Can You Use Resistance Bands Everyday

Can You Use Resistance Bands Everyday? 4 Critical Questions to Consider

Can you use resistance bands everyday?

If you’ve got yourself a set of resistance bands – or are planning to – you’re probably wondering whether you can use them daily or not.

The truth is, nothing is stopping you from using your resistance bands every day. You can even use them more than once per day. But, to determine whether you need to use them daily, you need to ask yourself some critical questions.

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Let’s see what they are:

Can You Use Resistance Bands Everyday? The 4 Critical Questions

Question #1 – What are Your Exercise Goals?

One of the most critical questions you need to ask yourself when trying to determine your training frequency is, “What am I looking to get out of it?” 

Are you training for strength and muscle gain? Or maybe you do it for general fitness and health?

In the context of traditional muscle-building programs, research suggests that training each muscle group twice per week appears to be most beneficial for muscle gain (1). Based on that, we can design training programs that fit our schedule, preferences, and ability to train. For example, if you follow a program like this:

  • Monday – Chest, triceps, and shoulders
  • Tuesday – Back and biceps
  • Wednesday – Legs
  • Thursday – Chest, triceps, and shoulders
  • Friday – Back and biceps
  • Saturday – Legs

It would make sense, so long as you can recover well and improve.

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Question #2 – How Much Time can you Spend Exercising?

Research has found a tight correlation between training volume and progress – the more we do, the better we progress (2). So, no matter our circumstances, we must find ways to finish our training each week.

The great thing about exercise is that you can spread your weekly training in many ways. For example, if you can’t (or don’t want to) spare more than thirty minutes for exercise, it would make sense to exercise more often. In that case, using resistance bands every day would make sense. 

In fact, that could even be beneficial because research also suggests that resting more between sets is positively correlated with growth and effective training (3, 4).

But, if your workouts are incredibly long and demanding, and you want to make them daily, then you might start running into recovery issues and find yourself overtraining.

Question #3 – What is Your Recoverability Like?

Another vital question to consider is what your recoverability is like. For example, if you tend to recover well between workouts and daily exercise isn’t much of an issue, exercising daily can be a great habit. 

But, if recovering is a problem and you feel sore for days after training, you might want to give yourself more time. 

This will also heavily depend on:

  • How demanding each workout is – if you train daily, it’s better to have shorter and less intense sessions.
  • How adapted you are to your current training – it’s normal to feel sorer when you first start a new training program, but the body gradually adapts to that level of stress.
  • How experienced you are with training – the more years you’ve put into training, the higher your work capacity and recoverability will be.

Question #4 – Is it Possible to Achieve the Same Results by Doing Less?

Prevailing wisdom suggests that more is better. This is true to some degree, but there is more to it. You see, training volume (the amount of training we do) is tightly correlated with muscle growth (2). The more we do, the more we seem to grow. But, this beneficial relationship is up to a point. Eventually, we reach a point where doing more work doesn’t deliver better results and can instead have the opposite effect: muscle loss.

So, it’s essential to remain objective when picking your weekly training frequency and ask yourself, “Can I achieve the same results by doing less work?” 

This is important for two reasons:

First, it allows you to initially train well within your limits and still achieve the best possible results. Why do more work for the sake of spending more time in the gym when you can train smart and spend half the time and effort for the same outcome?

Second, it gives you room to increase training volume once you notice that progress has slowed down. In contrast, if you start with high volume, you won’t have room to do more work later because you will already be near your limits.

Final Words: Can You Use Resistance Bands Everyday?

Sure! But do you really NEED to use resistance bands every day? Well, it depends…

By answering the four questions listed in this article, you should be able to determine if using resistance bands every day is a good fit for you.

Tips: To add variation, combine resistance band training with calisthenics exercises. You can find a large collection of calisthenics, bodyweight exercises, and workout routines within my strength building resource. Go check it out!

See you there.

Other Helpful Resources

References

  1. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2016 Nov;46(11):1689-1697. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8.
  2. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Jan; 51(1): 94–103.
  3. Rest interval between sets in strength training. Sports Med. 2009;39(9):765-77. doi: 10.2165/11315230-000000000-00000.
  4. Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Jul;30(7):1805-12. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001272.