The Best Home Exercise Bands For Strength Training, Stretching, And More

Exercise bands are a great way to add in resistance training at home without the hassle of weights or bulky equipment. Here are our favorites.

Not only are there so many different ways to train your body with home exercise bands, but most are so much cheaper than buying a gym membership! Strength training, physical therapy, stretching, and even plyometric workouts can all incorporate exercise bands, whether you’re new or experienced to working out.

Our roundup of home exercise bands touches on different kinds of training, from strength training to pull ups to stretching. And the great part about the exercise bands on our list is that even if you use them in your home, they’re all portable so you can use them anywhere—in different rooms of your house, your gym, and even while traveling.

Best TRX Bands: Intent Sports Bodyweight Fitness Resistance Trainer Kit ($55)

TRX stands for total body resistance exercise, which uses a system based on suspension exercises to help with agility, endurance, speed, and strength. The Intent Sports Bodyweight Fitness Resistance Trainer Kit contains two resistance straps, a “12 Week Program” eBook, and a carrying bag. Whether you’re new to working out or you’re an experienced weightlifter, this kit is perfect for all levels. Plus, you can do the band exercises quickly for cardio, slowly for strength, or both for toning your muscles.

Using just these bands, you can have a gym in your very own home—with only your body weight! Anchor the Intent Sports bands to a closed door or use the two carabiners to strap these bands on a bar, post, or any sturdy structure. Your upper body will get a workout with standing push ups or pull ups from different angles, while your core can get a good workout by placing your feet into the foot cradles below the handles for reverse crunches. With only 2 bands, you can work every muscle in your body.

Best Resistance Bands for Legs: Limm Resistance Bands ($10)

While you’ll be able to see solid results using TRX Bands, maybe you’re looking for a simpler way to work your whole body (without anchoring or attaching straps anywhere). With Limm Resistance Bands, you can tone your arms, back, legs, butt, and ankles without expensive or heavy equipment. These flexible and durable Latex bands are 12 inches long and come in a set of 5, each with different resistances.

Use these bands for warming up, stretching, physical therapy, yoga, pilates, or your own workouts. One example of how you could use these bands in a workout would be to add tension in your legs as you place a band over your thighs to squat. Another would be to place a band under your foot and do bicep curls with the band. The possibilities for working or stretching your body with these bands are endless!

These Limm bands are designed to work with all different kinds of workouts. Plus, if you already have workouts you do, you can easily add these bands to your normal routines without having to learn any new moves or forms. But if you’re looking for workouts with these bands, you can use the 45 page eBook with home workouts, the online portal with video tutorials, or even the instruction manual.

Best Resistance Tubes for Arms: Tribe Resistance Workout Bands ($21)

The Tribe Resistance Workout Bands Set is similar to the Limm Resistance Bands above, except these help you focus more on strength training, especially since these bands come with handles for easy grip. This 11 piece band set comes with 2 grip handles, 1 door safe anchor, 2 ankle straps, 5 color-coded resistance tubes (yellow has a 5 lb resistance, green has 15 lbs, red has 20 lbs, blue has 30 lbs, and black has 35 lbs), and a waterproof carrying bag.

Use these bands individually or stack them for up to 105 lbs of resistance combined. Use the door anchor to work on your back, legs, or abs, or use your own body to guide the bands into training your shoulders, arms, chest and glutes. Use the different resistances for various workouts by switching out the handles on the clips of the bands.

Lastly, these bands are great if you’re traveling and are looking for intensity in your workout on the go. Plus, the carrying bag makes this kit compact and portable.

Best Pull Up Bands: INTEY Pull Up Bands ($33)

In our article, The Best Tools for Pull-Ups at Home, we wrote about how the INTEY Pull Up Bands were great for assisting you with pull-ups. Pull-ups are a difficult exercise to master, so having these band can help you eventually get to the point where you’re doing pull-ups on your own! These bands come in 4 different colors and thicknesses (and ultimately, resistances), so you can use them on their own or combine for more resistance.

The red band provides the least amount of resistance at 15 to 35 lbs, while the black band provides 25 to 65 lbs, the purple band provides 35 to 85 lbs, and the green band provides 50 to 125 lbs of resistance. You’ll get stronger as you train with these bands, so you’ll see that you’re able to lower the resistance band levels over time.

The INTEY Pull Up Bands can be used for other exercises as well. Use the lower resistance bands for stretching and light strength training, while the medium to moderate resistance bands can be used for more intense mobility exercises (similar to those done with the Limm Resistance Bands).

Best Bands for Stretching: Super Exercise Band ($13)

Many of the other bands on our list can be used for stretching, but the Super Exercise Band is made specifically for stretching, physical therapy, and beginners looking to begin strength training. This 7-foot long, 6-inch wide green band (which is not a loop) offers a light tension of 3 to 6 lbs. Since the band is so long, you have the option to tie the band into a loop or wrap the ends over your hands.

This Super Exercise Band comes with a mini door anchor that allows you to thread the band through the loop of the anchor and shut the anchor into a door to secure it. This allows you to complete stretches that you wouldn’t normally able to do with just your own body. Note that the Super Exercise Band comes in 10 other tension combinations as well, ranging from 1 to 26 lbs.