Here’s When Elastic Waistbands Are Really Useful (and When They’re Not)
Resistance bands are portable, convenient, and definitely useful. It’s no wonder they’re so popular, but why do so many glute-focused workouts rely on them? Let me explain what’s going on and how these bands can really enhance your workout.
What exactly are bandages?
A “glute band” is the name given to a resistance band, typically a few inches wide, made of rubber or thick elastic fabric . (Fabric bands are more comfortable to use.) Their length makes them ideal for exercises that require the band to be secured to the legs. This includes many thigh exercises, which certainly help develop the gluteal muscles.
I have a similar fabric set. I don’t do glute exercises, but I find these bands useful for warming up my thighs, which I sometimes do before squats or weightlifting. When I was recovering from a knee injury, I remember doing a lot of these exercises in physical therapy sessions. So they’re definitely useful for more than just building my glutes.
Incidentally, there’s a company called Booty Bands , but the term “buttock bands” also applies to a general category of resistance bands that can be worn on the knees or thighs. There are numerous workouts that incorporate these bands into squats, push-ups, and glute bridges, promising significant buttock growth. However, as with many popular workouts, these promises are disproportionate.
Expanders have common pros and cons.
Before we delve into the specifics of glute resistance bands, it’s worth considering the pros and cons of all resistance bands. I compared them to dumbbells, and as you may recall, here are some of them:
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Resistance bands can provide more overall “weight” than small dumbbells.
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Expanders wear out over time.
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Resistance bands vary in difficulty depending on how far you stretch them.
If you’re looking to keep your home gym compact and affordable, you can achieve much more with resistance bands than dumbbells. This is because it’s easier to find upper-body exercises that can be done with lighter dumbbells, but for challenging lower-body workouts, you’ll need heavier weights. The main options are band exercises and single-leg bodyweight exercises (without a band), such as lunges and split squats.
Light exercise will not do you any good.
If you’re trying to build a bigger butt, you’re trying to build muscle. And the most effective way to build muscle is by lifting weights, not by doing millions of reps of easy exercises (though that can work if you’re very patient).
So, how do you know if you’re working hard enough, or “too hard”? As I mentioned , you need to do a low number of reps (12 or less, in most cases), but with enough load that the last few reps feel truly challenging. If you’ve been using the same band or weight for a while, try heavier variations every now and then to see if you’re stronger than you think. If so, it’s time to move on.
I mention this here because the resistance band portion of the workout is usually quite easy and effortless. If you’re doing resistance band exercises and they meet my definition of “hard” and feel genuinely challenging, then they may actually be living up to their promise. For now, stick with the bands.
But bands might not be enough for an entire workout. Many of us need really heavy weights to give our glutes (or any other body part) a full workout. Deadlift champions need strong glutes, but you don’t see powerlifters ditching the barbell to focus on band workouts on YouTube, right? Although they often use bands in addition to the barbell.
Resistance bands are great for warming up and as accessories.
Considering all this, it’s clear that resistance bands are best used as a side dish to a workout—as an appetizer or dessert. For muscle building, the main course should probably be a heavier resistance workout, if you can afford it. Otherwise, make sure your resistance band exercises are challenging enough.
If you bring resistance bands to the gym, you can do resistance band push-ups as a warm-up or as a high-rep finisher after leg day. They can be used for “activation” exercises, which is essentially a fancy word for warm-up . Then you can move on to squats , deadlifts , weighted lunges, or hip thrusts . Which brings me to another point about using resistance bands in the gym: if you squat with a band on your knees, the squat itself does the main work, and the band, to continue our food metaphor, perhaps acts as a little garnish.