I go to a gym that does weight training on alternating days, cardio kickboxing on others. We use resistance bands (with medicine balls for abs) exclusively, no free weights. You can definitely get a good workout with them.
However, I’m not sure I would recommend just buying them, for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost, one set of bands probably won’t let you get a complete workout. You need bands of varying difficulty.
Now, here’s an example:
We use bands in five difficulty levels: yellow (easiest), green, red, blue, purple.
We have four types of bands: small circular bands, figure 8 bands, long bands, and “xtra bar” bands (a bar with a band attached). Plus the medicine ball (there’s 4 weights of this, but pretty much everyone just grabs one of a preferred size.)
In a typical workout, I will use the following:
Upper body day (No circular band)
- Figure 8: yellow, green, red
- Long band - yellow, green, red, blue
- Xtra bar - yellow, red
Lower body day(No xtra bar)
- Figure 8 - yellow, green, red
- Long band: yellow, green, red
- Circular: yellow, green, red
- Medicine ball
So for me to get the proper workout that I do right now, I need 12 different bands plus the ball. I even use double bands on some exercises just so I don’t have to fiddle with additional bands.
That’s for me: a pretty overweight female – and just for where I am now. I’m getting ready to need to move up to more blues and purples, but I’m not quite ready to abandon the yellows yet for particularly hard exercises. The really ripped guys use lots more blues and purples than I do, but need to fall back to no more difficult than greens on certain exercises (cough, lateral raises, cough). You need a big range.
This would cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Also, bands wear down and break. If you just get a set of bands, they’re going to get periodically much easier to use until they finally snap. So there’s that - it does actually take quite a lot of different equipment to use them effectively and get a full-body workout. A cheap $15 set probably won’t cut it, and if it does, not for long.
Plus, there’s the issue of form. I used to use machines and resistance bands are nice because you don’t have the support of the machine to stabilize you – but it also means it’s way easier to do exercises wrong. I am constantly watching myself in the mirror to correct form even after a year. Instructors, of course, watch you too. I could probably do a resistance workout or two on my own now – but eventually I bet my form would slip.
I can’t imagine starting out new without an instructor. How do you set up routines? What if you have questions? What if an exercise hurts or doesn’t feel right? What about times where you can’t just look down at yourself? If something’s really easy or impossibly hard, is it that you’re using the wrong band or you’re just not doing it right? Even just counting the reps properly becomes difficult if you’re really pushing yourself to muscular failure consistently.
In short, I’m a big supporter of bands, but it is something that I’d recommend doing in the context of a class rather than a do-it-yourself project.