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This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August 2020. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK_A7I83Fvc
Bob: Today we are going to go over a resistance band workout for beginners. It’s a home workout. This is a great workout for someone who is just getting into strengthening and even a little core strengthening and leg strengthening, so they've never done it before or haven’t done it in years. We’re going to show you a beginner program. So, when you get a resistance band workout set, they often come with about five bands, different colors with different resistance. Some of them are harder, some are easier.
Brad: They are color-coded, different colors for different resistance.
Bob: They come with handles and cuffs that you put around your leg. They also come with a piece that goes into the doorway.
Brad: That’s critical to use it when you do many of these exercises.
Bob: If you don’t have wall anchors, you’re going to have to use the doorway piece. It comes with a door anchor that you put on top of the door or anywhere, even on the side. You put the large part on top of the door and shut the door, so the loop hangs out. Stick the band through the loop and do your exercises that way.
Bob: If you want to go lower, open the door, and move the door anchor along the side of the door instead of the top. Make sure nobody is coming through the door.
Brad: You have to make sure it latches nicely.
Bob: Alright, so we have shown you the door option with that door anchor. It’s a little scary sometimes if the door pulls open or if someone comes through the door. You can’t leave it there unless you’re the only one in the house. That’s why we like the wall anchors. We invented this. We send you four of them if you go through our website. You put it right into the stud on your wall. That’s the big thing so that it can’t pull out. This thing can take a heck of a lot of weight.
Brad: Right, over 700 pounds. There are instructions in the brochure as well as we have a video if you look it up on our YouTube channel.
Bob: Right. This is the beauty of it. You can take a band and sometimes you have to stretch it if it’s a thicker band, then slide it into the anchor and you’re ready to go. If you’re on a lower band, you can put it on the lower loop of the wall anchor.
Bob: The thing about this is when you use it with one handle, it can slide back and forth. If you fold the band and put it through the middle hole and stick the loop into the groove, then it’s more secure. Now I can do it with one handle, and it doesn’t slide. There are some exercises that you’ll prefer that way.
Brad: You’ll see there are other options on how to attach it, we have videos on those as well or in the brochure.
Bob: Right, also, if you use two bands or even three bands at once, as you start getting stronger, you can hook them up on each level and different areas.
Brad: When you work with it, it becomes very clear.
Bob: Okay, I’m going to start the first exercise. We have ten exercises and we’re going to start off with posture. I usually get a couple of sets of the bands set up and leave them hanging there. The first one is you hook the band on the top groove and grab both handles. What you’re going to do is face the wall and with the handles, pull your arms back, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and then to give an added twist, I turn my arms out horizontally. This is working on the external rotators because you tend to get rounded-out shoulders, so I'm trying to unround them.
Brad: Right in the shoulder blades, things are squeezing in. You can see the wrinkles in the shirt. That’s what’s going on with your muscles pulling back.
Bob: I like to start with a posture exercise because then you are going to try and keep that posture throughout the exercises. Don’t be an imposter. I like to finish with posture exercises too, then you can go walking off into your day knowing that you did it right. You’re ready to go.
Brad: Normally, Bob would take his shirt off the show those massive muscles rippling, but we have way too many female fans. It's a family show.
Bob: All right, next I'm going to work lats. What’s nice about lats is, those are difficult to work out unless you have a high setting as I have here. I could kneel and do these too. I think I’m going to do that because you want to get a full range here, so you kneel to do so. You can move further from the wall, too. All I’m going to do is pull the bands straight down and bring my arms to my side.
Brad: Bob is 6’6 so if you happen to be 5’10 like me, you don’t have to kneel, but it is an option. The lats connect to the humerus and they come down and connect to the lower back. This isn’t only important for that V-shape that people are looking for just for a fit-looking body, but it also helps strengthen the lower back.
Bob: It’s a core strengthener. It’s a vital muscle, really. It acts kind of as a back brace for your body. The last one I’m going to do right now is the triceps. That’s the muscles on the back of the arm. You can do them a lot of different ways, but you turn your back against the wall and put your elbows to the side, and then straighten the arms down.
Brad: For some people, if you’re starting to gain weight and notice weight under your arm, people have a tendency to gain it there, this is going to help work those muscles to tone up right there.
Bob: Right. My wife loves this one. Brad’s going to do some exercises now. I use the upper one and Brad is going to use the middle one now. He’s going to show chest exercises.
Brad: I call these vertical flies because it’s like doing flies on a bench. Keep your elbows slightly bent, don’t straighten them completely. Start with your back facing the wall and take a few steps forward. Don’t start way back and get things all stretched out. Bring your arms out comfortably, particularly for beginners, and bring your hands just about till they touch in a nice smooth motion. The nice thing about this is, feel free to move your feet around. It works things differently, it’s more comfortable. Typically, in all this, we’re going to do ten repetitions.
Bob: When Brad first described this, he was telling how he’s working his core too. Your body has to work, otherwise, you get pulled back toward the wall.
Brad: Right. There is a lot of core muscle working to keep you forward that you don’t realize until you do these. It’s a big benefit compared to doing flies with dumbbells lying flat on the table.
Bob: The next one is called the pallof press. You want to hold both handles in both hands and move your arms from your chest out. In order to keep from rotating, you have to work your muscles.
Brad: You’re going to get into a wide stance and bend your knees a little bit and just work this. I’m using my core during this as well.
Bob: It doesn’t look like you’re doing anything but you are. It’s one of those things where it looks like Brad isn’t working but pretending to work.
Brad: Well, that happens. My wife says that happens.
Bob: All right, we’re going to use a wall anchor that’s closest to the floor. We’re going to work the biceps, which is important for a lot of people. We’re going to do curls for the girls. I’m going to grab one handle in each hand and do a basic curl. You can do alternating one at a time, or you can do them both at the same time.
Bob: If it gets too easy for you, I sometimes grab both handles in one hand and work one arm at a time. You can also add more bands to make this a lot harder.
Bob: The next one is squats. Squats, you might want to start with no resistance. Eventually, you can have the bands connected to the wall anchor closest to the floor and raise the bands over your shoulders, and squat with the bands.
Brad: I want to emphasize good posture. He’s keeping it arched when he goes down into the squat versus when your back is rounded going into the squat.
Bob: Keeping the head straight as well. You can see with the Booyah Stik how you keep good posture.
Brad: If I look up towards the ceiling, that forces you to keep good alignment.
Bob: If your head pulls down, your entire body pulls down. Brad's going to show some leg exercises now.
Brad: I’m going to connect the band to the ankle cuffs that are around both ankles and place the middle of the resistance band into the groove of the wall anchor. During the exercise, I’m going to only do one leg at a time, but the band is going to be connected to both ankles. If you’re a beginner, depending on your balance, you may be able to do this hip extension without holding onto anything, but if your balance is off, you may want something to hold on to. You’re going to face the wall and walk back until you have resistance in the bands. Once you’re in that position, you’re going to just bring one leg back at a time. You’ll feel it in your glutes. Do 10 on each side.
Brad: Then you can move to the side so your hip is facing the wall and bring your leg out and away from the wall, then turn and do the other leg. When you get good at them, you can challenge your balance and move the object you’re holding onto away, which is going to be great for your walking. Again do 10 on each side.
Bob: The final one is a posture exercise. You’re going to face the wall and grab the handles. You’re going to pull the bands to your sides, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Brad: You get some posture and a little bit of core work.
Bob: Alright, thanks!
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