PT bands come in a range of widths to give you a range of levels of resistance.

We have found that the following range of bands are the best widths for workouts ranging from early rehabilitation through to functional strength training for active people.  The table below should help you select which bands you will use most when starting out, but we recommend having at least two widths, as your strength will vary between exercises and as you get stronger, you can easily progress the resistance.

 10mm               Mellow Yellow

Mellow Yellow is the lightest and brightest of the PT Bands.  He’s not soft, and in the right position, he’ll still give you a great workout.  He’s most commonly seen during rehabilitation and beginner programming, or for more challenging balance & stability exercises.

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15mm               Sweet Orange

Sweet Orange starts off as your friend, but near the end of her stretch, she packs a little punch.  She’s 50% thicker than Mellow Yellow, so she provides the perfect starting progression once you’re into your program.  And for plenty of more stability-based exercises, she’s all you’ll ever need.

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20mm               Blood Red

Blood Red sits in the middle of the range of PT Bands, which makes him the perfect all-rounder.  He’s strong enough to give even the most seasoned trainer a good workout, but supple enough that he won’t break you as a beginner.  He’s best suited to exercises that demand 50/50 ratio of stability and strength.

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25mm               Purple Power

When you’ve been training Positive Tension for a while, and you need a little extra juice in your workout, Purple Power is what you need.  She’s still friendly, but if you give her some serious effort, she’s got more than enough to throw back at you.  She’s best suited for progressing strength exercises, and for larger muscle groups.

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30mm               Deep Black

Deep Black is the biggest and baddest of the PT Bands, and just looks tough.  He’s designed for some serious resistance for larger muscle groups, when all the brighter colours just aren’t enough.  At the other end of the spectrum, he’s perfect for stronger mobility exercises when muscles need a serious stretch.  And if you’re just starting off on body-weight exercises like pull-ups and dips, he’ll give you plenty of help.

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If you are used to using latex tubing for yourself or clients, the following graph shows you where PT bands fit into your current practice. We measured the resistance at different lengths of a loop of black exercise tubing, which, as you can see fits just above our 10mm band in terms of the resistance it provides.  PT bands are designed to take you to the next level of strengthening, particularly important for muscle strengthening and tendon loading.

Single band, multiple bands, anchor points and handles.

With just a single band and your body, you can have an instant workout, great for travel or a simple home gym option.  However the addition of a few simple accessories or a second band can add variation and multiply your options.

If you have a stable and strong pole or post, this can be used as an anchor point for your band and allow a wider range of exercises.  A home gym or veranda post is generally perfect, as long as it is smooth with no sharp edges, but be careful not to underestimate your strength, most furniture is not heavy enough to stay still as you pull on the band!

Our PT band handle (available soon!) allows a comfortable grip, particularly useful for some upper body strength exercises.  It also doubles as a door anchor, fitting easily into the hinge-side gap in most doors, providing a height adjustable hook to attach your band.  This expands the range of exercises you can perform.

Pass clip through hinge space of open door (if it fits, with care to not scratch the paintwork), Close the door and lock if possible, ensuring the clip is pulled securely through as far as it will go and with handle on the other side of door.  Attach and detach bands throughout your workout as needed.  Multiple clips can be set up at different heights and band moved between them as needed.
   

There are many different ways to connect with your PT band, using your body as an anchor or gripping the band in different ways.  Here are the range of grips that we use to enable a comfortable workout:

Standing on PT Band

Place band under the arch of both feet.

To increase resistance or reduce length in the band, wrap it around one or both feet.

Examples front squat, dead row, overhead press.

 

 

Band behind back

Place both lengths of band behind the shoulders blades, holding the folded ends in each hand.

Change the height of the band on your back to vary the angle of the exercise.

For more resistance, tie a square knot in the band.

Example Standing Press.

 

Grip free

Place the hand through the loop, so it crosses the back of the wrist with band crossing the base of thumb and mid palm to travel together through the webbing of the thumb to an anchor point behind you.

Example Standing Press

 

 

Diagonal half-harness

Place the band diagonally across the chest so that it is over one shoulder.

This connection is useful when the band then passes under the feet or to a mid anchor.

Example Harness Lunge

 

 

Pelvic Harness

Facing away from anchor place PT band around pelvis.

Maintain a little tension in the band at all times, so it does not slip down the body.

Example Pelvic Harness Squat

 

 

Handle Grips 

For some exercises a handle attached with a caribiner can make the grip more comfortable, especially for those with frail or sensitive skin.

Remember that this adds a little length to the band, so a larger width may be needed for some exercises to provide enough resistance.

Example Tricep Extension, Tennis Shots.

 

Gravity assisting positions 

From a high or overhead anchor, the force of gravity can be reduced by looping band underneath the body to provide assistance to the movement.  In the case of chin ups, the band can be under knees or feet, or for pushups, under the low ribcage.

Multiple Bands

For agility or plyometric work, bands can be joined in series, by simply looping one band through another and then through itself to make a strong attachment.

Resistance varies with each exercise.  The amount of resistance for each exercise will vary greatly depending on the positions of any anchors, how much of the band is available to stretch, whether you are stretching a double or single layer and so on.  In our exercise library you will see that we have marked some of the exercises as demanding more strength or more stability than other exercises.  For these exercises we suggest you choose a lighter band or an easier version of the exercise initially.

Functional exercise.  Here at Positive Tension we believe in functional exercise, which may demand not only power or strength from one muscle group, but also stability through multiple areas of the body.  If you are new to exercise or your strength training has been gym machine orientated in the past you will notice that building functional stability takes a little time and that you may not be able to produce the power with the PT bands that you can in the gym.  Be patient as the strength you are developing will be more useful and less likely to lead to injury than pure power exercises.