Our Micro Bands may be the first thing to come to mind when thinking rehab / prehab products, but our 41” Power Bands are so versatile they can be used for strengthening major motor patterns as well as a warm up or prehab session.

Below I’ve detailed a quick go-to guide for how to use the
bands for conditioning the body against injury. You can use one or all of these
exercises, depending on which of your joints are more susceptible to injury and
how thoroughly you warm up.

Shoulders

Shoulder Circles

Sometimes referred to as shoulder
dislocations (a name I vehemently disagree with, no-one should be trying to
dislocate their shoulder), keep the arms straight and comfortably spread in a
loose V. Keeping your shoulders at the same angle, raise your arms above and over
your head, resting when the band touches your back. The wider your hands, the
easier the mobility demands but more tension placed on the band.

This is particularly handy for overhead athletes, such as Olympic lifters and swimmers.

Pull Aparts

Start with your hands in front of you, and bring your hands out to the sides as far as they can go. Imagine the mirror image of a chest fly. Excellent for activating the upper back muscles, which are frequently neglected in the course of training and day-to-day life. Change up the angle to target different areas.

Hips

Monster Walks

Loop the band around your feet, and cross the top of the band in an X-shape, holding with each hand. Walk forwards, backwards or laterally to activate the muscles in the side of the hip, including gluteus medius and glutes maximus. Can also contribute to ankle stability for those prone to rolling their ankles.

Horse Kicks

In a quadruped position, loop the band around one foot and your hands. Kick one leg back, focussing on the contraction of gluteus maximus.

Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

Loop the band around one foot. With the second foot extended behind you, hip hinge down to your foot, keeping tension on your hamstring and glute. Push your hips forward to complete the rep. Handy for developing mobility, proprioception and gluteal awareness.

Ankles

Seated calf raises

Sitting on the ground, loop the band around one or both feet. Let the band pull the toes towards the body (dorsiflex) to achieve a stretch, then point the toes to contract the calf muscles. Adjusting the angle of the band can help improve the stabilisers responsible for preventing rolled ankles (this is best suited for one foot at a time).

Total Body / Core

Low to High Wood Chop

Loop the band around your left foot. Explosively rip the band from your left foot to above your right shoulder. Follow with a set using your other side.