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Feb 19, 2025

15 Resistance Band Exercises to Work Your Entire Body | SELF

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. When you picture strength training, moves with dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

When you picture strength training, moves with dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells likely come to mind. But slotting in resistance band exercises is another way to effectively fire up your muscles. And, with tons of options to choose from, it’s possible to hit your entire body with these elastic tools.

Plus, bands offer some pretty awesome benefits that you won’t get from picking up free weights, making them a compelling add to most any exerciser’s routine.

Curious to know more? We tapped two fitness pros to learn just how effective these stretchy devices can be, what you can gain from weaving them into your routine, and a whole host of awesome band exercises to try—plus a quick, four-move resistance band workout routine to tie it all together. So grab your nearest pack of ‘em and get ready to work!

We’ll cut straight to the chase: Yes, you can definitely get a good workout using resistance bands, Susie Reiner, PhD, CSCS, a certified exercise physiologist and post doctoral researcher at the University of Kentucky’s Sports Medicine Research Institute and the founder of TheoryEx, tells SELF. This is true no matter what type of band you’re using—whether it’s a traditional resistance band (a long, wide one you can either tie together in a loop or grip the ends with both hands to do tons of different moves); a looped band (a long circular one that’s often used for big compound exercises like deadlifts and squats); a band with handles (one that’s got grips on each end for your hands, ideal for upper-body moves like chest presses and flies), or a mini band (a smaller circular band that you typically place around your ankles or above your knees for exercises like clam shells and lateral leg lifts).

Though they may seem flimsy compared to dumbbells or kettlebells, resistance bands add mechanical tension to your muscles, just like free weights or machines do, Dr. Reiner explains. And any time you tack on that tension, you’re helping your muscles to adapt and get stronger over time, which is the whole point of strength training. The one caveat: You need to use resistance that delivers enough of a challenge to your muscles to spur these changes, Katie Pierson, CPT, a Montana-based certified personal trainer, spin instructor, and contributor at Indoor Cycling Love, tells SELF. Otherwise, you risk plateauing, she explains. So if, by the end of your reps, your muscles don’t feel fatigued, that’s a sign to level up, she says, which you can do by picking up a thicker band, as those usually offer more resistance than thinner ones.

In that vein, if you stick with bands for the long haul, you’ll likely eventually reach a point where they can no longer provide the challenge your muscles need to grow bigger and stronger, as SELF previously reported. Because of that, “resistance bands don’t replace traditional strength building methods, especially if you’re trying to maximize strength and maximize power,” Dr. Reiner says. But before you reach that juncture? They’re a good way to level up the intensity of bodyweight moves, Reiner says. And they offer a whole bunch of other benefits too. Speaking of…

One of the biggest perks is the bands themselves are really accessible, which makes them easy to use consistently. “What helps people continue exercising is having something that you can do from anywhere, that there are no barriers to,” Dr. Reiner says. And in that sense, bands certainly fit the bill: They’re lightweight and non-bulky, which makes them easy to toss in your bag and use on the go. And, they’re cost effective—a pack of mini bands, for example, is just $6 on Amazon. “Not everybody can purchase a set of dumbbells, or adjustable dumbbells, but a lot of people can afford a set of bands,” says Pierson.

Another plus for band exercises: They offer a unique type of resistance called variable or accommodating resistance. Basically, the tension applied to the muscle changes throughout the movement, Dr. Reiner explains. “It’s lighter when there’s more slack in the band, and heavier as you continue the motion,” she says. This is different from free weights, which provide a constant load across the range of motion. Variable resistance provides a unique stimulus to your neuromuscular system, which helps challenge the body in a new way, she explains.

To boot, “they're also really versatile,” Pierson adds. “A single band, or even just two different types of bands, can really offer a wide variety” of ways to work different muscle groups, she explains. For example, by adjusting how much slack there is on the band to shift how much resistance you’re working with, you can use the same one to do squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses—something that would be tough to effectively pull off with just a single set of weights.

Then there’s the fact that resistance band exercises can be used in a broad number of settings, Dr. Reiner adds. They’re a staple in the prehab/rehab world because they help strengthen the stabilizer muscles around a joint, Dr. Reiner says. And they offer a more gradual progression than weights, which is helpful for targeting smaller muscle groups. “For example, someone who can do a lateral raise with one weight but struggles to get to the next dumbbell weight can supplement with resistance bands to strengthen the medial deltoid,” Dr. Reiner says. Plus, light bands can be a great way to focus on form and boost stability around a joint, Dr. Reiner explains. They’re also awesome for activating muscles before exercise. And they can serve as a stellar standalone routine too, which we’ll get to in just a sec.

When it comes to bands, there are dozens of exercises to choose from, Dr. Reiner says. This makes it really easy to get in a total-body workout, she says. Tons of traditional compound strength moves that you’d typically perform with free weights can be adapted for bands—think: deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and rows. They’re also great for exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, and clam shells that hone in on smaller areas of the body, as well as activation drills (like lateral walks and monster walks) to fire up key muscles before a workout.

Pro tip: Before doing resistance band workouts, take a sec to inspect the bands and make sure they don’t have any nicks, cuts, or tears, Pierson advises. Blemishes like those could cause them to snap on you during exercise, which “can be really painful,” she explains. If you do notice these, then swap out your bands for some new ones.

This is a great exercise for improving posture. It works key backside muscles, including your back extensors and lats. It also fires up your traps. Pierson suggests alternating between short, fast pulses and long, slow pulses as a way to really challenge your muscles.

A classic strength move and one of the most functional exercises out there, the deadlift works your hamstrings and glutes as well as your back extensors.

This is a great exercise for targeting your shoulders, Dr. Reiner says. It also hits the triceps, she adds.

As the name suggests, this exercise really works your chest muscles. Think about squeezing them together when you bring your arms toward one another, as SELF previously reported.

Here you’re working your back muscles, Dr. Reiner says, including your upper and mid-back, as well as your biceps.

A traditional chest press has you lying on the ground as you press free weights or a barbell above you. This resistance band variation takes places from a standing position and works your pecs, deltoids (shoulders), and triceps.

This exercise works your lats and biceps. It’s also great for shoulder stability, Dr. Reiner says.

This is a great way to target your triceps—the muscles on the backside of your upper arm. As you do reps, keep your elbows tucked close to your body; don’t let them flare out.

A traditional biceps curl involves dumbbells, which apply the same amount of tension to your muscles throughout, but in this banded version, you’ll feel more tension at the top of the move than at the bottom due to the varying resistance.

This move really targets your hip abductors, a group of muscles that help move your leg away from your body. A lot of people can be weak here, so doing moves like this one to strengthen them can be really helpful.

The glute bridge is a classic butt exercise that fires up your core and glute max (biggest butt muscle) while also stretching your hip flexors. Adding a resistance band to this motion ups the challenge for your muscles.

The clam shell is a popular rehab/prehab exercise since it can help with both preventing and alleviating a host of issues caused by weak glutes, like knee and back pain. It fires up your glute max (biggest butt muscle) as well as your glute medius (side butt), plus your external obliques (side core muscles).

This is a great way to activate your glutes—especially your side-butt muscles—before you use them more intensely in a workout. Make it easier by placing the resistance band above your knees, Pierson says.

Another awesome warm-up move that targets the glutes, this exercise has you walking diagonally in the transverse plane of motion, which is helpful for building well-rounded strength, since a lot of day-to-day activities take place in the sagittal plane (forward and backward motions.)

This squat variation works your quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

Inspired to put your newfound resistance band knowledge to the test? We have a four-move workout that’ll smoke your entire body in just 12 minutes. Created for SELF by certified personal trainer Alicia Jamison, MA, coach at Bodyspace Fitness in New York City, this routine alternates between upper-body and lower-body moves—you’ll do a pull-apart, deadlift, overhead press, then sumo squat—which allows one half to rest while the other works. That makes this an efficient, effective routine to slot into your day.

You’ll need one light-to-medium strength band for the pull-apart and overhead press, and a heavier one for the deadlift and sumo squat. Do each exercise for 30 seconds, then rest 30 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. Again, the order is:

Repeat the entire circuit 2 to 3 times total without taking any extra rest in between rounds.

Demoing the moves above are Robyn Warren(GIFs 1, 5, 8, 9), a health educator and the founder of Geek Girl Strong; Morit Summers (GIF 2), a Brooklyn-based trainer and the owner of body-positive gym, Form Fitness Brooklyn; Hejira Nitoto (GIF 3), a mom of six and a certified personal trainer and fitness apparel line owner based in Los Angeles; Rosimer Suarez (GIFs 2, 6, 7, 13), a special education teacher from New York City; Amanda Ting (GIFs 10–12), DPT, CSCS, a personal trainer at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC; Grace Pulliam (GIF 14), an aerial yoga and Vinyasa yoga teacher in New York City; and Alex Orr (GIF 15), a non-diet NASM-certified personal trainer and CNC.

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SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.