I love to work out, but I don’t have the finances to support a monthly membership to a fancy gym, nor do I have the time to spend hours working out. In order to maintain my health and physical fitness levels, I have had to come up with a plan that fit my unique needs. I needed exercises that were cheap and easy to do, as I wasn’t getting as much exercise since I started using some Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and enrolling in an online undergraduate degree program last year. I had a friend who had some extra resistance bands that she offered me, so I decided to give them a try.
Resistance bands are flat strips of rubber that can be used in a variety of exercises. They are very thin and small, so they take up no storage space at all. I was a little confused at first with how to use them exactly, but they are really quite simple to use. Here are three easy exercises that you can do with resistance bands that yield big results:
Lateral Rows
Step onto resistance band with feet hip width apart and knees slightly bent. Grab the ends with a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Hang your arms down to the sides with elbows slightly bent. Raise the band to the side of your body until you reach shoulder height, keeping your elbows only slightly bent, then return them to the start position and repeat. This works your shoulders and latissimus dorsi, also known as your “lats.”
Bicep curls
To do this classic arm workout, you don’t need weights at all! Simply start off like you would for the lateral rows by standing on the band and grabbing both ends of the band. Hang your arms down by your side with your palms facing in front of you. Raise your arms to your shoulder height, keeping your elbows stationary at your sides, and then return down to the starting position and repeat.
Woodchop
Loop the band under your left foot and grab one of the ends. Keep hands together and extend arms down towards left foot. Raise the band up and away in a wood chopping motion. While you’re doing the motion, keep your feet stay stationary and rotate at your trunk. Repeat this motion for the desired repetitions and then do it again in the opposite direction to work the other side. This is a very fun exercise to do and is wonderful for your obliques, core, shoulders and arms.
Mix and match these exercises for a great upper body workout that can be done quickly and requires little equipment.
