Resistance bands are versatile fitness tools that can be used to target every muscle group in your body and are ideal for full-body workouts. These versatile fitness bands can offer several benefits, whether you are a beginner getting started with working out, an experienced weight lifter, or someone recovering from an injury.
Let's learn the various full-body workouts you can do at home with resistance bands.
7 Full Body Resistance Band Exercises
1. Wood chopper
This total body exercise is a great way to strengthen your core, back, arms, and shoulders. We suggest starting off with a light resistance band to master the form and work your way up.
- Put one foot on the center of the resistance band
- Grip handles within each hand
- Place your hands holding the handles near your knees
- This is the starting position, and your back might be bent forward in this position
- Now slightly bend your knees and begin to pull the handle across your body diagonally with arms extended
- You must engage your abs and use your obliques to twist your body
- The stopping point will be just over your opposite shoulder
- Slowly return to the starting position
Repeat the wood chopper resistance band exercise for ten repetitions before switching sides.
2. Pull-Apart
This exercise is great to help fix your posture, strengthen your shoulders, and aid in injury prevention.
- Stand straight with your feet at hip-width apart
- Hold the handles of the resistance band in each hand (if the strength of the resistance band is too strong, then let the handles dangle and hold onto the resistance band in the middle)
- Extend your arms holding the resistance band out in front of you, palms facing the ground
- Pull the band apart until you are at a “t” position with your arms (the resistance band must have enough tension to challenge your muscles, but not so much that pulling apart is too challenging)
- Keep your hands and arms parallel to the ground
Return to the starting position and repeat for ten repetitions.
3. Deadlift
- Stand with your feet flat on the floor with hip-width apart
- In this position, stand on the long resistance band, your feet in the middle and hands holding on to each end of the band
- Put your hands as close to the feet as possible to have a higher range of motion when you stand up
- Get into the deadlift starting position, lean over as far as possible, but your shins must be roughly vertical, and your back flat (as the deadlift is a hip-focused exercise, all the force must come from your hips with very little bending at the knees and ankles)
- Stand up while holding onto the band tightly
- Stand in a slow, controlled movement without rushing to complete each rep
- Return to the starting position
Throughout the deadlifts, your back must remain flat to ensure that you work the hip muscles, not the back. Do 10-15 repetitions.
4. Overhead pull-apart
This exercise will help strengthen your lats, shoulders, and back while also increasing your range of motion.Source
- Holding the handles of the resistance band in each hand, stand with feet hip-width apart
- Extend arms straight over your head, palm facing away from the body
- Tension in the band must be enough that your arms are challenged when pulling it apart; if the resistance band is too long, you can hold it in the middle
- Keep arms straight and pull the band apart on either side to make a “T”
- Return to the starting position
Repeat for ten repetitions. If you have issues with your back, you must know to keep the tension in the resistance band low.
5. Chest Fly
- Stand with your feet firmly stable on the ground
- Grab the band with one hand and move away from the anchor point until you start feeling stretch and resistance in your chest muscles
- Pull the band in front of your body in a controlled slow motion keeping your elbow slightly bent
- Before returning to the starting position, contract your chest in a controlled movement
Repeat 12-15 times before switching to the other side. Make a chest fly part of your total body band workout to target your chest, deltoids, and triceps.
6. Sumo Squat
- Loop the resistance band around your lower thighs
- Firmly plant your feet on the floor with shoulder-width apart, and keep the feet pointing slightly outward
- Looking straight ahead, bend your knees and hips. Make sure your knees are in line with your toes
- Keep bending your knees until your upper legs are parallel to the floor
- Keep your back between a 45 to 90-degree angle to your hips
- Extend your legs to the starting position, pushing through your heels
Repeat this movement for ten reps. This is a great resistance band workout for targeting the upper legs, glutes, gluteals, quads, and hamstrings.
7. Tricep kickbacks
- Step on the resistance band with both feet hip-width apart
- Maintain a straight back while holding handles in each hand
- Hinge at the hips and lean your torso forward
- Turn your hands in a way that your palms are facing your body
- Tucking arms to your sides, bend your elbows 90-degree
- Keeping your elbows tucked, push the handles back up until your arms are fully extended
- Return to the starting position slowly.
Repeat for ten repetitions to benefit your shoulders, back, and core.
How long should you use resistance bands?
A resistance band is a great tool to build lean muscle and increase overall strength without the risk of injury.
Generally, you can do resistance bands workouts 6 days a week to develop lean muscle mass, or full-body workouts for athletic performance benefits. As long as you maintain a healthy recovery time between workouts, you can easily use resistance bands up to six times per week.
Resistance band workout schedule for beginners
Now, the six-days workout routine is not suitable for beginners. As your body will need to improve balance and strength with low-impact exercises, starting with a 5-day strength-based training session every week is recommended.
Here is a balanced 5-day full-body resistance band workout schedule for beginners.
Monday – Chest & Abs
- 4 Sets, 10-15 Reps of Wood Chopper
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Pull-apart
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Chest Fly
Tuesday – Biceps & Triceps
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Triceps kickbacks
- 4 Sets, 15 Reps of Pull-apart
- 4 Sets, 10 reps of Overhead pull-apart
Wednesday – Legs & Abs
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Deadlifts
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Sumo Squats
Thursday – Shoulders
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Wood Chopper
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Standing Shoulder Presses
Friday –Back & Abs
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Overhead pull-apart
- 4 Sets, 10 Reps of Deadlifts
- 4 Sets, 10 Rep of Chest Fly
For a comprehensive full body resistance band workout with LIT Axis you can check out this video.
LIT AXIS Smart resistance bands for full-body workouts
LIT AXIS™ is a portable smart resistance training system that can replace any cable system, suspension trainer, or free weights for a full body band workout. While traditional resistance bands offer you all the benefits of resistance training, a significant drawback is that there is no accurate measure or control over the resistance level.
LIT Axis smart resistance bands overcome this limitation with built-in smart sensors that focus on each axis of movement, detect and correct muscle imbalances, and provide quality metrics for the most accurate full-body resistance band workout. It embraces technology in the best possible manner to ensure you keep track of metrics that matter. You get reps, resistance loads, time under tension, and more data on your smartphone.
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This revolutionary innovation makes resistance band workouts as accurate as any other fitness routine. Try LIT Axis smart resistance bands for an injury-proof approach to building a balanced body.
Conclusion
Resistance bands are great for full-body resistance training. Versatile, weightless, and portable, they are the type of fitness equipment that anyone can have whether they work out at home, work, or outdoors. The listed exercises are full-body resistance band workouts for beginners and experienced trainers.
We recommend using the LIT Axis smart resistance bands for these exercises as they are designed to over incredible control and a data-driven 360-degree roadmap to full body training.