Why You Should Add Resistance Bands To Your Treadmill Workout

If you're looking to challenge yourself and improve your fitness game, you might want to try adding resistance bands to your treadmill workout routine. Resistance bands are lightweight, elastic bands used for strength training that work by adding external tension or resistance to help strengthen your muscles. According to experts at Self, using resistance bands during a treadmill workout is a great way to combine both cardio and strength training into one exercise and yield more effective results.

Emily Samuel, a trainer at Dogpound in New York City, told Self that resistance bands "help you get faster and be more explosive." As a matter of fact, Samuel says that looping a resistance band around your hips and having a trainer or fitness partner hold onto it while you run or walk on the treadmill can help improve your speed and acceleration and engage your muscles by forcing your "body to recruit muscle fibers more quickly."

If you're a beginner, however, it's best to start off with resistance band treadmill exercises that are lighter and a little less challenging. In fact, before you break out into a run, you should incorporate some easy upper-body strength training into your workout routine while walking at a brisk pace (via Treadmill Reviews). For instance, one great resistance band treadmill exercise you can try is known as the bow and arrow, which involves starting with your arms bent at your chest, while holding both sides of the resistance band. Then, extend your left arm in front of you, pulling your right elbow behind you, as if pulling the string of a bow.

Another effective resistance band exercise is the chest press. To perform this exercise, loop your resistance band around your back and tuck it under your arms, holding either side in your hands. After that, you can raise your arms to your shoulders and bend them at a 90-degree angle, lowering one arm down to straighten at shoulder height, and then switching sides. You can also try the rear delt fly, which entails holding onto each end of the resistance band and lifting your arms up to your shoulder level. Once that's done, extend your arms out to either side of your body, and repeat.

Generally speaking, resistance bands are associated with many health and fitness benefits. Not only are they lightweight and easy to carry around, but they're also versatile. This means that you can use them anywhere and perform many different exercises with them (via Live Science). Using resistance bands can also help work multiple muscles at once, strengthening your muscles and giving you a full-body workout.

"Resistance bands workouts also activate the 'stabilizers,' the major muscle groups that, you guessed it, stabilize and support the body so they are really efficient for building core strength and stability," personal trainer, Jen Skym, told Live Science. In addition to improving physical strength, resistance bands can also help you burn fat. If you're looking to gain muscle and lose body fat, resistance band exercises can be very effective. That's because they can create an "after-burn" effect, which can help you burn more calories and fat long after you've finished working out.