With the start of the new year comes a barrage of new year’s resolutions. The self-promise to exercise more and get healthier is one resolution that commonly comes up time and time again.
Reclaiming one’s health and getting back to where you once were doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think. The key to meeting this goal is to make it attainable and realistic to achieve. You should aim to make gradual progress over time and incorporate more practical movements into your lifestyle. Start out simple and gradually up the intensity over time as you rise to the challenge and grow stronger. If you are an avid athlete, you too can reset goals to achieve greater sports performance in 2018
For Supporting a Healthier, Stronger You, Resistance Training Is an Ideal Place to Start
Resistance training can make incredible contributions to your health, while not being all that time intensive. Along with making your body substantially stronger, research has shown that resistance training can help with:
- Long-term body fat loss
- Decreasing your risk of osteoporosis
- Reducing your risk of injury, back pain, and arthritis
- Decreasing your risk of heart disease
- Lessening your risk of diabetes
How to Start Resistance Training Wherever You Are in Life
If you haven’t been adequately strength training on a consistent basis for quite some time, jumping right into lifting heavy free weights is not the best idea. This will be a shock to your system and could potentially be dangerous and put you at a greater risk of injury. Starting out with resistance cords is one excellent way to become a healthier, stronger version of yourself.
8 Simple, Highly-Effective Exercises That Can Be Done with Resistance Cords
- Pull Downs
Attach either the Original Strechcordz® with Handles S100 or the Turfcordz® with Handles S127 to a sturdy beam. Externally rotate your shoulders and pull the band handle towards you. Finish each rep with flexed back muscles to support better posture in your day to day life.
- Bicep Curls
Again using either the Original Strechcordz® with Handles S100 or the Turfcordz® with Handles S127, aim for high rep bicep curls by stepping on the middle of the resistance cords and pulling the handles toward your front shoulder. Keep your body language to a minimum, torso rigid, abs braced, and glutes flexed while doing this movement pattern. These curls are great for elbow joint health.
- Triceps Pushdowns
Tricep pushdowns are an excellent exercise to do in between recovery from bicep curls. Superseding the tricep curls with bicep curls makes this exercise easier on your joints. Stand tall while holding the handles of your band and bending your elbows slowly up and down – feeling tension in your triceps while pushing the band down. Work on keeping your elbows at your side and don’t let your shoulders internally rotate or allow your body to lean in.
- Accommodated Pushups
Finally, either of the two resistance cords listed above can be used to make your pushups more effective for you to increase triceps strength, pec strength, and anterior deltoid strength. Wrap the band around your back and hold the handles securely in your hands as you do as many pushups as possible.
- Squats
Now to best target your legs, start by utilizing the Squat Cordz S99-Turfcordz® and stand on the center of the resistance bands while slowly doing squats. The resistance all the way through your body’s range of motion will challenge your quadriceps and glutes and enhance your body’s range of motion.
- Single Leg Lunges
To make sure both your legs are equally powerful and strong, stabilizing exercises such as single leg lunges with the Bungie Rehab Kit M394 & M397-Medicordz® are an excellent addition to any resistance training program. To make it more challenging, hold each single leg lunge as long as possible to develop an increased tolerance to lactic acid in your legs.
- Resisted Pool Running
To complete a full body workout session, adding in some resistance cardio can be highly beneficial. Utilizing the Safety Cord Short Belt S600-Strechcordz® allows you to get an intense interval workout to quickly up your heart rate and complete a successful workout session. Incorporating a sprint workout in the pool places minimal impact on your body and maximizes fat loss. Start by doing something like 30 seconds all out running, and then run 1 minute easy 8 to 10 times. You don’t need a lot of pool space for this or even a lane line. You can perform these drills in a small backyard pool, therapy pool or hotel pool.
- Resisted Swimming
If you are more of a skilled swimmer, opt for a resisted swim workout with the Safety Cord Short Belt S600-Strechcordz instead to get a better upper body workout as well doing your cardio.
Make 2018 Your Healthiest Year Yet
Commit to incorporating more strength training into your daily routine with practical resistance cord exercises. All the resistance training products mentioned in this post from NZ Manufacturing are portable and can be utilized in all types of places. Better health is right around the corner with NZ Manufacturing. If you have any questions about any or our products and their application, don’t hesitate to call us today at 1-800-886-6621 or fill out our online contact form. We look forward to helping you have a healthier and happier 2018!
