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You may be surprised to find out it’s possible to do leg exercises such as squats, deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, and lunges with only resistance bands. The biggest challenge to effectively perform these lower body with resistance band is finding the proper stance and position to grab the resistance bands.
Resistance bands can be used for countless exercises and workouts that work on different muscle groups, giving you a full-body workout with just one set of equipment.
If you’re looking for a new way to get in shape without going to the gym, resistance bands are an effective and inexpensive alternative. You can exercise at home or take this lightweight equipment with you wherever you go so you’ll never have an excuse not to stay active.
Don’t assume you will train less just because you’re using bands. You still need to train with the same intensity, regardless of whether you use weights or bands. Similar to how the traditional weights or machines don’t limit your performance, don’t let the resistance bands limit. you. You become your own limitation. The results you get will depend on the effort you put in.
This lower body resistance band workout targets your hamstrings, your glutes, and your quads. Aside from the expensive gym membership, space in your home for free weights, or convenience while traveling – all you need are a few resistance bands to complete these exercises for glutes and legs. Some people assume since the legs are big, powerful muscles, you need to train deadlift and squat with a lot of weight to get a good leg workout. That simply isn’t true.
When done right, by the time you get done, your legs may feel wobbly and you should definitely be tired. This workout can be done anywhere. It will kick your butt, helping you build muscle and keep getting stronger.
Studies have found that resistance training with elastic devices provides similar strength gains when compared to resistance training performed from conventional devices. These findings allow coaches, physiotherapists, and even patients to opt to use devices for maintenance and gain in muscular strength.
Training with resistance band may enhance cardiovascular health, by reducing resting blood pressure, decreasing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
For resistance band deadlifts, you want more resistance at the bottom. For this exercise, keep the resistance band doubled and hold a wide enough stance to limit how much of the band is on each side. Stand in a good squat form at the bottom. The band should be taut on each side. Grab the loops on each side and stand straight up.
Here’s a comparison of a dumbbell deadlift with resistance band deadlift:
via Instagram: NathannCollins
Here the trainee demonstrates how to setup the resistance band grip for deadlift:
via Instagram: fitandliftmagi
This form more closely matches the natural strength curve of a deadlift. The bands provide a progressive resistance starting at the bottom where one is normally weaker to the top where one is normally stronger. Even though the band is taught, it still has less resistance at the bottom where you’re weaker. As you stretch the bands up, they will get harder matching your strongest position.
Recommended sets:
Suggested Sets: 4
Suggested Reps: 10-15
Many people have difficulty achieving enough resistance through the full range of motion for the traditional squat exercise. However, the resistance band squats can fix that imbalance.
If you don’t use the resistance bands in the right position, you will have too much slack and not enough tension when doing resistance band squats. You will notice that if you simply try to grab the resistance band in front of you there will be too much slack in the band, even at the top.
In order to get enough resistance on the bands for squats, you will need to stretch and hold the resistance bands above your head. Keep your arms straight above your head so the band will have the proper amount of resistance. This position also helps you stay in proper form without leaning too far forward.
Have your feet about shoulder-width apart holding the bottom of the resistance band to the floor. Pull the top of the resistance band above. your head. Keep your palms facing up and the resistance band above your head as you squat down. Make sure you keep your back straight as you perform the squats. The main limitation is how long you can hold the resistance band above your head in good form.
Recommended sets:
Suggested Sets: 4
Suggested Reps: 10-20
For the first and last set, do twenty reps. For the second and third sets, you can decrease to ten reps. On the last set, double your speed.
The stiff-legged deadlifts will target your hamstrings more than the other 2 exercises that targeted quads, partial glutes, and some hamstrings. The resistance band deadlift focus more on hamstrings and glutes.
This time you’ll be using the band in a single loop again with your feet inside the bottom loop wrap the top of the band around each hand to adjust the resistance. The tighter you wrap the band around your hands, the more resistance you will have.
For Stiff-Legged Deadlift With Resistance Bands, instead of starting in a squat position, like the deadlift, you will bend forward just enough to keep your back straight. Don’t lean so far forward that you get a curve in your back.
Keep your hands close to your legs to prevent unnecessary pressure on your back. Make sure the top loop is wrapped around your hands enough that you have enough resistance all the way through from the bottom to the top. To target your glute muscles, flex your butt as you pull up.
To avoid unnecessary pressure on your back, pull up with power but control your speed on the way back down.
Recommended sets:
Suggested Sets: 4
Suggested Reps: 5-10
Start with five reps on the first set. Then, increase to 10 reps on the second and third sets. On the last set, increase to double speed for the last 10.
The Lunge With Resistance Band is actually halfway between a single-leg squat and a lunge. This exercise will put even more emphasis on your hamstrings. It has the ability to make you feel the burn in your hamstrings more than any other exercise. Some claim to feel the burn with this exercise more than even with a leg curl machine and that is difficult to achieve.
While getting in position, you can rest your back knee on the floor. Keep the resistance band folded and step on the middle with your front foot. Grab the bands on each side as close to your foot as you can. The closer you grab the bands to your foot, the greater the resistance will be. Once you are in position pull straight up. As you perform your reps, don’t let your back knee touch the floor.
Be sure to fully extend your leg and squeeze your glutes. You’re not just pushing up, you’re pushing back as well. You may think it would put pressure on your quads but by angling back as you come up it targets the hamstrings instead. Make sure to also extend your hip and squeeze your glutes as you come up. You should really feel it where the glute and hamstring tie in together.
This is a great exercise to incorporate into your workout routine for leg development, regardless of whether you like using resistance bands or not.
Recommended sets:
Suggested Sets: 4
Suggested Reps: 10
A total of 16 sets of leg exercises, 4 exercises with 4 sets each.
That’s it! Give one of the exercise a try and let us know your results in the comment section below.
Reference:
1. Jaqueline Santos Silva Lopes, Aryane Flauzino Machado, Jéssica Kirsch Micheletti, Aline Castilho de Almeida, Allysiê Priscila Cavina, and Carlos Marcelo Pastre. Effects of training with elastic resistance versus conventional resistance on muscular strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2019 Feb 19. doi: 10.1177/2050312119831116 PMID: 30815258
2. Wayne L Westcott. Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health. 2012 DOI: 10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825dabb8 PMID: 22777332
