Resistance training Thera Bands

[Alan Armstrong]

Personally I'm hooked on resistance training with a large variety or thera bands and the like. In the past a Gi belt was it, but now days rubber bands designed for training with have reached new heights in strengths and durability.

Are thera bands a gimmick or are they here to stay?

Do you train with thera bands, if so what do you expect to gain from using them?

If you don't train with thera bands, is there a negative reason or viewpoint to not use them?

[Nidan Melbourne]

Thera Bands are a fantastic tool to use and will stay for a long long time.

As they are great for Strength, Flexibility etc. Especially where you are able to change the angle and motion on different muscles.

I personally use them for learning correct order of motion and muscle activation. Along with training my muscular endurance.

[Alan Armstrong]

Domyos that have a line of martial art products, with three diferente rubber band types, Red for low resístanse, black for mid resistance or strength and purple for maximum resistance.

I use the Domyos bands mostly for stretching while sitting in a box split, with each end looped or hooked on my feet and with the bands resting behind me on the lower back or hips. I use both the black and purple strengths combined for this exercise.

The same idea applies while doing a butterfly stretch with the bands.

PNF combined with Thera bands work well together for me.

Cannot resist the tempation to buy and use bungee cords also. I use a pull up bar attached to a door frame and use bungee pulling routines with them attached.

Broken rubber hose type of bands that snap, I simply tie them back together and create smaller short range exercises such as using the bands attached above both knees or hooked on between my thumbs and behind my elbows.

Also combining thera band training with ankle and wrist weights for strengthening and stretching.

It really is limited to one's imagination on what a person can do with thera bands.

Thera bands and a rubber Pilate ball work well together also.

I have a variety of bands in all types of sizes and thicknesses and strengths depending on the exercise, I might combine many bands at the same time, trying to add a higher level of difficulty and or coordination.

I also like the fact that band training equipment is easy to take to the park or just sitting and using them while on a park bench.

Thera bands can be used while practicing katas or strengthening kicks and punches...

[sensei8]

Are thera bands a gimmick or are they here to stay?

I believe that they're here to stay, and that they're not a gimmick.

Do you train with thera bands, if so what do you expect to gain from using them?

Yes, I do train with them because of their resistance properties. A great isometric tool, and great when training all alone.

If you don't train with thera bands, is there a negative reason or viewpoint to not use them?

Greg, our past Kancho, loathed them to no end. He never understood their usage, and he was a die hard practitioner of Hojo Undo, and had no interest with "modern technology" at all.

If it'll help me, I will give it a try, and if I decide it will help me, I will utilize it!!

[JR 137]

I used therabands when I rehabbed athletes. No gimmick, no fad. They're not the be all, end all, but used properly they're highly effective. There's some things you can't do with weights.

People love them for kicking, but I honestly don't. I prefer a low pulley attached to my ankle. Feels better to me, but I know people that prefer therabands. Horses for courses.

[DWx]

I used them but mostly for stretching or for assisting in certain exercises e.g. yoga. Or as resistance around the leg or body when doing explosive exercises.

I'd love to use them more though. What kind of martial art specific training do you?

[Alan Armstrong]

I used them but mostly for stretching or for assisting in certain exercises e.g. yoga. Or as resistance around the leg or body when doing explosive exercises.

I'd love to use them more though. What kind of martial art specific training do you?

In the past, boxers would use the oversize bed springs attached to hand grips that were fastened to the wall behind.

Then bungee cords replaced the metal springs.

What makes the thera bands helpful and unique is that they are very stretchy and thin, comfortable to use, compared to springs and bungee cords.

Today we have available to us, thick bands molded in to a loop. A little pricey but this is new technology, the fact that they don't break after a few workouts makes them a value for the price.

Technology in the rubber manufacturing industry are always searching out new products, lucky for us living in the thera band age.

Quote

(The question of what kind of martial art specific training I do?)

Chi Kung: Axillary martial art exercises.

I use ankle and wrist weights with at times weights in a back pack. This gives me the working against gravity in a downward direction.

Thera bands and thick bands gives me a different type of resistance workout in all other directions. Added to this the improving my range of motion.

I use bugee cords in a type of pulling an arrow back in a bow (with a bungee attached to each finger) or as if pulling or dragging downwards a person.

My exercises are totally and specifically targeted for martial arts. Also Yoga and the usual martial art stretching routines.

In the Chinese martial arts training, what I do is more quality of energy (Pung Jing) based, rather than acquiring more tools and techniques.

The better quality of Pung Jing a martial artist has, the greater their kung fu skills will be.

Pung Jing is a quality of being not easily understood or easily explained.

My training is like tuning myself as if I was a guitar. Over tighten the strings they will snap and not tightened enough I cannot function as intended.

Pung jing is a bouncing or warding off energy, same as when pressing a rubber ball, the ball bounces away or bounces away what has pressed it.

Pung Jing is only one of many types of energies, just that is one of the most important.

Resistance is important for our health especially bones. Remember astronauts returning to Earth after a long mission. They could hardly walk due to the lack of gravity or resistance on their bodies, they had suffered calcium loss in their bones.

Superman is supposedly from a planet with a much higher gravitational pull than Earth, this is one of the reasons why he is very strong on our planet. It has an element of truth to it, even though it's fictional.

Resistance training burns calories, tones muscles, strengthens bones and can improve range of motion and is also therapeutic because the strain is unlike weights that can overstrain the body.

Please Consult with your Doctor, before doing any type of strenuous exercise routines. We are all different what works well for one person might not be advisable for another:)