Burning Calories with Resistance Band Workouts

Resistance bands can be a useful tool for individuals who have difficulty finding the time or money to use more traditional weights or resistance machines. Even if you go to the gym for your workouts, purchasing a few resistance bands can be handy for times when you are traveling or too busy to get out for a workout. The calories you burn during a resistance band session depends on the tension of the band, the difficulty of the workout and your own body weight.

Some may think that there is no such thing as “heavy” resistance band training. Many serious physical fitness enthusiasts tend to associate resistance bands only with light, casual exercise routines. But, if you select high-quality, high-tension resistance bands and use them for the correct exercises, a resistance band routine can be even more challenging than traditional workouts. As with ordinary weights, make sure that you choose a band that is not too stiff for you to handle comfortably; exercising with an excessively heavy band can lead to poor form, drastically increasing your risk for injury.

Your body weight makes a significant impact on the total calories you burn during a resistance band workout. If two people perform an identical workout, the one who weighs more will burn more calories. For example, a person who weighs 100 pounds will burn approximately 143 calories during a 30-minute routine of heavy resistance training, according to Bodybuilding.com. A person who weighs 150 pounds will burn 214 calories in the same time, while a person who weighs 200 pounds will burn 286 calories.

The first factor you must consider to ensure that your resistance band workout is sufficiently challenging is the band itself. The bands available in the fitness sections of a typical department store will likely not be sufficient for most fitness enthusiasts. Most dedicated workout equipment stores or online companies, however, will offer a selection of bands. The heaviest are several inches across and 1/2 inch thick, and provide plenty of resistance for even an experienced powerlifter.

The second factor you should consider to make sure your workout is heavy enough to push you to improve is the actual exercises you perform. Compound exercises and supersets, which combine several different exercises into one, can be very difficult and can work very well with a resistance band. For example, try mixing exercises like bicep curls to shoulder presses or explosive squat jumps into your resistance band routine.

REFERENCES

Bodybuilding.com: Calories Burned While Exercising – 45.4 Kilograms

Bodybuilding.com: Calories Burned While Exercising – 68 Kilograms

Bodybuilding.com: Calories Burned While Exercising – 90.7 Kilograms

Resistance Banding Training: How to Use Resistance Bands to Improve Vertical Jump

FitSugar: Get Lifted: Hammer Curl Shoulder Press

OneResult: The Curl and Press

Bodybuilding.com: Supersets for Growth


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