The 13 Best Resistance Bands

“Loop bands can work for any person at any fitness level,” says Anja Garcia, an AFAA-certified personal fitness trainer. Each loop offers a different degree of resistance. And this brand, in particular, provides a carrying bag to hold them, a guidebook, and online workout videos. 

For a full-body workout Tatiana Lampa, ACSM-certified personal trainer, turns to these mini-bands. She uses them to work her outer thighs, glutes, back, chest, abs, and arms. And since she can take the lightweight loops anywhere, she’ll never miss workout.

This band is ideal for a warmup. Katherine Ellis, NASM-certified personal trainer, instructor at Our Body Electric, and coach at Uplift Studios, calls it a “highly durable training tool” that’s perfect for activating the hip and glute muscles before any heavy lifting. Engage your muscles by pulling this loop onto your thighs, and after a few hip thrusts, they’ll be able to better handle the stress of the weights you turn to next. 

These non-latex bands “are excellent for rehabilitation, improving functional daily activities, and enhancing athletic performance,” says Sarah Gawron, an AFAA-certified trainer. She loves them because they’re an “effective alternative” to free weights like dumbbells and kettlebells, plus, they’re ideal for anyone with latex sensitivities.

At six-feet long, this band features elastic loops that are ideal for anchoring your feet or hands during stretches and muscle recovery moves. “This is a great tool for improving flexibility,” Ellis says. Stuck on which moves are best? You’re covered, the strap comes with a guide.

Loop this oval-shaped resistance band around your ankles and prepare to feel your booty burn while performing lower-body exercises like lunges. 

These Gold's Gym bands are a bargain buy. You get three with different levels of resistance, and are so lightweight that you can easily carry them anywhere. You can couple them up for strong resistance.

If you’ve been trying to master the pullup (you beast, you), these need to be in your arsenal. Garcia gave a shout out to these 41-inch long super-bands that you can tie around a pullup bar to lift your bodyweight during assisted pullups, which are great for your back and your lats. They’re tough, she says, but totally worth it.

These bands help tone and sculpt your booty from all angles. Each pack comes with both a heavy and a light band, so you can mix up your workout. One customer writes, "These add soooo much to my  workouts and helps me get that deep burn I love. Thank you TIU team! Love you all!"

Upgrade your side-to-side (a.k.a. lateral) movements with these advanced power bands meant for improving the mobility of your hips, legs and shoulders. According to one customer, these are perfect for both upper body and lower body exercises: "Bands work perfectly for upper body and lower body work. The lightest resistance I use for upper body/shoulder exercises, and the medium and heaviest are perfect for leg work!"

“These are my absolute favorite bands for home use” says Pete McCall, ACE-certified personal trainer and author of Smarter Workouts. “They can be placed in a door frame or around a solid object,” he says, which is perfect for standing resistance training exercises.

Level up any lower-body sculpting class with this ankle resistance bands. They're specifically designed to let you move in all three planes of motion–front to back, side to side, diagonally—so that you can train your muscles from every angle. 

This resistance band is specifically made for enhancing your single and double arm and leg exercises. It's available in different levels of resistance, and one reviewer loved the band's durability. "I have had mine about two years and they have not snapped or broken like other products frequently do. I like the self-centering sliding guide as it prevents tangles and equalizes pressure on each end of the device."