Super Stretch Band Workout

Sometimes we can’t always get to the gym for a workout, especially if we have been held up at work, we’re away on holidays or we have young children to care for at home. We simply just can’t take the time to get away to drive back and forth from the gym. And, have you ever wondered how so many of the Hollywood celebrities manage to stay in such great shape without ever seeing them stepping foot into a gym? Well I may have the answer for you!

I understand how busy everyone is this day and age, so I thought I’d put together a full body workout using a simple but effective piece of equipment that you can take with you anywhere. It’s easy to store as it doesn’t take up much room and you can do this workout anywhere – In the comfort of your living room or bedroom, in your hotel room whilst away on holidays or you could take it down to the park for an outdoor workout whilst your kids are playing in the playground. So what is this little piece of exercise magic you ask? It’s the stretch band!

Stretch bands aren’t new but I think they have been forgotten about. Some people think that they aren’t going to get an effective workout using the stretch band but this is simply not true. You just have to be creative and use the right stretch band to match your strength level.  You can purchase stretch bands at most work-out stores or you can have a look online. Different colours resemble different strengths, so make sure you pick a band that you can achieve between 10-15 reps for an effective workout. Once you get stronger you can change colours for more resistance.

In the video on ptonline.tv I show you a full body workout using all of the major muscle groups of the lower and upper body. This workout is flexible; you can change it around to suit what you like. You might like to group all of the lower body exercises together and train them first before the upper body exercises or vice versa. You could also change the speed of the exercise by adding in pauses at the end of a movement e.g. pausing at the bottom of your squat or lunge position and adding in 5 pulses before returning to the start position or in your chest press you could push out fast and then slowly return to the start position. Another way to train is to increase the reps and decrease the rest breaks in between or not stop between exercises at all. You could also use another colour to increase the resistance and decrease the reps. The stretch band workout is a resistance style workout but that doesn’t stop you from adding in some cardio stations in between the strength stations. You could jog on the spot, do some jumping jacks, skip or if your outdoors run or jog in between. So as you can see there is a lot you can do to continue to challenge yourself when it comes to using the stretch band.

Whilst using the stretch band you must always practice good technique. Watch the video and have a look at my position and technique in each of the exercises and make sure you mimic what I’m doing. If at any time you start to feel pain in any of your joints, you need to stop and correct your form because the last thing you need is an injury.

So the next time you can’t make it to the gym try the stretch band workout and I’m sure you will surprise yourself as to how effective it can be. If you have already tried the workout or you have another way of using the workout e.g. different exercises etc.. write and tell us in the forum!

 

Lauren Djamirze                                                                                                                                                                                               6x World Sport Aerobic champion