A PhD's Response on Whether Resistance Bands Can Build Muscle Like Weights
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- Опубліковано 31 сер 2021
- One of the smartest and most accomplished individuals in the field of exercise science is Jose Antonio, PhD. Recently James Grage, Founder of Undersun Fitness, sat down with Dr. Antonio at the NSU exercise science lab and discussed how resistance bands compare to free weights for building muscle.
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Bands are the way. I used to do bro splits, then I went to home sets with free weights, then I finally bought some bands.. and I am never looking back. I feel like the best workouts and gains I've made in my life have been with bands and I am in my late 30's looking better than I ever did in my 20's at the gym.
Take a look at the X3 Bar. The ultimate band training tool I’m not kidding. With the ‘Elite’ band (strongest one) I get around 500lbs of resistance at the top of a chest press movement. When trying to build muscle there’s no way around going heavy. X3 let’s you do that and then some…
I’m in my sixties and have been a nomad since I retired. I carry my bands, door anchor, and a roll-up mat in my bags and get a good workout wherever I go. It’s important for older men to conserve muscle mass and bands and calisthenics work great for me.
Ahah same here bro! I'm 37 and i look better now
@@josephbailey4463 Sounds like my kind of lifestyle. Do you live in a vehicle or what?
@@ReapingTheHarvest ele mora dentro da sua cabeça 🤙🏻
I'm 53,only started doing weights at 47,saw great results(I'm slim,hardly any body fat&didn't wanna grow into a skinny old woman).Until March I wasn't able to goto the gym for 18mnth so I got bands&loops in January. Personal experience has been A-gotta be creative, B-taken bit longer to see results,C-my core is stronger & D-much easier to hit specific muscles like my rear delts and I'm getting more symmetry. Now I'm back at gym,I literally only use smiths (for bench press type exercises&squats)hack squat&elevated leg press,but I still do same exercises at home&more with bands coz they really help me focus more on individual muscles. If you read this essay to the end,thankyou..my life story will be in a gym/book store soon lol.
Short and crisp, extremely valuable video
Bands saved me after injuring my elbow, They took the negative weight away which helped me build muscle painlessly when the gym couldn't help me due to my limitations. I switched to home gym where I use bands and Powerblock Dumbells which are amazing
Late to the game, but started bands and loops, with gym gloves and love this equipment! I have a good set, but would love to get a stronger set, then gradually get TRX training straps. Excited about working out hard again. So many types of exercises you do and it's actually fun. I worked out for (5) hours one night and didn't go to sleep until 7AM next day! Love the variety in bands workouts🤗👏😁
I've found that I prefer bands to barbells and dumbells, after more than a decade on Nautilus machines and using barbells and dumbells. Interestingly, though, after about three years with bands (at home, in place of gym equipment), I've begun also -using- _supplementing with_ kettlebells and steel clubs, for the core stability effects over and above isolating certain muscle groups.
I think bands are great! Great video!
But, I’ve found for myself that adding in movements that load better in a fully stretched position & allow for freedom of the wrist and natural body movement overall such as dumbbells/rings/cables once a week + bands helps w hypertrophy.
But, nevertheless older I get the more I’ve been gravitating my training towards bands to get higher frequency training without the taxing of the joints or recovery.
I’ll be posting content on my channel about this subject soon.
I enjoy hearing the reassurance even tho i havent touched a weight in over 2 years and have had the mist gains ever with only my undersuns. Theres no reason to go back now
May I ask what your training regim looks like? I'm not a begginer but just curios what people do. Ty
LOVE that this is two minutes
You convinced me even before this video to start using resistance bands!
I'm just using cheaper tubular ones now (managed to get 350lbs for ~$70 so how couldnt I?) but I plan to get Undersun Loop Bands once I upgrade!
As a boxer it is phenomenal how much stronger ive felt since I added resistance bands to my training regiments.
Thanks for doing what you do!
Awesome! How long have you been boxing?
@@JamesGrageUndersunFitness I trained on my own for a while before I joined a club but I started boxing competitively in November 2020, sadly the timing wasnt the best with Covid and Ive only had 2 fights so far! 1 win and 1 showcase exhibition. Resistance Bands really helped me stay in fighting shape while we were all locked down and your routines made it even better
@@MKSamson-cp9sx Thank you for sharing. I was thinking of taking up Muy Thai and I thoughts resistance bands would help with strengthening the muscles and joints for those type of movements.
DEFINITELY recommend the Undersun Fitness bands! You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish!
He is basically saying there are multiple ways of achieving tension. No system is better than any other. Its just works for you at any given time
He didn't say "no system is better than any other", just that you can achieve hypertrophy and strength gains in multple ways, which is obviously true. Lifting weights is superior for muscle hypertrophy and general strength gains to any other methods for several reasons. For example lifting weights makes a better progressive overload possible than any other method, there are isolating movements for every muscle (especially bodyweight excerices are bad in these 2) and compared to bands better loaded stretch, long-length partials and eccentric movement (which give you a good hypertrophic stimulus) are way better (because bands give more resistance in the later parts of range of motion which are the least hypertrophic parts). That being said other methods can be good too, it's just that lifting weights is by far the most efficent way.
Thx very much for that info, that is what i needed to hear.
James are you adding a bigger/6th band at any point?
Where's the podcast? I'd give this a listen
I’m 38, I like bands because the recovery time is a lot faster for me than free weights…Biggest pro/con is bands offer less eccentric resistance than traditional weights…Means less tear on the muscles but eccentric resistance also has a big role on hypertrophy.
Excellent! Thank you.
👊
Bands are really good for squats and front squats, since im slanderand i have long limbs i Always fall foward with my back and i get mostly glutes activation, but doing front squats with bands i had the best quad pumps in years
The issue is the resistance curve. We know that hypertrophy gains are better when we load the muscles in the lengthened position (for most muscles). You can of course still make some good gains by mixing it up with bodyweight exercises and manipulate the resistance curve by using heavy enough bands and do lengthened partials.
Interesting idea to use bands for lengthened partials
That’s a great Video Thanks !!
I’m 45 and after 19 years in the military and martial arts for that long, my joints are shot. The bands make it much easier to train for long times without the wear and tear of heavy weights.
I think bands should be standard issue for morning PT on the military. They're not expensive and allow for resistance training in the field. I'm honestly surprised the military hasn't adopted bands for training.
@@Vespyr_ good idea
How do i start training with bands? What bands should i buy? I'm lost.
I’ve used these bands everyday and gaining muscle mass compared to free weights and helps me daily
That's awesome Brandon! Thank you for sharing 👊
@@JamesGrageUndersunFitness you’re welcome man! I’ll continue to be motivated by these videos and others from different channels 👊🏾
Same i use them for my delts and i swear my rear delts get bigger with bands
Interesting! I want to try it out. What are the best workouts with resistance bands, in your opinion? Thanks!
@@tobifzzle the front squats, curls the back and shoulder exercises as well
so I can build muscles at home with bands? Thanks
If you want to try bands, I recommend you find ones made of synthetic rubber, not natural latex. Why? Because natural latex loses its elasticity gradually even before you take it out of the box. It will lose more with use. A high-quality synthetic latex will only lose elasticity with use. A lot of use. Don't overstretch it and it should last a long time. Also, I have a preference for flat bands. Why? Because you can layer flat bands up infinitely, with your only limiting factor being how many of them you can grip. For martial artists, climbers, marksmen and anyone else concerned with maximizing grip strength, it's likely your best option. If you can grip a lot of flat bands at once and stretch them, grabbing a sparring partner's keikogi in Judo or Jujitsu shouldn't be too taxing. Finally, I suggest you buy a big bulk roll and cut it to the length that best suit your stature and the types of exercises you see yourself doing with them. Besides layering them, you may want them to be long enough that you can quickly fold them or unfold them for drop sets -- folding them double can double the resistance.
Tempo is also an important consideration. Most of the time, especially with big compound movements, I like to stretch them as quickly and explosively as I can and then release them very slowly. However, for a lot of isolation ones or when I'm using extremely heavy resistance, everything will end up being slow and steady. If you anchor them to something, don't anchor them to something that will tear them and don't anchor them to something that you might slingshot into your face by accident, like a doorknob or shower rod. Lastly, routinely check them for signs of wear and tear. Keep them clean!
If I helped someone get the most out of rubber bands, I'm glad.
I've got no doubt about the effectiveness of resistance bands and even admit they are superior for certain exercises...I've got two Undersun sets! My major concern is Leg training and I miss being unable to perform Leg presses, Hack squats and barbell hip thrusts....
Just takes a little creativity to execute these exercises with strength bands. It can be done!
@@JamesGrageUndersunFitness I started the year off at 240lbs. I'm 10lbs from my goal weight of 200 right now, and I have used nothing but your bands sir.
@@JamesGrageUndersunFitness awesome to hear James! I'm a washed out meathead who is going to prove to gym bros that bands are just as good. And not any bands, Undersun for sure!
@@mrg3tty672 WOW! That's awesome! Would you like to leave a testimonial on your experience? Would love to share your transformation.
@@bigdarshan 👊
In my 60s I use loop bands, bowflex max, kettlebells. Best progress I ever saw. I look better now than I did going 4x a week to an expensive gym with top notch resources in my 30s.
I also want to powerlift with bands👍💪
It all depends on your goals. For the average person who wants to build muscle and get fit bands are more than enough. Just don't expect to get as big as Chris Bumstead or anything.
Well Bumstead is on the juice so that’s not too realistic
Everyone should use restance bands to recover from their work outs.
@@sneak916True. He's mahoosive now 😂
Not sure I would only use bands but I use a mix of hammer strength and bands to load all parts of the ROM, since bands have minimal load at the end stretch on a press
It doesn't matter what a doctor (or anybody for that matter) says. We've all experienced what they can do. We've been using them for 20 + years for a reason.
I never believed in the bands, but surely wanted to give them a try, and it has been a game changer. I have been using the harambe sytem and I am seeing my body being transformed from obese to muscly. The transformation is so accelerating.
@@Gabriel, I’m interested in this system, so that is great to hear. Congratulations on getting muscular!
I’ve found that the convenience of bands makes me much more likely to use them 👍
Cuts out the excuses, that's for sure.
So any recommendations on how to improve strength using bands?
Get a door hinge,use open bands that can have leg strap&handles attached,increase the strength resistance and do things like boxercise or leg extensions or say you're doing push ups,have one round your back and put your hands on it in the push up position but have another (preferably flat)round your torso&hooked to a door hook-that way you have resistance from above&below that obvs want to pull u in the opposite direction. Hope that's of some help.
Try workout
For a small fee you can have a whole banded gym at home and portable to take everywhere with you.
Anything from weak to super 6 inch wide super high tension
I get better results from an isobow
i got resistance tubes do it works the same as resistance bands
Tubes don't really get heavy enough to work very effectively. Look up the X3 Bar if you want to see the Rolls Royce of band training (veeery 'heavy' latex banding that can produce forces of up to 600lbs+)
I dont know man .ive put on some gains from using only bands 🤷🏼♂️ . I feel like im way stronger because i demanding my muscles to work harder to get the contractions complete. Like my actual strength has way more contractile ability vs weights that didn't give that type of strength. Think of it like pushing a heavy object like a vehicle. That excretion of you pushing hard and moving the vehicle. That strength is far greater . Works well for me.
That's awsome Lucian! Thank you for sharing!
Agree believe the harder resistance as a band stretches vs a sticking point then easier finish to a weight rep is responsible for the strength increase
Resistance bands and body weight exercises/calisthenics is what I use in my workouts and I used to power lift…
I’m going to summer camp for two weeks pretty soon and they don’t have a gym or anything and I can’t bring my dumbbells and equipment because I am taking a plane so it’s good to know that I can just bring my dads resistance bands. Thank you
LETS GO TIME TO BUY BANDSSSS
Free weights/Kettlebells/Bands are goated.
As someone that never lifted and used resistance bands the answer is yes you will grow muscle. I also got 30 lbs dumbbells to work on chest both are great resistance bands are cheap you also need to add most “weight” on resistance a 30lbs band is not the same as a 30 pound dumbbell
The #1 reason for going the band route? They don’t hurt when you drop them on your foot! 😎
Use bands in combination with weights. Why not do both?
Certainly I'll buy some resistance bands. I workout out calisthenics, bodyweight training + homemade dumbbells and I'm noticing some pain in my joints, specially the elbows... I hope bands solve that.
What are some exercises to do with resistance bands?
All you can do in cable machine you can do with Bands.
😊😊🤸🏋️
With athletes, it's how does the movements in training transfer to the sport .. the brain stears the muscles
Bands and kettlebells. This is the way.
Wanna know the best exercise for building muscle?
Its the exercise you actually do!!!
And better if you're repeatedly and consistently pushing your limits each workout.
I think another myth out there that needs to go away is that more sets = more gains. What a bunch of nonsense! If the intensity is there and you lift a set of 12 reps (simply using 12 reps as an example) to failure,..that basically means your muscles have reached total fatigue and will reach hypertrophy. They are spent. But adding more sets to the very same exercise (because you think the magic number is 3 or 4 sets per body part is what you are supposed to do) is total nonsense. Now here is where it gets personal and customizable for everyone. Maybe you like the warm up or the stretch,..that's fine too. Maybe then it might take you 2 sets as you increase the tension to where your muscles reach failure. Maybe that is 3 sets, 4, 5 etc. based on what failure works out to be for your muscles in relation to the actual tension you are putting them under or the number of reps it takes for you to exhaust that muscle. Personally, I prefer to put my muscles under extreme tension right out of the gate and of course that is where resistance bands shine because you can do that with less risk of joint damage vs. free weights. It's a win win for me. I get by with just around nine sets in TOTAL for my complete workout and I'm done in around 30-40 minutes. I have experienced growth as well. It's a beautiful thing!
Exactly! Using proper form is key to gains!
Hi Togo, what you describe is exactly what I experience and believe in as well…! You can find me on IG (same name).
Would you be so kind as to describe one of those workouts ?
@@jvapaodjim6168 In what way? Like an example of a routine with exercises listed and rep counts x sets?
@@ToddDolce More on explaining.... how you " put your muscles under extreme tension right out of the gate"....
I can't imagine going "all out" right from the first rep....
I always seem to "ramp it up" somehow....
It’s funny when he said that there is a study comp. heavy strength training versus bands, and they both produce similar hypertrophy. No shit, heavy strength training doesn’t produce much hypertrophy.
the arguement is a comical and complex at the same time. i believe the results are skewed by one side on enhancing drugs and the opposite being ppl that are new to working out or couch potatoes starting or rehab patients.
obviously someone that never works out is going to find results with any activity, heck even just walking.
on the contrary a lifter on enhancements will need more weight to continue gains, but in recovery bands could help with stretch and healing.
You don't even need weights or bands. You can build muscle using your own body as resistance. Isometrics.
It is funny because bands work under the same exact principle as a Bowflex and yet there are a ton of people that made fun of the Bowflex machines who are now jumping on bands.
Yes resistance training works wonders. There is one type of person who proves this. Those in full body straight jackets in psyche wards. Ask any intern. These men are crazy strong and can overpower numerous opponents. Most people misunderstand their power as some mystic strength born of psychosis, but not so. It's resistance training at its peak.
dark, but interesting.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
This the sushi guy from the John Wick movie?
yes you can. I am the living example
The PHD looks like Zero from John Wick3 🤣
Nice, However it's better to use both
Whatever works for you is key.
@@JamesGrageUndersunFitness wise man
Short answer (from the vid): NO.
No they cant doc.
resistance bands are for strengthening your muscles, not building them.. they can strengthen your muscles as effectively as more traditional weight.
LMAO, who told you that
of course bands built muscle, any resistance training builds muscle, it doesnt take a PHD to prove that point.
It only takes a Phd to say it.
Common sense really
Try a 50lb band vs a 50lb dumbell you'll see how weak you are
You need a PhD to answer this? Seriously? Are we at the University for Dumb and Dumber?
You’ll never be able to fully develop your body without free weights. You’ll never find an elite natural bodybuilder or unnatural bodybuilder that solely uses bands and not use free weights. I think bands do have a purpose. I think they are a supplement to free weights if you are deloading or you want to use as an accessory for joint health however.
What does "fully develop" mean? Most people don't want to look like bodybuilders and bodybuilders do use the most efficent method (lifting weights), but it also doesn't mean others aren't good enough for most people.
@@peterp2195 fully develop, meaning, a developed muscle. Take a shoulder for example- you have the front, side and rear delt- hitting all of the angles and enhancing the development to its full potential.
So if you want to actually be strong pick up heavy stuff and put it down .....if you want to appear strong bands work
I have trained with bands and body weight exclusively for the last three months. No decline in strength here. The muscle fibers don't care how you apply tension.
@@goblinsgym Bro, u used loop or tube resistance band? Need your information
@@hafidzmohmar5620 You want a full set of loop bands from 1/4" narrow to wide. See my videos and Goblin's Gym web site for more details.
Weights are better at training the stretched position, and require more stabilization. Other than that, tension is tension.
@@goblinsgym I have see your channel, but i still doubt about the result using full resistance band, because you dont show your muscle while training.
I'm sorry i didnt mean to insult you, because i need more detail information to convinced me to buy resistance band.
Resistance Bands is one of the dumbest things to ever appear in the fitness industry. You want to be stronger? Nothing beats lifting heavy rusty metal.
Wow. Very scientific and not brosciency at all! You've completely changed my mind!
@@mushshrap6471 Thats why you see NBA players getting injured so easily these days
- Tim Grover
@@rajendranadarajan8931 An opinion by a single, old-fashioned trainer isn't evidence. It also doesn't support your original claim. Try again.
@@mushshrap6471 An old fashioned trainer who trained the 2 greatest players in NBA history. I'd listen to him.
@@rajendranadarajan8931 Broscience AND appealing to authority! Oh my!
Sorry but this is a load of tosh. Bands only offer tension at the end of the stretch, weights offer tension the moment you pick it up. Furthermore, free weights forces you to stabilise them the whole time which in of itself adds even more tension. So yeah free weights are GOAT, bands are literally a stop gap if you're injured or confined to home.
Not accurate at all. If you actually know how to use the bands they can offer tension through the whole movement. And unlike weights where people cheat and use momentum to get the weights up when they start to fatigue, you can’t do that with bands. I like free weights, bands and calisthenics but I mostly use bands nowadays since the pandemic shutdowns first happened, and I’ve still been gaining a lot of muscle with bands.
I've got my 6 yr old son band training. It's perfect for children... obviously a child shouldn't be weight lifting ...I'm excited to see if I can make him muscular.
How are his muscles now?