Resistance Bands

Resistance bands have to be the of the most, if not the most, versatile fitness tools out there. 

Prehab or Injury prevention? Use a band

Rehab for injured joints or muscles? There's a band for it.

Warm-up for lifting? There's a band for it. 

Warm-up for soccer, hockey, basketball, tennis, or most any other sport? There's a band for it!

Need to loosen up stiff ankles, hips, shoulders?  Yup, you got it, there's a band for it. 

Why are they so good?

1. They allow full range of motion, and they help to isolate ranges where you need to spend more time. 
2. They allow multiple planes of motion, i.e. you can move against vertical resistance AND horizontal resistance.  Imagine your at-home, cable training at a fraction of the cost of a cable-machine
3. They come in many resistances 
4. They are light and easy to carry around.  Perfect travel-gym!
5. They are cheap and easy to get started with
6. They make a great supplement to your gym membership

Which Resistance is right for you?

That depends on a few factors but generally here are the resistance levels by colour: 

Yellow - 15lbs

Red - 35lbs

Black - 65lbs

Purple - 85lbs

Green - 120lbs

Blue - 160lbs

Orange - 220lbs

Grey - 240lbs

Yellow, red, black (15lbs to 65lbs) are great for warm-ups, prehab, rehab of your smaller joints like wrist, shoulder, elbows, ankles and knees.  Great for warming up before a shoulder routine.

Red, black, purple and green (35lbs to 120lbs) make great support for assisted pull-ups.  Also great for anchoring yourself and working on some lateral hops and movements

Black, Purple, Green (65lbs to 120lbs) - consider these the warm-up trio for your bigger lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press.  You can even use these by themselves for your workouts.  You WILL sweat!

Blue, Orange, Grey (160lbs+) - now you're in the weightlifting zone!  You can get a solid workout with these.