Resistance Bands vs Weights for Building Muscle
When you think of the words “working out” the first thing that comes to mind is likely a weight room in a gym. Although, when you think of home workouts. Something different comes to mind. Perhaps push-ups are where your mind takes you first. Something else that you likely picture are resistance bands. As inexpensive, portable, and space-efficient as they are, they make an excellent option for home workouts.
However, how well do they hold up to normal weight training. Are they worse? Are they better? In this article, we’ll answer this as well as talk about a few more pros and cons of resistance band training.
What’s better: weights or resistance bands?
In order to answer this question, let’s first discuss what the main difference is between the two. With a resistance band, the resistance becomes more challenging the more the band is pulled and therefore when the muscle is in a more contracted position. With weights, the resistance is more uniform throughout the movement; meaning there is more tension on the muscle when it is the more lengthened position.
This fundamental difference between the two is exactly what poses the main problem. When you are training for hypertrophy (muscle building) it is helpful to emphasize the more lengthened position [1,2]. Multiple studies have demonstrated this. For example, seated leg curls promote greater rates of hypertrophy than lying leg curls due to the fact that the hamstrings are more lengthened in a seated leg curl [1]. More recently, a study was released showing that overhead triceps extensions promote greater hypertrophy than a neutral position; also due to the fact that the triceps are more lengthened in this position.
As a result, if your goal is to build muscle, then weight training is superior to resistance band training.
The pros of resistance bands
Just because weights seem to be better for building muscle than resistance bands, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a time and a place to use resistance bands. So, let’s outline some reasons why you might choose to use them.
Home workouts
This one might be obvious, but worthwhile to start with. At the end of the day, progressive overload is what really matters for building muscle. If you are using harder resistance bands or doing more reps over time, than you will build muscle. Not to mention, a set of resistance bands is much more inexpensive than a set of adjustable dumbbells.
To make certain parts of a rep range more difficult
This one can be especially helpful if you are trying to build strength on a particular exercise. Let’s say you want to get stronger on your barbell bench press. You start the bottom of the rep strong, but once you get half way up the bar speed slows down significantly. Clearly, the top half is your weak point in this scenario. So, how can resistance bands help? Well, if you slightly drop the weight and add a light resistance band to the bar, then the top of the rep will become more difficult than the bottom half. As a result, you can target this portion of the rep and intentionally improve your strength in this area.
As a starting point or working through an injury
Have you ever walked into a physical therapy clinic and saw multiple people using resistance bands? There’s a reason for that, especially in the earlier stages of rehab. Remember, resistance bands provide the most resistance in the more contracted position of the rep. Well, it just so happens that the more contracted position of the rep is where your muscle is the strongest. So, if you want to load a muscle but need to do so lightly or in a way that gives the muscle the advantage, resistance bands make a great tool.
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