A full body band workout at home: the 12 best exercises for a complete resistance band workout. The closest thing you can get to having a full-body workout machine at home!
You probably know by now that I am a huge proponent of investing in your own home gym equipment, whether it’s resistance bands and some weights, or fully decking out a garage gym with barbells and equipment. You can even learn bodyweight exercises and perfect them. I just think it’s hugely important to always be able to exercise. Specifically, strength training is important to be able to do regularly.
Today I’ll teach you a full-body resistance band workout. Resistance band workouts are great for so many reasons! Resistance bands are so portable: they’re lightweight and their compact design makes them easy to store and transport. They’re similar to the functional trainer at the gym, but you can take them with you wherever you go, whether it’s on vacation, to the office, or outdoors.
The Benefits of Resistance Bands
They offer a wide range of resistance levels, allowing you to easily adjust the intensity of your workouts by using different bands or adjusting the length of the band. This versatility makes them suitable for people of all fitness levels, from beginners to advanced athletes. Heck, you can even share bands in the same workout without the time or effort of adjusting weights/machine settings, etc.
My favorite bands are the kind pictured above, that I’m using in my garage gym. I prefer these laminated ones rather than the tubing. I’ve bought so many of these because I use them everywhere. (This is an affiliate link to the band I use. If you purchase through this link, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
Resistance bands are also relatively inexpensive, compared to most exercise equipment. You can get a full set of bands for a fraction of the cost of traditional gym equipment. They’re a great tool for a full body band workout at home.
You can set up your workout station even on the go, in a hotel room or outside. Bands don’t take up much space, but they give you the resistance you need for great training.
They allow you to work every muscle group in your body and perform a wide variety of exercises, including squats, lunges, chest presses, rows, bicep curls, shoulder presses, and more. Plus, you can easily modify exercises to make them easier or more challenging by adjusting your grip or stance.
This provides a smooth and controlled resistance throughout the entire range of motion, which can be gentler on your joints compared to free weights or machines. This makes them an excellent option for people recovering from injuries or dealing with joint pain.
Overall, resistance bands are a convenient, affordable, and effective tool for home workouts, allowing you to get a full-body workout without the need for a gym membership or equipment that takes up your whole garage so that you can’t park in the garage during random Austin hailstorms. Oddly specific, I know.
The Full Body Band Workout
Below is a list of the 12 exercises that I recommend for a full body resistance band workout. Farther in the article is a description of how to do each, along with videos.
- band pullaparts
- band pullaparts pulldowns
- squats with resistance bands
- banded push-ups
- banded rows
- standing banded shoulder press
- lateral band walks
- banded glute bridges
- alternating leg lifts with bands
- banded lat pulldowns
- banded bicep curls
- banded deadlifts
These exercises provide a full-body workout using resistance bands and can be easily modified to suit your fitness level and goals.
How to Do The Band Exercises
Band Pullaparts
These are classic band exercises. Pullaparts are great for back, shoulders, and good posture. To do the band pullapart:
- stand tall
- extend your arms in front of you, gripping a light band
- keep elbows straight but not locked as you press your arms straight around your side
- I prefer palms down but you can experiment with different hand positions
- squeeze your shoulders behind you as you make a big wide sweep with your arms
- press until the band touches your chest
- control the return to your start position and repeat
Band Pullaparts (Pulldown)
Upper body work is tough to do without pulling machines, but this is another great pulling band exercise.If it feels abstract with you, experiment until you can feel your lats (underneath your armpits) squeezing. BTW, I named these pullapart pulldowns. If you have a better name, please let me know. 🙏🏼
To do the band pullapart pulldown:
- stand tall holding the band slightly wider than shoulder width
- initiate the pull by squeezing your shoulder blades down
- pull until the band is neck level
- you can pull in front of your behind your head
Squats with Resistance Bands
The resistance band adds extra tension to target your glutes, quads, and hamstrings. This is one of the best lower body resistance band exercises. To do squats with resistance bands:
- place the resistance band under your feet and hold the handles at shoulder height
- perform squats by pushing your hips back and bending your knees
- keep your feet flat on the ground
- press your big toes into the ground as you drive back into your start position
Banded Pushups
Banded pushups are pretty fun! If you aren’t proficient with non-banded pushups, work on those first. These add a challenge, for sure. To do banded pushups:
- loop the resistance band around your back and hold the ends in each hand while in a push-up position
- perform push-ups while maintaining tension on the band, engaging your chest, shoulders, and triceps
Banded Rows
There are a few ways you can do rows with the band. You can do them standing, seated, and with the band anchored from wherever is secure. To do banded rows:
- stand with the band anchored in front or you or sit on the floor with your legs extended and loop the resistance band around your feet
- hold the ends of the band with both hands, palms facing each other
- perform rows by pulling the band towards your torso, squeezing your shoulder blades together to engage your back muscles
- again, I beg of you, make sure this band is secure! Please please don’t let it slip off and pop yourself in the face
Standing Band Shoulder Press (Overhead Press)
I prefer to do this one arm at a time so I am going to give you directions that way. To do the standing band shoulder press:
- stand with your right foot on a light band
- keeping your entire body engaged, hold the band in your right hand and press your right hand toward the ceiling
- control to your start position and do as many reps as you plan
- from there, repeat, stepping on the band with your left foot and pressing with your left arm
- please make sure you are stepping on this securely! I do not want you to be on a blooper reel!
Lateral Band Walks
This exercise strengthens your hip abductors and glutes, improving hip stability. Also lights a nice little fire in your quads if you maintain that squat position. To do lateral band walks:
- place the resistance band around your ankles OR under your feet, and assume a quarter-squat position. You can squat a bit more than I do in this demo video, for bonus points 🙂
- step sideways against the resistance of the band, maintaining tension throughout the movement
- drive with both legs; don’t just press into the band
- maintain a straight line in your body, instead of leaning into the movement and bobbling back and forth
Banded Glute Bridges
To do banded glute bridges:
- lay on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart, placing the resistance band just above your knees
- lift your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement
- lower your hips back down and repeat
- this exercise effectively targets your glutes and hamstrings
Alternating Leg Lifts With the Band
This is one of my favorite ab exercises! In fact, I wrote a whole blog post about alternating leg lifts with bands here. These work abs and hip flexors together, which is fantastic for core and hip strength. To do the leg lifts with the band:
- lay on your back with feet up, and hands on a band that is secured above your head
- straighten your arms and tighten your whole core
- use your abs to press your lower back into the ground
- slowly lower your left leg all the way down and then back up
- you can keep a slight bend in your knee if you need
- repeat with your right leg, down and up before you begin again with the left leg
- continue one leg at a time, maintaining tension into the band and through your whole core
Banded Lat Pulldowns
Lat pulldowns are notoriously hard to repeat at home. However, if you can find a place to anchor your band, then you are good to go. A great option here is to vary your anchor point; if you can pull from a higher position, and medium position, that’s fantastic for your back. To perform the band lat pulldown:
- attach your band securely as high as possible
- step back and hinge over so your band is originating from above your head now
- squeeze your shoulders blades down and follow with your elbows
- pull elbows toward your hips, not behind you-squeeze your lats hard at the bottom of the movement
- reverse the movement, beginning with extending your elbows, then allowing your shoulder blades to move upward again
Banded Biceps Curls
The bicep curl is also simpler to do with dumbbells; however, the resistance band bicep curl has the benefit of maintaining resistance throughout the whole movement. To do the banded biceps curls:
- stand with both feet on the band (again, securely!)
- ggrip the top of the band with both hands
- you can take a neutral grip, meaning palms face each other, or you can keep your palms facing up (supinated position)
- tighten your shoulders back and hold in this position, as you straight your elbows, and then bend elbows to curl up
- return to your start position and do as many reps as you’d like
Banded Deadlifts
I saved one of the coolest for last! I really love this one, and it feels great! Hands down, my favorite exercise during a full body band workout at home. To do the banded deadlift:
- stand over an appropriately resistant band-grab the center of the band, choking up if you need to increase the resistance
- keep your whole trunk engaged and neutral
- bring your hips toward the ground and grab the band
- keeping your arms straight and your trunk unmoving, squeeze your glutes and grab the ground with your toes
- press the ground away from you as you stand all the way up
- reverse the movement to return to your starting position
Bonus Band Lift: Pallof Press
OK here’s a bonus lift, your baker’s dozen: The Pallof Press. I just couldn’t narrow them down! Take care to maintain your feet shoulder-width apart here. If you find yourself taking a really wide stance and bending your knees excessively, you’ll be taking work away from your core. That’s not necessarily a wrong position! It’s very stable! But here, you’re trying to make your torso do the stability, so don’t let your legs take all the work. To perform the Pallof press:
- stand upright with a band secured at your side, at chest level
- grab the band with both hands in front of your sternum
- step sideways into pressure from the band
- press straight out in front of you and control your return to start position
- do not lean into or reach into the press
How to Incorporate These Resistance Band Exercises
You can do these exercises all in a row, making it a giant full body workout. You could also do the upper body ones as a standalone upper body day, and similar with the lower body exercises if you’d like to make it a leg day. If you do that, I suggest doing the alternating leg lifts and Pallof press on either or both days.
I suggest starting each exercise pretty lightly, and getting high reps to start with. Aim for 15-20, and see how you respond. Rest, and repeat. Keep practicing, and you’ll perfect your full body band workout at home.
More Notes About Using Resistance Bands
As I have mentioned, the resistance bands are a great way to get full body bands workouts at home or hit all the major muscle groups at home or while you’re traveling. They are just an effective way to do strength training in general. However, we need to buy quality bands and maintain them so that they are safe.
Always inspect your bands before you use them for any tearing or fraying. Do not loop bands around anything sharp that will cut or dig into them. Be careful if you leave them outside because they weather and tear faster. In fact, just bring them inside. They don’t take up much space so you could even throw them under the couch, in a drawer or any other little small space.
Ways to Increase the Challenge of Resistance Bands
Unlike working with barbells, dumbbells or machines, you can’t just set the weight higher with exercise bands. Some bands are labeled with pounds of resistance, but that’s kind of ambiguous. Besides, as they get older and more worn, that number changes. So how do you progress? There are many ways to increase the challenge of resistance band work:
You can add reps if you’d like an increased challenge.
You can do mechanical drop sets, which means hold the band tighter, for 10 or so reps, then adjust your grip so it is looser. Then do 10 more reps. Then adjust again, reducing resistance. The culmination of 30+ reps will get you!
Of course, if you have a set of resistance bands and not just one, you can choose the thicker bands for greater resistance.
You can add pauses at the point of resistance, so you are working the entire time and increase your time under tension.
12 Exercises for Full Body Band Workout At Home
So there you have it! Twelve of the best resistance band exercises for at-home workouts! Resistance band training is really all about getting creative! Whether you have mini bands, power bands, heavy bands, the small looped bands, experiment with what works best for you.
Because resistance bands require you to stabilize your body and engage your core muscles to control the resistance, they help improve your overall strength, stability, and balance, which translates to better functional fitness for everyday activities.
The best resistance band workout is one that gives you a little work, some strength training, and gets you toward your fitness goals. Let go of the idea that it needs to be perfectly counted and structured, and focus on what works for you.
Want a Bump Up from Band Work?
If you have some more exercise equipment like medicine balls, adjustable dumbbells, a jump rope and even a yoga mat, you can add in some extra exercises to increase your heart rate and bump up the intensity of your session.
Check out The Home Team if you have a few pieces of home gym equipment and prefer to exercise from the comfort of your own home. You don’t need a large multi-station home gym or power rack for this workout program.
A basic home gym setup of bands, a medium pair of dumbbells and one heavier weight (dumbbell or kettlebell) will do. They’re super fun, but no squat rack required.
The above links are affiliate links to products & brands I actually use, which may make me a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Work With Me!
If you are looking for a personal trainer in Austin, I’d love to talk with you! If you are not in Austin, Round Rock, or central Texas, let’s talk about online training.
Message me here for a free consult about personal training in Austin, Texas, or here for online personal training, and we’ll discuss your goals, background, equipment availability, schedule, and exercise preferences.
Let’s get you strong and healthy! 💪
About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
