While a barbell and some weights are all you really need to get in a good workout at home, there are other elements that can also be good for a home gym setup or to supplement your weight lifting. One great addition to your arsenal that is not only useful but is both inexpensive and extremely portable is the exercise band.
The exercise band can be purchased in a bunch of different resistances so is usable by people just getting into exercising as well as bodybuilders who have been at it for years.
For such a simple piece of equipment, the exercise band is extremely versatile. It can be used to add resistance for squats, presses and curls, just to name a few different exercises. The downside is that there is a limit to the amount of resistance available and you can’t really perform max weight lifts, nor are you really able to translate the amount of resistance from an exercise band to the amount of resistance in weights. However, for a circuit style low to high intensity workout, resistance bands can be incredibly useful.
One great resistance band exercise that I enjoy is a squat to shoulder press. Stand on the exercise band with your feet about a shoulder’s width apart, straddling the center of the band. Hold each handle in the respective hand. Go down into a deep squat and then stand, imediately going into a shoulder press with the band. That’s a single rep. Do several sets of 10 to 20 of these as part of a circuit of either weight lifting or body weight exercises.
About.com has some more information and sample resistance band exercises here.
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