Get lean and get toned, lose weight and burn fat, boost your metabolism. If you're reading this blog post, chances are, you're trying to achieve just that. If we could simplify the how-to process it would be build lean muscle mass to increase metabolism so that everybody burns more calories at rest. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active building just 1 kg of lean muscle can burn an extra hundred calories a day.

Resistance training is key for building lean muscle boosting metabolism and successful fat loss, leading to a stronger firmer body that burns more calories at rest. The benefits go far further than skin deep, in addition to looking better, resistance training is proven to help maintain lean muscle mass and bone density something every woman and man about 30 should be thinking about. After the age of 30 our bodies are no longer growing, on average 2.5 kg off lean muscle is lost every 10 years and bone density starts to decline.

Loss of lean muscle mass means lower metabolism and usually equates to weight gain, hence, the middle aged spread. In this digital age where information is a Google search away, there are still too many people who believe that strength training will create Schwarzenegger sized muscles and that cardio is the only way to go. While cardio vascular exercise is great for burning calories and building stamina and it is part of a balanced exercise program, it does not build or tone muscle. Only resistance training can do that.

For clarity's sake, resistance training is any kind of exercise that causes your muscles to contract against an external resistance from a weight, a resistance band, a machine or one's own body weight. During resistance training microscopic tears and damage occurs in the muscles and during the recovery phase the body repairs the damaged tissue and the muscle become stronger.

Strength training with resistance bands provide a super solid workout.
Make no mistake, a full body workout with bands will challenge your muscles and leave you sore. There's a misconception that rubber resistance bands a flimsy and gimmicky or not as good as weights, however Studies have shown that muscle activity and peak load during resistance bands exercises are similar to that of using free weights. This means that a full body strength training program can be done solely with resistance bands and without any single dumbbell or machine.

This is great news if you travel a lot, can't get to the gym, or prefer to exercise at home. 30 minutes of resistance band training 2 to 3 times a week will not only yield results , but quickly. While the contraction created in the muscles is similar between weights and resistance bands there are some differences. Unlike weights the elastic characteristic of resistance bands is linear and variable. Meaning if the range of movement increase so does the resistance and difficulty. For example when doing a bicep curl the tension of the band increases as the hand comes up, meaning more muscle fibers have to be recruit as the difference increases. Another major difference and advantage of resistance bands is that unlike weights resistance is not limited to the vertical plane.

When using weights all exercises must be done in relation to vertical gravitational force. Resistance bands do not have that limitation. For example if you hold a dumbbell in both hands and move it horizontally across from left to right shoulder height, there is no horizontal resistance. Replace to Dumbbell with an anchored resistance band and now there is horizontal resistance requiring the muscles of the trunk, in other words your abs, to contract and create rotation. Rotational strength is essential for sport conditioning and equates to having a more powerful tennis or golf swing. In daily life it could allow one to reach and turn more easily with less risk of injury.

Resistance bands are affordable, a variety of bands and tubes are a small investment especially when compared to the cost of weights and machines. Incredibly light and portable they can be packed down to the size of a pair of socks to fit in a suitcase or tucked in a pocket to be used at the park for an outdoor workout. The versatility of resistance bands is unlimited. From strengthening individual fingers in the rehabilitation setting, to mobility exercises, to full-body, multi joint, functional training. Resistance bands can be used to train the body in any plane of movement, allowing us to train three-dimensional, with rotation and movement similarly to those used in sports and daily life. 

Let's Bands range of resistance products provide different levels of resistance in a variety of forms to cover different needs. The MINI and MAX bands are a good general starting point. Tubes are an alternative to the bands and can be used similarly, the main difference being the handles. The MINI band are a great tool for making existing exercises more challenging. The MAX band, perfectly mimic heavy barbell exercises and would be grate for guys looking to try resistance band training.