Resistance Bands= LBS ???

Question:

I have fallen in love with Resistance Bands. I’ve been doing quit a few different exercises that I have found online, and added to “MY WORKOUTS”… How do I know how many lbs of resistance I am doing so I can effectively document my workouts?

I have two resistance bands- both are blue with black handles- I got them at Target in the $2.50 section (they also had Red & Black Colored Bands), one is a loop- and the other is a long one, with a handle on each end.
For being so inexpensive, they actually work really good, and it feels as though there is alot of resistence.

I HAD some other bands that were just the flat rubber band looking ones from a physical therapist- one was blue and one was orange- some how they disappeared…by my 3 year old…. anyway, it seems as though these blue ones are more comfy to use, but it seems as though there is more resistance.

Again… I guess my question is, how can I tell how much resistance there is?

I should also write that I also use 3 & 5 lb hand weights that I also love to use… I usually do the res. bands first, then move onto the hand weights.

The object is losing weight… but I hate cardio- when I do cardio, I usually do it with the hand weights.

I found this on a website that sells the bands. I have no idea how this relates to your bands since they are from the target $1 section. This fits for the bands stretched to 100% stretch.

Very Light (yellow) 4.5 lbs

Light (green) 10 lbs

Medium (red) 14 lbs

Heavy (blue) 16 lbs

Heavy (black) 20 lbs

The resistance on those bands is very light. And the few pounds that it adds won’t really change much in terms of how dailyburn calculates your calorie burn. So, I wouldn’t worry about it from that point of view.

But, keep track of what you’re doing so that you can see if you’ve progressed. Also, consider using the weights and bands at the same time if you can figure out away to do that.

thanks chaddukes! I’ll have to try that out… I honestly feel like my “form” is better when I use the bands… and it does seem “heavier” then my 5lb hand weights… but I guess I’ll have to just go with the flow! I am getting the P90X soon… so I’m trying to acclimate myself to workouts/weights as much as possible.

aheath… thanks for that info also…

I know if I would have actually purchased a “brand” of the bands, it probably would have told me the lbs of resistance… but I could not pass up the price!

(Now I’m making a fool out of myself for mentioning this, but I figured it couldn’t hurt). I also like using resistance bands. I had a great upper body routine going (I would do a set of push ups and then a set using the resistance band looped over the coat hook on the door and did a set of pull downs…anyway, after set three I was going pretty strong and I pulled the coat hook right off the door and it hit me full speed right in the middle of my sternum! So just be REALLY careful with the bands if you loop them over something to do pull downs, tricep presses, etc…

Of course, it’s common sense, I knew that I should have used a sturdier place to put the band, but we all know how it is when you get into your routine and want to get going..always play it safe at home!

And they can break….no fun!