Bodylastics resistance bands

[horaholic]

http://www.bodylastics.com/

I am extremely broke right now, and I want to workout. Im not looking to go hardcore, (at this point anyway) I just want to excercise. I'm laid off of work, so I dont have two or three hundred bucks to shell out of some kind of home gym on craigslist. I'm just want to strengthen up, just get some kind of workout going. Not looking to bulk up, or lose wight, just get in shape and feel better.

I stumbled on this ad, and the whole setup costs 50$. This seems like a good deal for what I want to do, but I'd rather get some input from you before I go order it. I realize that resistance bands will not work as good as free weights, but for the price, and what I want to do, I think this might be a good investment.

I did a search on here for resistance bands, but nothing very in depth.

Also, are there better resistance band companies than that? I noticed there are several options here. I want a complete setup, even if I need to spend a bit more. I dont want to be short if I buy one.


Thanx

 

[Cure]

Mate if all you want to do is get in better shape and feel better, you dont need to spend 50$, or even any dollars at all.

For what you want to acheive, you can do it with body weight exercises alone.
Lower body-
Squats of various kinds, running up a flight of stairs three at a time over and over again, lunges, step ups,
Upper body- press ups, chair/bench tricep dips, pull ups on a bar in your local park.
Add some core work like planks, and jogging/HIIT for your heart and lungs.

Do this all 3 times a week and eat carefully, and you will shape up in no time at all.

Good luck mate.

Cure.

 

[horaholic]

Update: So I went ahead and ordered this, and it arrived today. I like it. Its great for someone like me, who wants to workout at home, and lacks the motivation to do endless sets of pushups.

A big pro I noticed so far, is that you can use the door hanger thing, and do arms outward, and chest exercises that have more variety to them than any other workout I've seen. two minute sets of punching straight ahead of you with the bands, sometimes aiming up, sometimes down, sometimes going to the side like fly curls. Its like doing incline, decline, curls, and many others all at once. It make sit very easy for guys like me. From what little I know of training, its a good thing to have that kind of variety, right? I mean, as opposed to your muscles doing the exact some movements like machines do.

Its very easy to use these, but I need a bench.

The biggest con I've found so far is doing squats with the bands are weird, because when you are all the way down, the bands are loose, so there is no resistance when you are all the way down.

I would recommend these to anyone not in the gym that wants a cheap, but thorough at home workout. I am less motivated to do body weight exercises. I hate running, and I dont have stairs. Just a few minutes with these bands can give you a good hard workout. They are kind of fun, and it feels good. You can do over 150 different workouts with them. All for 60 bucks.

Cure: I absolutely respect what you said, but I know myself, and I will accomplish more with these. I like haveing something in my hands to workout with. Hopefully, I will get more motivated to do more natural workouts after a while with these.

 

[Gaucho]

Cure gave you great advice.

Then there are an array of plyometrics you can do which will equal the athletic gains you could achieve in a gym.

 

[Cure]

Cure: I absolutely respect what you said, but I know myself, and I will accomplish more with these. I like haveing something in my hands to workout with. Hopefully, I will get more motivated to do more natural workouts after a while with these.

No worrys mate, whatever works best for you! I can totally understand its easier to do workouts if you've got some "equipment" to do them with. bodyweight stuff is the hardest to find motivation for!
Good luck with the bands.
For the squats, just wack a load of books in a rucksake, that'll add a bit of weight!

Cure.

 

[horaholic]

http://www.strengthbanduniversity.com/members/forum/index.php

If anyone is interested, this is the link to the bodylastics forum, which I just logged onto for the first time. Apparently, bands are great for people with previous injuries. (like myself)

I am a 14 year Army veteran (Special Forces) and have been weight training since the age of 16. I was an advid user of free weights but the wear and tear on my body over the years prompted me to find alternatives to shouldering a bunch of plates and taking the risk of sustaining any injuries. I have owned my bodylastics TO version for about 6 months now and I am hooked. I refuse to use dumb bells now! Any exercise that I used to do with dumb bells I use the bodylastics. I sold my Select Tech dumb bell set and ordered two of the TO bodylastics sets. One for deployments and the other for home.

My favorite exercises with the bodylastics are the squats, lunges, and variations of the leg curls. I was amazed at how little weight was used to give me an intense workout! My ego was shattered because I max out on squat around 365lbs but was on the edge of exhaustion when using two of the orange bands which are merely 30lbs each. Since using the bands any soreness I had from using free weights is non existent, my muscular endurance has increased, and I feel just as strong as I did when I used free weights.

I tried using free weights a few days ago, at my local 24hr Fitness and they seemed easier to work with than the bands. I felt as though, I could bounce and cheat more with free weights. I love the resistance you get throughout the movement from the bands. I been having a hard time walking these days from bodylastics soreness! The bodylastics made a believer out of me and the soldiers in my unit!

I hope you guys put out a military version. Maybe the bands could be in all black or green, since they are already printed on the bands. The bright colors aren't great for use in the field but I use them anyways!

Blake,

Great product and by no means is this a toy or gimick! It is soldier proof and results are inevitable if you use the product.

Assuming this is a real post, that makes me feel better about my purchase. Also, the forum members provide alternate ways to do squats, and deadlifts with the bands that help with the slack problem. Just gotta be creative.

 

[frenchbeauty]

I would get sick of working out with bands after a few weeks bro...

Why not find a cheap gym ? The one I go to is $25 a month. Nothing better than lifting free weights.

 

[Quiksilver]

Heh that post be some army vet is fake...

Bands are great, but IMO they should compliment a solid program, not be the core of one. There's a reason why no top athletes use bands-only training; you get great results from free weights and barbells. If you're on the road a lot then sure bands are better than nothing.

SF training focuses on muscular endurance over size and strength, and it's well documented that endurance training(repetitive motion) wears down your joints and bones. On the other hand, if you compare the bones of someone involved in strength training vs aerobics, the strength trainer has much thicker and more dense ligaments and bones... Hence his "wear and tear" comment...

Guessing that comment at the end about the colors of the bands being a problem on operations was a joke! Highly doubt any soldier is going to whip out the bands while dodging bullets to squeeze in some resistance training, between mag changes right?

On one hand he's saying he wants to use them in Afghanistan, on the other hand he's saying he's an army vet... I didn't think veterans could be deployed?!

Clearly fake, but bands have their place.

 

[horaholic]

Heh that post be some army vet is fake...

Bands are great, but IMO they should compliment a solid program, not be the core of one. There's a reason why no top athletes use bands-only training; you get great results from free weights and barbells. If you're on the road a lot then sure bands are better than nothing.

SF training focuses on muscular endurance over size and strength, and it's well documented that endurance training(repetitive motion) wears down your joints and bones. On the other hand, if you compare the bones of someone involved in strength training vs aerobics, the strength trainer has much thicker and more dense ligaments and bones... Hence his "wear and tear" comment...

Guessing that comment at the end about the colors of the bands being a problem on operations was a joke! Highly doubt any soldier is going to whip out the bands while dodging bullets to squeeze in some resistance training, between mag changes right?

On one hand he's saying he wants to use them in Afghanistan, on the other hand he's saying he's an army vet... I didn't think veterans could be deployed?!

Clearly fake, but bands have their place.

Thats what I thought. It sounds fake, but who knows. Its in the forums, as opposed to testimonials, though. Unless I decide to go hardcore, they work for me great. Im motivated about them, and they were cheap, and easy to use at home. I would probably slack if I got a gym membership, but the bands are downstairs whenever I want. Some people on the forums alternate between bands, and free weights week to week. That actually sounds like a good way to do it.

Like I said, Im just recommending these to anyone in a similar position as mine. IE: broke, lazy and weak.