The best resistance bands don’t often get enough credit for their versatility and muscle-building benefits, but they’re one of the best pieces of home gym equipment your money can buy, especially if you can’t afford a pair of dumbbells.
While they may not look impressive, studies have shown that, when used the right way, resistance bands can be just as effective as using free weights. They can build muscle, improve strength, are safer to use, and can be easily stowed in your gym bag when not in use.
Whether you’re warming up, doing a full-body workout, or need some assistance with your pull-ups, the humble resistance band can do it all. Check out our pick of the best resistance bands below.
Best resistance bands to buy right now
Why you can trust T3
1. MiraFit Resistance Tube and Accessory Set
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
If you're looking for a set of resistance bands that are durable, strong and excellent value for money, then you can't beat this resistance band and accessory set from MiraFit for your home gym set-up. Costing less than £30, they're an absolute steal.
There are four different resistances – 20 lbs, 30 lbs, 50 lbs and 60 lbs – plenty for beginners, although more advanced users may want to check out our heavier bands below. They also come kitted with two detachable foam handles, two ankle straps, and a door anchor, so whether you want to do bicep curls, lat pull downs, or RDLs, it has everything you need to achieve a full-body workout.
They do come with a latex warning, so we advise against using them if you have a latex allergy. However, they are covered in a nylon stretchy material.
2. WODFitters Resistance Bands
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Simple in design, excellent value for money, and incredibly strong, WODFitters flat bands are versatile enough to add additional load to your exercises, use for full-body workouts, and assist your pull-ups.
Made from multiple layers of tough rubber, they’re designed to last without suffering deformation over time and easily offer the biggest resistance range of the bands listed here, going up to a whopping 175 lbs/ 79 kg. What's also great about these bands is that if you do want to increase the resistance even further, you can just use multiple bands together. Who said you can't build muscle with resistance bands, ey?
3. Mirafit Fabric Resistance Band Set
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
These loop resistance bands from Mirafit are excellent for lower body workouts/warmups and the quality is fantastic too. Made from a blend of polyester and latex, these bands are super strong and designed to stand the test of time, so you won’t find them snapping on you like regular latex ones.
They come in three different resistances which we found offered more than enough variety to carry out numerous glute and leg exercises. When testing, we really appreciated the rubber material dotted on the inside of the material, which keeps the band securely in place and stops it from rolling down your thighs. The mesh bag that they come in also makes them very transportable and easy to store in your gym bag and use on the go.
4. MyProtein 11 Piece Resistance Band Set
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
This MyProtein set includes five resistance bands and all the accessories you need for an effective full-body workout, including: two cushioned foam handles, two ankle attachments, and a door anchor. All of this comes in nylon carry bag so you can store everything neatly in.
While they don't have the heaviest resistance – the strongest band is 50
lbs/ 22.8 kg – but you can clip multiple bands together to increase this. Technically speaking, if you clipped all five bands together you'd have a total resistance of 150 lbs/ 68 kg, which is pretty decent!
We didn't find them as comfortable to use as the material-covered resistance bands, especially when doing exercises like chest flyes where the band would come across the body and dig into our arms. It's not a deal breaker, but they can just be slightly more fiddly to work with.
4. Mirafit Resistance Bands
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Mirafit resistance bands come in a variety of sizes and resistance levels. The lightest #1 band is great for toning, and the strongest, #6, is strong enough to replace dumbbells with its 230 pounds resistance level. Made out of non-snap 100% natural latex material, these bands were designed for heavy-duty use and for a variety of exercises. Suitable for men and women, young and old, the Mirafit resistance bands are also ideal for physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
5. Gritin Resistance Bands
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Resistance bands in general are affordable, but these bands from Gritin are ridiculously inexpensive. With this set you get five bands ranging from 'light' to 'XX-heavy', which are colour-coded for ease of use. They're also made from premium natural latex, to be kinder on the skin.
These bands are best for offering additional resistance to lower body exercises (think glute bridges, crab walks, squats etc), rehab work, core exercises, and using in warm -ups. While they definitely fired up our glute muscles fast during our monster walks, and felt durable, we don't suspect they will last as long as the MiraFit mini bands. However, if it's an affordable set that you're after to test the waters with, you can't really go wrong with these.
How to buy the best resistance bands for you
In-depth: How to choose the best resistance bands for you
The first thing you'll want to consider is what you're buying your resistance bands for: is it for upper body exercises, lower body exercises, or both? Different types of resistance bands are better for different things, so here's a quick breakdown...
Resistance tubes are great for full-body workouts. These tend to have handles at either end for gripping with your hands or, if you’re feeling extra flexible, your feet. The tubes come in colour-coded resistance levels along with add-ons such as hooks for specific exercises or for hanging from doors.
Pull-up bands are also a solid choice for full-body workouts. They're essentially a giant rubber band and are known as 'pull-up bands', as people use them for extra assistance when learning to do this exercise. However, they can be used for multiple exercises. Again, resistance levels are colour-coded and their simple design makes them a versatile and portable option.
Loop resistance bands, also called 'booty bands' or 'mini bands', are small resistance bands that are best for lower body and hip exercises. They're often made from latex rubber or fabric (the latter is a lot longer lasting). Their resistance levels are often labeled on the band itself as extra light, light, medium, and heavy, or are numbered.
Don't forget to consider the price too. While resistance bands are an affordable piece of home gym equipment and definitely shouldn't break the bank, very cheap bands are more likely to be of poor quality and won't last you as long. That's why we've taken price and quality into consideration with our choices above.
FAQ
How to use resistance bands
You can use resistance bands for a full-body workout, however, it depends on what type of resistance bands you have bought that will determine exactly how you can use them.
Loop resistance bands are brilliant for leg and glute exercises. The most popular way of using them is to loop a band around your thighs and then do your exercises. These could include: squats, clams, crab walks, fire hydrants, donkey kicks, lunges, good mornings and kickbacks. If you need some more inspiration, check out this beginner-friendly 20 minute mini band workout for your lower body.
Tube resistance bands and long pull up bands can also be used to target your lower body, but their length also makes them excellent for upper body exercises too. The best way to use these bands is to either loop them around something sturdy (like your stairs’ bannister), or tube bands often come with a door attachment. By then having your band secured to something you can do lots of exercises such as rows, to lat pull downs, chest press and tricep pull downs.
The other way you can use these bands is by standing on them. This is particularly good for exercises like bicep curls, shoulder press, overhead tricep extensions, squats and good mornings. Here’s a five-move upper body workout you can do with tube/pull up bands and a 30 minute full-body workout, both containing videos to show you exactly how to perform the exercises.
What is the best resistance band?
WODFitters could well be considered the leaders of the resistance (bands), with their wares made from a closely guarded mix of robust rubbery stuff to ensure they don’t snap or lose their shape. The bands are colour-coded for easy, scalable identification from light to extra heavy and are sold individually or as a set. A pack of five bands containing generous 41-inch rubbers covers you for a huge range of exercises.
The American brand's bands are equally at home strengthening muscles, aiding recovery after injury or helping to increase mobility. It also offers 10 to 12-inch sets for smaller, muscle-specific exercises (and they also double as fetching headbands). If you’re up for getting extra creative with your workout, WODFitters are also built for yoga, pilates and a bunch of terrifyingly-titled workout DVDs, including Insanity, Brazilian Butt Lift and Turbo Jam.
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Bryony’s T3’s official ‘gym-bunny’ and Active Staff Writer, covering all things fitness. In her spare time, you will find her in her natural habitat - the gym - where her style of training is a hybrid of bodybuilding and powerlifting. Bryony loves writing about accessible workouts, nutrition and testing innovative fitness products that help you reach your fitness goals and take your training to the next level.
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