THE BEST FULL-BODY BAND WORKOUT - PART 1

This workout gets your blood moving. In fact, it makes it run up and down your body as you alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises, forcing your heart to work extra hard, which in turn, stimulates calorie burning. The result is increased strength and conditioning while trimming fat.

HOW IT WORKS

The exercises are grouped into “non-competing” mini-circuits. This means that they work different areas of the body so muscle fatigue isn’t carried over from one move to the next. For instance, following up a pushup with a good morning won’t make your chest any more tired, so you can give each exercise your full effort and strength. Your heart, however, experiences the opposite effect. With blood racing back and forth to different muscles, your
heart rate is constantly elevated. This leads to more calories burned during the workout and greater fat loss afterward.

DIRECTIONS

Perform the exercise groups in sequence. So you’ll do one set of A , B, and C , resting as prescribed between them, and then repeat until all the prescribed sets for that group are completed. Note that the last group is just two exercises, though done in the same fashion. Make sure you have a few different band options so you can use the appropriate tension on each exercise.

1A PUSHUP

SETS: 4 REPS: 10–12 REST: 60 SEC.

Grasp the end of a band in one hand and wrap it around your back. Get into pushup position with your hands shoulder width and your core braced. Pin both hands to the floor with the ends of the band in your palms and perform pushups.

1B GOOD MORNING

SETS: 4 REPS: 12 REST: 60 SEC.

Stand on the band and loop the other end over the back of your neck and stand tall. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, bend your hips back and lower your torso until it’s nearly parallel to the floor. Think about keeping your chest up and pointing forward. Explosively extend your hips to come back up.

1C PULL APART

SETS: 4 REPS: 10 REST: 60 SEC.

Stand on and grasp a band loop, or a single tube as shown, hands shoulder width. Keeping your arms straight, raise your arms in front of your body to shoulder level. Now, without letting your arms drop, draw your arms out 90 degrees to your sides as if you were pulling the tube apart. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.