HOW IT WORKS
Elebands wearable weight bands work on the principle of progressive overload. Progressive overload is a well-established concept of resistance training in exercise science and is the gradual increase of the demands placed on your muscles over time.
But how does all this play into getting fit, strong, toned, and better coordinated when you wear these bands all day without having to go to the gym?
It’s All About Resistance
Wearable weight bands like Elebands, and traditional resistance training equipment like dumbbells and kettlebells, are both effective tools for improving fitness, strength and muscle tone. However, these tools work in slightly different ways due to the differences in their design and mechanism of action.
Worn on the wrists, waist, and ankles, Elebands provide constant resistance to your muscles as you go about your daily life. Hand weights like dumbbells and kettlebells, however, are held in the hand during exercise, allowing for the isolation of specific muscle groups.
This type of equipment is often used for exercises such as bicep curls or chest presses, effectively targeting specific muscle groups, whilst Elebands provide an effective means of resistance training that targets a wider range of movements and muscle groups, with the body working as a single functional unit.
Free Weights vs Wearable
When compared to traditional hand weights, which offer a more limited range of motion, the use of wearable weights allows for a more dynamic and functional approach to resistance training. When you wear Elebands throughout the day, you subject your muscles to a greater amount of resistance than what they are typically accustomed to.
The wrist and ankle weight bands increase the resistance of movements at the extremities of the body, which results in greater muscle activation, metabolic cost, and energy expenditure during everyday activity.
They work by adding load to the limbs, leading to the engagement of additional muscle fibers in the response of providing force to overcome the added weight. The result is a more efficient and effective movement pattern that engages a larger number of muscle groups.
Body as a Functional Unit
The wearable weight bands allow for more integration of functional movements that closely mimic the movements performed in daily life, such as carrying groceries, climbing the stairs, standing up from the office chair, walking, doing house chores, picking the kids’ toys up from the floor, or getting that shoebox from the top shelf of the bedroom wardrobe.
From various planes of motion, such as sideways, rotational, forward, backward, and diagonal movements, wearable weights provide a wider range of complexity on the neuromuscular system.
So your entire body is now constantly working at low intensity, steady-state resistance overload which amounts to hundreds, if not thousands, of motor pattern body movement repetitions throughout the entire day. The amount of work you do when wearing Elebands during a regular 12-16 hour day, becomes the functional equivalent of a twenty-minute gym or aerobics session!
All-Day Resistance
The low-intensity demands imposed on your body as you go about your day act as a stimulus to your central nervous system through your muscles. The stimulus triggers the body to make physiological overcompensations, resulting in adaptations to these demands.
In the case of the low, steady-state intensity of the daily wearable weight bands, these adaptations take the form of increased muscular tone, strength, muscular endurance, and neuromuscular control over time.
A Whole Host of Benefits
Studies have shown that wearable weights lead to increased caloric expenditure and oxygen consumption, indicating that this type of passive resistance training has a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health and weight loss.
Wearable weight bands also increase proprioception, which helps to improve body awareness and agility. In conjunction with neuromuscular activity, this results in improved balance, which can benefit individuals who are in physical therapy or sports rehabilitation, older adults, and populations at risk of falling.
Functionality
Although hand weights can provide effective resistance training, they are limited in their range of motion and engagement of muscle groups. You also have to go out of your way to make a workout out of it! They may not engage certain muscles that are vital in movements, leaving them unchallenged and leading to imbalances in the body.
However, Elebands on your wrists, waist, and ankles as you go about your day places resistance on your entire body; your forearms, triceps, biceps, triceps, shoulders, abdominals, obliques, lower back, other erector postural muscles, hips, glutes, thighs, hamstrings, and calves all get that work!
Weight Selection
When selecting an appropriate weight for wearable bands, a general guideline is to choose one that is 5- 10% of your body weight. This weight resistance must be gradually increased so as to progressively overload the body over time. Starting with a lighter weight is crucial to avoid injury and discomfort.
Additionally, it is important to consider individual differences when selecting the appropriate weight. Factors such as age, sex, and training status can impact the amount of weight that is appropriate and effective for an individual. Age-related changes in muscle mass can influence the amount of weight that is appropriate, with older adults generally requiring a lower percentage of their body weight due to age related muscle loss.
Wear Your Way to Fitness
All in all, Elebands wearable weight bands transform regular, everyday “going-about my-business” activities, into a passive exercise program makes getting and staying fit realistic and achievable literally without having to break a sweat!