Resistance Training for Gymnastics

What is resistance band training?

Resistance band training is a technique used by gymnastics and cheerleading coaches to enhance their athletes’ performances.  Resistance band training activates the core muscles for stability and balance and builds up leg strength for tumbling and jumps. It is also a great tool to use for flexibility training.

I’ve been looking into the most effective, safe way to implement resistance band training into my team training plans. There are a few options:

Therabands 

These have been used by many gymnastics coaches and have proven to be an asset to my training and a hit with recreational lesson planning. Check out how I used them to make a simple log roll AWESOME!

Beyond the funky colors, these silly bands (what I call them) really stink. They don’t last, pieces of them are found all over the gym and they ALWAYS go missing! I’m tempted to think they find their way to a gymnasts home every night. They were a total waste of my money and I will not be purchasing these ever again.

Bodylastics

This is a complete resistance training system. They come will a full set of ready to use straps and bands. For the basic workout system you can get:

• 1 D.G.S. Anti-Snap yellow band (3 lbs.)
• 1 D.G.S. Anti-Snap green band (5 lbs.)
• 1 D.G.S. Anti-Snap red band (8 lbs.)
• 1 D.G.S. Anti-Snap blue band (13 lbs.)
• 2 Heavy duty foam covered handles
•  2 Heavy duty ankle straps
• 1 Heavy duty door anchor
• 1 Workouts DVD with digital user manual
• 1 Three Month Free trial to Liveexercise*
• 1 storage/travel bag
• Lifetime Warranty

I wonder how heavy duty, heavy duty is. If they've ever visited our gym it would have to mean nearly impossible to ruin but I'm happy that these are guaranteed Anti-snap! These give us more versatility than those silly therabands as we can anchor them and use them for leg exercises.

CLICK HERE to see the workout system that is used by Pro Athletes, the U.S. Military and S.W.A.T. teams for their training.

KB Powerbands 

KBand Leg resistant bands and KB Powerbands are possibly the most advanced in resistance training. They are neoprene bands that are attached just above the knee and resistance bands are clipped together. They more resistance bands can be clipped  and be used for an arm workout as well. Take a look at what one gym is doing with them.

What I love about the KBands training website is that they have so many free videos and it’s so easy to think of training ideas for gymnastics. In fact, they have a whole section on cheerleading and gymnastics. Head on over to learn more about KB PowerBands.

Do you use resistance training at your gym? Please share, I would love to hear more.