I also endorse resistance bands. I started doing strength for the very first time with resistance bands with an even cheaper strategy: bought some knock-off Chinese therabands on the internet for $2 each and started using them for various exercises. Some exercises I found on youtube and some I was given by a physiotherapist.
I never had a base plate so i was doing bicep curls by tucking the band under my foot -awkward! And at higher weights the pressure of the elastic on my hand was unpleasant. Eventually i graduated to actual dumbbells for certain exercises. I have four dumbells set up at different weights and just lift them at home. I throw in a few situps and some plank too.
I agree the huge advantage is the time cost. I can do a workout that takes 15 minutes right here at home. Even if it gets to 8pm and I forgot to do it that day I can squeeze it in whereas there's no way I'd get to a gym at that point.
Great to read your review. I’ve been keen to try resistance bands and gave brought myself a set.
They don’t have the bar or board but hopefully I’ll be able to get on with them. I’ve had some experience with HIT, Doug McGuff style.
I’ve also followed Dr BenBo’s 15min SMaRT training and was going to try the routine using the bands that’s in the book. But now you’ve told me about this other guy I’m going to check his book out.
Do you have a drill or impact driver? At home depot they'll cut a 2x12 for you the right size, and you can screw some blocks of wood on for feet. It'll feel better than the x3 base, and you can adjust the width for your height.
Duplicating the x3 bar is a massive pain in the ass though, do not recommend (mine works fine but the x3 bar is worth the time it'll save you).
(edit: you'll also need to round the edges so the bands don't fray.)
This might be interesting if it's possible to get in Europe without having to dick around with customs. I'm currently paying 10 Euros a week for a gym I don't go to, being able in less time than it takes to go to and from the gym would be a big win.
" I was only eating around 20g of protein per day instead of my usual 45g."
I was really interested in reading your review, thanks for putting it out there.
I gotta ask, if you are at all into building muscle, why is your protein intake so low (at 45g, wow, low!)? According to Dr. Jaquish, you should probably be eating 3 times that much or you won't gain muscle and you're just wasting your time, at least according to his training videos...
And if you're into losing weight, you should probably eat more protein anyway. That's what a lot of research shows.
Because muscle building is by far secondary for me, I'd much rather lose more fat first. In me, protein seems to massively inhibit my fat loss. If I have to take "no muscle built" or "very little muscle built" during that phase, I'll make that trade-off.
I think the research on "protein to lose weight" is largely wrong. There's just as much research showing the opposite, and the pro-research is often misinterpreted by gym bros. Check out my posts on this:
Haha sorry, I didn't mean "messed up" in a bad way, just that I was gasping for air after 2 minutes and there were 2 more to go :) I did Tabata sprints then, the protocol was 20s all-out effort, 10s rest, repeat 8 times for a 4 minute total workout.
Yea I opted for the regular one as well. Not sure you need the electronic one; after all you go to failure anyway, right? So maybe it'd give you the poundage instead of "30 reps with the light grey band," but is that useful? What different action would you take in the next workout?
Also, from reading the review, you've obviously been closely following and ecploring different nutrition and fitness trends and info for years.
For that reason, I curious why certain of your comments lead me to think you apparently think/thought strength training would/might lead to weight loss?
I didn't think anyone thought that anymore?
Again, I know you are on top of this stuff, which is why I asked.
They are much harder, with the front squad I didnt feel much leg stimulation. I had to quit because i was out of breath instead of muscular failure. I would actually recommend emulating the squat belt assisted split squats. You can achieve this by holding the bar with your hands (duh) instead of the belt (which is also awkward). Leave the bar in front of the plate and step on the plate with the leg you want to train. I would say this is more effective than regular split squats, maybe half or 2/3 as effective as the ones with the belt.
Yes, provided you step over the bar (with the band doubled under the baseplate as in the deadlift) and hold it between your legs as you do the exercise.
I also endorse resistance bands. I started doing strength for the very first time with resistance bands with an even cheaper strategy: bought some knock-off Chinese therabands on the internet for $2 each and started using them for various exercises. Some exercises I found on youtube and some I was given by a physiotherapist.
I never had a base plate so i was doing bicep curls by tucking the band under my foot -awkward! And at higher weights the pressure of the elastic on my hand was unpleasant. Eventually i graduated to actual dumbbells for certain exercises. I have four dumbells set up at different weights and just lift them at home. I throw in a few situps and some plank too.
I agree the huge advantage is the time cost. I can do a workout that takes 15 minutes right here at home. Even if it gets to 8pm and I forgot to do it that day I can squeeze it in whereas there's no way I'd get to a gym at that point.
Great to read your review. I’ve been keen to try resistance bands and gave brought myself a set.
They don’t have the bar or board but hopefully I’ll be able to get on with them. I’ve had some experience with HIT, Doug McGuff style.
I’ve also followed Dr BenBo’s 15min SMaRT training and was going to try the routine using the bands that’s in the book. But now you’ve told me about this other guy I’m going to check his book out.
Do you have a drill or impact driver? At home depot they'll cut a 2x12 for you the right size, and you can screw some blocks of wood on for feet. It'll feel better than the x3 base, and you can adjust the width for your height.
Duplicating the x3 bar is a massive pain in the ass though, do not recommend (mine works fine but the x3 bar is worth the time it'll save you).
(edit: you'll also need to round the edges so the bands don't fray.)
Must be a vegan. 45g of protein a day is ridiculous. One needs 150g minimum for basic human functioning.
Practically vegan, yes
💀
This might be interesting if it's possible to get in Europe without having to dick around with customs. I'm currently paying 10 Euros a week for a gym I don't go to, being able in less time than it takes to go to and from the gym would be a big win.
Yea you can, friend of mine did it. But he did have to pay a bunch of taxes in customs :( And they held it for a week or so.
" I was only eating around 20g of protein per day instead of my usual 45g."
I was really interested in reading your review, thanks for putting it out there.
I gotta ask, if you are at all into building muscle, why is your protein intake so low (at 45g, wow, low!)? According to Dr. Jaquish, you should probably be eating 3 times that much or you won't gain muscle and you're just wasting your time, at least according to his training videos...
And if you're into losing weight, you should probably eat more protein anyway. That's what a lot of research shows.
Because muscle building is by far secondary for me, I'd much rather lose more fat first. In me, protein seems to massively inhibit my fat loss. If I have to take "no muscle built" or "very little muscle built" during that phase, I'll make that trade-off.
I think the research on "protein to lose weight" is largely wrong. There's just as much research showing the opposite, and the pro-research is often misinterpreted by gym bros. Check out my posts on this:
https://www.exfatloss.com/p/not-losing-fat-on-ketocarnivore-try
https://www.exfatloss.com/p/show-me-the-bcaa-studies
have you looked into carolbike.com for super efficient cardio (24 minutes / week)?.
100 day refund if not useful
I have not, looks like they advocate Tabata style super short burst HIIT? I did a bunch of Tabata in my early 20s. Messed me up like nothing else :)
messed up how?
this bike is a lab quality bike - can control the resistance to get you to very high efforts fast, quick most bikes can't.
then they measure your heart rate etc, to optimize the exercise to your level automatically.
the quantity of exercise is 6 X 20 seconds total per week + 22 minutes warm up / cool down.
maybe sure to it's efficiency it wouldn't need u up?
Haha sorry, I didn't mean "messed up" in a bad way, just that I was gasping for air after 2 minutes and there were 2 more to go :) I did Tabata sprints then, the protocol was 20s all-out effort, 10s rest, repeat 8 times for a 4 minute total workout.
carol is:
2 minutes light warm up.
20 seconds "all out"
3 minutes light cycling
20 seconds "all out"
2 minutes cool down.
this seems to be easier. and you can in principle start with 10 seconds "all out" instead.
if you have a gym with an Assault bike, you can replicate it. but not perfectly.
PS. I ordered the X3 atrocity
considering to get it. interesting what's the version of theirs that measures your effort?
400 more. but excellent for quantifying I suppose...
of course, I don't know if it will work. so optimally I'll buy the regular. and seek to update if I persist
Yea I opted for the regular one as well. Not sure you need the electronic one; after all you go to failure anyway, right? So maybe it'd give you the poundage instead of "30 reps with the light grey band," but is that useful? What different action would you take in the next workout?
Great review.
Also, from reading the review, you've obviously been closely following and ecploring different nutrition and fitness trends and info for years.
For that reason, I curious why certain of your comments lead me to think you apparently think/thought strength training would/might lead to weight loss?
I didn't think anyone thought that anymore?
Again, I know you are on top of this stuff, which is why I asked.
One train of thought I was reading a lot back then went like this:
- Cardio bad for weight loss, just makes you hungry
- Strength training will build muscle
- More muscle -> more calories burned
- Over time, having more muscle will lead to higher RMR
- Over time, that will lead to fat loss and you will lean out once you're muscular
If that works, I never got to it.
OK. That makes perfect sense. I always think of this article when that topic comes up.
https://bradpilon.com/healthy-ramblings/how-many-calories-does-a-pound-of-muscle-burn-2/
Yea makes sense. And we build muscle so slowly, it would take people years to lose any real amounts of weight from that.
I would recommend using the x3 squat belt.
I only just started doing split squats and am still using the white band on squats, so was thinking I'll have some time until I need that.
Since I made my own base (and because I'm so tall), I can do zercher squats with mine (zerchers are amazing, love 'em).
It's a completely different exercise. It targets the muscles so much more effectively it's ridoculous.
Split squat does? Would you recommend I alternate between front/split or just do split?
It does seem like split squats are MUCH harder.
They are much harder, with the front squad I didnt feel much leg stimulation. I had to quit because i was out of breath instead of muscular failure. I would actually recommend emulating the squat belt assisted split squats. You can achieve this by holding the bar with your hands (duh) instead of the belt (which is also awkward). Leave the bar in front of the plate and step on the plate with the leg you want to train. I would say this is more effective than regular split squats, maybe half or 2/3 as effective as the ones with the belt.
So basically, do the split squat with a deadlift grip so you can double under the band?
Yes, provided you step over the bar (with the band doubled under the baseplate as in the deadlift) and hold it between your legs as you do the exercise.
"It requires so little space, you could probably work out in a closet"
Nice! Is it so small that it could tucked under a desk, say, and used in a regular boring office? Larger than a breadbox? ;)
Could definitely tuck it under a desk. It's longer but not as tall as a breadbox lol.