They check all the boxes: They’re versatile, compact, lightweight, inexpensive, and accessible to all levels. Exercise bands can be a key part in a quality home gym.  

Different options: Pull-Up Bands come in seven sizes with varying widths and colors. Bands start with XXX-Light (yellow), with a 0.25” thickness and 5-15lbs resistance, and they top out at X-Heavy (orange), which is 3.25” thick and creates 70-175lbs of resistance. 

How to use them: As the name suggests, a popular usage is to assist with pull-ups. If you can’t do an unassisted pull-up, they can make it easier. And if you can, they can allow for higher volume. But that’s far from the extent of their uses.  

You can attach resistance bands to on your power rack to create added or different resistance while weight training. This is especially helpful when training compound lifts. For example, attach the bands low and loop them around the ends of the barbell to help train your deadlift lockout by making the top portion of the lift the most difficult.  

You can also get in a full-body strength-training workout with just resistance bands: chest presses, squats, curls, rows, you name it. And no, that’s not just an empty promise. A published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that resistance bands had a similar effect on strength gains as regular gym equipment. Now, that’s likely not going to hold true for more experienced lifters and competitors, but for a new or average lifter, the important take-away is you can get in a good workout with bands.  

The size variations of the Pull-Up bands are designed for different levels of fitness and purposes.