I have seen many videos and articles from resistance band companies about how to avoid breaking their product. What? You need a “how to not break the band I just sold you to workout with” video?
Let's dive deeper into that for a moment.
First things first, lets look at the rubber itself. We all played with rubber bands as a child, stretching them and shooting them between our fingers. We found out quickly that the farther you pull a rubber band, the harder it was to hold and the farther it went when you let it go. Pulling it back too far and causing it to break was painful and pretty much ended the rubber band fun.
Well, the rubber tubing for resistance bands work the same way as the office supply rubber bands. But, how do you avoid one breaking and snapping back while you use it? The videos out there will tell you to only stretch it 3 times its resting length, but how far is that exactly? How do you know for sure you are not going to be injured? What is the safe distance to stretch them? It all seems to be guess work.
UNLESS, you get a band that is covered. Yes, a covered band. You may be thinking “how can that be better, I can't see the band?” Well, here is a simple answer. You don’t have to! A covered resistance band already did the math for you and has removed the quess work.
“But How?” Well, I am glad you asked.
The covering is designed to only stretch so far. Yep you guessed it, it is designed to stop before the max stretch of the rubber tubing underneath, so you never have to wonder how far you can stretch it. The webbing cover will stop before you can damage the band underneath. You don’t have to guess the distance from the anchor you can go to workout safely nor do you have to constantly re-adjust your form to avoid a snap and be sure you wont get injured.
- “But they can still break” Yes, this is true, they can. But, with a safety sleeve you wont get injured.
- “I still have a broken band I have to replace” again, this is true, and buying the right band in the first place is what helps prevent that. The Quality of the band determines how much you can use it before it breaks. With a doubt they will all break, it is after all, only rubber that stretches so many times before it breaks.
- “There are so many covered bands out there, how do I know which one to choose?” Well, you have to do your homework and be sure you are choosing the right band based on more than someone you follow or admire promoting it.
“How do I know if I am choosing the right resistance band?”
Humm.. let's break that down
- Where is it manufactured? – this is important because some bands are made in mass with low quality materials and sold to you as quality. Consider this, a name brand you see all the time on the internet or even on tv bought the band for $4.00 each from China, then sell it to you for $20.00, which is less than others on the market. Great Deal! … hold up, they paid $4.00, spend a ton of money on advertising to reach you then sold you a band worth $4.00 for $20.00 that will only last a few months. Guys, If they can get the band for so little, how cheap were the materials that it was made with?
- What is the feedback? – Please take the time to look at what others are saying about the band. Don’t be swayed by how many reviews they have. Pay attention to the good and the bad reviews. Read as many as you can. Take into consideration how long they state they have had the band.
- Does the company provide information on the manufacturing? – Most companies who use overseas manufacturing with cheap materials will avoid having the product tested in a lab, they will avoid telling you what the product is made of and can't prove they designed it. They simply have someone who tells the public it’s a good product and show you how to use it for money. Yep, they pay people to say their product is the best, including people on Instagram and youtube videos. All of it. Paid spokesperson, pfft, if your product is solid you can stand on your own merit without paying a ton of money to promote it. Find a company that is putting the money you pay them into the materials for the product you are buying, instead of marketing so you buy a product that won't last.
- Are the bands proven to last? –Try to find a company that had their product tested in an independent lab, someone not invested in the company and tests products without prejudice. And look at reviews (yes, more reviews), make sure there are reviews from people who have bought this product more than once. People who buy more than one time can more attest to the quality of the product. I would take 100 reviews that have 25 repeat buyers than 10,000 reviews from first time buyers any day.
What I am trying to say here is this. If you buy the right band there is no reason to watch “how to” videos on not breaking your band. Why Should you have to baby your exercise equipment? I mean would you buy a weight bench that you have to be cautious on how you lift, so it doesn’t break the bench? Then why would you buy a resistance band you have to baby? You are in the gym to work hard and get stronger, don't use a wimpy band that requires you to watch a video on how to avoid breaking it.
It’s all a bit crazy if you ask me. Just buy a FitCord and stop worrying about this madness.
