Dumbbells and heavy gym equipment have been (almost!) impossible to track down since the start of the pandemic, leading to an explosion in at-home bodyweight workouts. Unfortunately, they can only really take you so far – and unless you plan on deadlifting your sofa, you need to find another way to get past the plateau.

The simplest (and most affordable) solution? Resistance bands. Widely available, easy to store and hugely impactful, they can be integrated into any exercise to add challenge and muscle-building potential. Still, if you really want to get the best out of them, you should follow a specialised workout plan – and that’s why we asked Zack George, one of the world’s top CrossFit athletes and officially the UK’s Fittest Man 2020, to create a dedicated routine.

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"Resistance bands are a really versatile piece of equipment that can be used to add resistance to make basic bodyweight movements (like push ups, squats) more challenging," George tells us. "You can use resistance bands in many ways. I like to use bands for muscle activation when warming up for workouts, this helps to prime the muscles and reduce risk of injury. But the bands can also be used as part of your main workout too, as they’re great at building muscular strength in the same way that resistance from a dumbbell or kettlebell works."

DOMYOS 25kg Training Band
DOMYOS 25kg Training Band
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Credit: Decathlon
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Here are a couple of workouts to try out:

Workout 1: Resistance band x cardio

25-minute EMOM (work through the following movements every minute on the minute for 25 minutes. Work through all your reps, rest for the rest of the 60 seconds, then move onto the next move as soon as the clock hits zero again. Scale the reps as needed depending on fitness levels).

  1. 10-14 burpees
  2. 15-20 banded air squats
  3. 15-20 banded push ups
  4. 40 mountain climbers (right leg, left leg counts for 1 rep)
  5. 30 second banded hollow hold (if too hard to begin with, do non-banded)

Workout 2: Strength building focus

20 minute EMOM – upper body. Don’t just hammer out the reps quickly to get through them. Choose a rep range where you can keep good form and muscle activation for every rep.

  1. 10-20 reps banded bicep curls
  2. 10-20 reps banded tricep push downs
  3. 10-20 reps banded seated shoulder press
  4. 10-20 reps banded seated row

20 minute EMOM – lower body. Don’t just hammer out the reps quickly to get through them. Choose a rep range where you can keep good form and muscle activation for every rep.

  1. 10-20 reps banded good mornings
  2. 10-20 reps banded glute bridges
  3. 10-20 reps banded leg curl
  4. 10-20 reps banded calf raises

Tabata for 9 minutes: 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off – core finisher

  1. 30 sec banded hollow rocks or hollow holds
  2. 30 sec rest
  3. 30 sec banded sit ups
  4. 30 sec rest
  5. 30 sec V ups – no band
  6. 30 sec rest

Repeat for 9 minutes total.

G-SHOCK Presents Zack George: Road to Redemption available to watch now on Zack George's YouTube Channel


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