Exercises With Resistance Tubing

The American College of Sports Medicine's physical activity guidelines recommend that healthy adults do two weekly resistance training workouts that utilize and challenge all of the large muscle groups in the body. Resistance tubing is a piece of exercise equipment that consists of two plastic handles connected by a long piece of rubber, latex or elastic that is used to provide resistance during a strength training session.

Benefits

Resistance tubing is light-weight, inexpensive and requires minimal storage space. Its versatility allows you to use it in a variety of settings: at home, in your gym, at a hotel or in your office. Resistance tubing comes in color-coded resistance levels ranked as light, medium or heavy. Check the product's description to make sure that you choose tubing that meets your fitness level and needs. Some resistance tubing comes with door or chair attachments that allow you to perform certain exercises that otherwise require a partner or a sturdy object. Resistance tubing empowers you to adjust the difficulty of the exercise by increasing or decreasing the band's tension.

Bicep Curls

Curls strengthen your biceps, the muscles located on the upper, front portion of your arms. Your biceps flex your elbows and help rotate your forearms. Hold a handle in each hand and hang the tubing in front of your body. Step both feet onto the middle of the tubing and bend your knees slightly. Turn your palms up, hang your arms by your sides, keeping them close to your body. Slowly lift the handles toward your shoulders, squeezing your biceps during the movement. Lower to straight and repeat until you complete 15 curls. Widening the distance between your feet increases the intensity of this exercise.

Seated Row

The seated row strengthens your back muscles, your biceps and your core muscles. Attach the tubing to a door, wrap it around a sturdy object or ask a partner to hold the middle of it. Hold a handle in each hand and walk away from the anchor, stopping after you create slight tension. Face the anchor, sit on the ground, bend your knees and rest your feet on the ground. Straighten your spine, lean back slightly and pull your shoulder blades down and together. Lift your arms in front of your body, parallel to the floor and turn your palms toward one another. Slowly, pull the handles toward your chest, stopping when your elbows cannot go back any further. Extend your arms to straight and repeat until you complete a total of 15 rows. Increase the distance between yourself and the anchor to make this more difficult. Reduce the distance if you need to lean forward or move your back to do the rows.

Squats

Squats build lower-body strength and build muscular mass in your glutes, quadriceps, thighs and hamstrings. Resistance tubing adds external resistance to squats and requires your muscles to work harder than body-weight squats alone. Hold a handle in each hand and hang the tubing in front of your body. Step your feet, shoulder-width apart, onto the tubing and bend your knees slightly. Lift the handles next to your shoulders and maintain straight wrists throughout the squats. Your knuckles face upward in the correct position. Stick your glutes out behind you, tighten your midsection and straighten your back. Lower your hips toward the ground, stopping when your thighs are parallel to the ground. Push up through your heels and return to standing. Repeat until you complete 15 squats.