Every one of us wants to live a robust and healthy lifestyle. We want to look and feel good, but it doesn’t come easy. You have to earn it! And how do you do that? By creating a well-balanced meal and fitness plan that would be a surefire way of helping you achieve your goals.
A balanced fitness plan includes a number of strength training exercises that target key muscles. One of the most common and effective exercises, banded push ups is making rounds on social media for pushing you towards your fitness destination.
Banded push ups when done correctly can do wonders for your upper body and core. They help with shoulder mobility and build muscle mass. Working out is great for your health, but you won’t reap the full benefits until you work on your diet and take the proper steps to help you perform better.
Taking pre workout alternatives is one of the steps of helping you perform intense exercises efficiently. Using alternatives are better for your body and general well-being.
Here is a list of pre workout alternatives to help you sustain yourself during tough workouts.
What Are Banded Push Ups?
Banded push ups are exactly like regular push ups except they are done with a resistance band. All you gotta do is grab the loop of the band in each hand, place it over your upper shoulders and go into a regular push up position, then push up like you usually would. A lot of the time women struggle with doing push ups. They are often asked to perform a simple variation of the push up like knee push ups.
However, we believe it’s a bit of a cop out. Instead of working towards building strength and persevering, we take the easy way out. Easy never brings results. That’s why we encourage women to opt for banded push ups. The band provides assistance all the while targeting the right muscles.
The difficulty level of banded push ups may be high but they are much more effective. You can also go slow by doing fewer reps and still be able to effectively work your muscles. Banded push ups are part of strength training exercises. Evidence suggests that people who perform strength training exercises at least three times a week are good for cardiovascular health.
Another study concluded that thirty minutes of resistance training a week may be more than enough for you to reap the benefits like lower cholesterol, better heart health and lowered risk of life-long diseases.
Benefits Of Banded Push Ups
Banded push ups are diverse and effectively work your upper body, helping you tone your shoulders, and work your core and your chest muscles.
Here are some of the benefits of adding banded push ups to your exercise regime:
Break The Resistance
During regular push ups without variations, you totally rely on your own body weight. After a few times, your body gets used to the weight and you stop seeing the results you were expecting. Adding a resistance band makes your body work harder leading it to become stronger.
As a woman, we don’t have enough testosterone to build big upper body muscles, and nor do we have as much as our counterparts, men. Therefore, adding a resistance band will make it easier for you to build strength.
A study published in 2010 in The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research concluded that resistance bands add up to 150 pounds increasing the intensity of the exercise without the chunkiness of dumbbells or weights.
Improved Focus
Doing banded push ups is great for your mental health as they help you focus. When we are able to focus, our daily stress levels go down and we get less distracted better able to perform our daily tasks.
Doing any type of exercise especially strength exercises like banded push ups can release endorphins.
Improved Metabolism
Doing banded push ups every day contributes greatly to the functioning of your metabolism. Exercise speeds up our metabolism which is something we require as we get older. As we age our bodies start losing muscle mass and it leads to various ailments.
According to Harvard Health, most people lose 30% of muscle mass over the course of their lifetime but engaging in strength exercises such as banded push ups helps maintain healthy muscle mass.
Require Minimum Space And Money
Although this exercise is more intense compared to the regular push ups it is great for your upper body. One of the benefits of this exercise is that it requires little space and you don’t need any other equipment except for the resistance band and maybe a mat.
This exercise can be easily done in the gym, in the studio, or in the comfort of your own home.
Muscles Targeted By Banded Push Ups
The key muscles targeted during banded push ups are the same ones targeted during a regular push up.
The main muscles targeted are:
- Pectorals (Pecs)
- Abs/Core
- Serratus Anterior
- Triceps
- Anterior Deltoids
If you want to make the exercise more dynamic you can elevate your feet. It allows you to create more force during push ups and puts pressure on your arms while pushing up.
Step By Step Banded Push Ups
There is no rocket science behind banded push ups. All you need to do is make sure your form and alignment are correct. Here is how to perform banded push ups properly.
- Lay down the mat on the ground, or if you are feeling brave go ahead without the mat.
- Get on the floor on all fours.
- Grab one loop of the band in one hand and another loop in another hand.
- Bring the band over your shoulder and extend both your arms on the sides.
- Get into a regular push up position.
- Make sure your arms are wider than shoulder-width.
- Keep your back straight and core engaged.
- Gradually lower your body ensuring your arms form a 45-degree angle from your torso.
- Hold the position for a couple of seconds and until you feel the band stretch over your back.
- Come back up again in the starting position.
- Repeat 12 reps with 5 sets.
Key Takeaway
Banded push ups are an effective variation of a regular push up. It is a great choice for women who want to tone their shoulders. It also assists those who can’t effectively perform normal push ups by providing a bit of support.
You can use long or short loop resistance bands depending on the intensity of the exercise and your stamina levels. All in all, this variation of push ups is a good exercise to add to your fitness regime.
However, just make sure your form is correct and core engaged while doing push ups to prevent injuries.
