 30 to 45 seconds of reps on one side then switch to the other before heading to your next move.

How to: Wrap a resistance band around thighs and lie on back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor and arms by sides pressing into mat. This is your starting position. Brace core, then press into heels and squeeze glutes to raise hips toward ceiling. Pause, then press knees out wide. Return to start. That's one rep.

Complete 30 to 45 seconds of reps on one side then switch to the other before heading to your next move.

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