I wanted to write this review to help others know more about this product because when I was looking around I was kind of in the dark. I ordered 3: the purple extra heavy, blue heavy, and red medium. I've worked out a lot off and on in the past with actual weights, and I'm always moving around, so this was just what I was looking for. Of course, how tall you are will make a difference, as taller people will have more tension in the bands when they are being stretched (if you're standing, of course, which is a lot of exercises). I'm 5'10", and unfortuantely my purpose in working out is to build muscle, as I'm kind of on the skinny side. The purple band isn't for "extremely fit" people, but it does offer a good amount of resistance. Here's a general guideline of what I found, based on my previous experience with weights:
If I double the purple band (grab both handles at once) and do one arm rows on a chair, depending on where you step on it, you can get a good 40-50 lbs resistance.
If you have one foot on the blue heavy band standing up, and doing curls, it's about 15-20 lbs each hand.
If you step on the red medium tube about 6-8 inches from the handle and do one arm extensions over your head, it's about 15 lbs
Again, these bands are very variable. You can increase the amount of tension by stepping closer to the handles, and by holding two bands at once, holding both handles at once, etc.
I would even recommend the green I think or the smaller ones for exercises such as lateral raises and for the rotator cuff, as stepping with one foot on the red tube while standing up, and raising both shoulders outwards provides a good 10-15 lbs.
Chest exercises are kind of awkward with this, my door frame is super weak so I don't use the door attachment but I tried what was in the instruction manual and am sticking to pushups.
Also it is great for developing stability, it's a lot harder to keep a stable motion with a cord than with an actual weight.
All in all, I would highly, highly recommend this, but if you're already benching 150+, this is probably just going to keep you toned, but you could probably build the smaller muscles. Also depends on how many handles you can grab at once or how good your grip is if you grab the actual cord. SPRI ES503R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Purple, Very Heavy)
This band is perfect for those of you who do some recreational resistance or weight training and also travel regularly. If you do a significant amount of muscle training at high weight or resistance, this will not offer much challenge to you. You should be aware before buying this, it is NOT a replacement for going to the gym. I wish it offered more resistance, but it doesn't. You're not going to open the package and find a magical rubber band that somehow gives you 200 pounds of resistance without you tearing your door off it's hinges. No, I'm afraid that fantasy product doesn't exist. This is a fine item for keeping you active if you get bored while watching TV. If you need something to use in a hotel room this is ideal for it's small luggage footprint as well as it's ease of use.
There are a large assortment of exercises that can be done with this band with or without using a door. You can curl it by standing on it and pulling upward, shrug it, do lunges with it, do rows with it (door needed for that one) and simulate pull ups (also needing a door for this one) to a reasonable degree. You can also adjust your own resistance on some exercises that require you to stand on the band by widening your stance. It's a very logical and simple product to use.
I don't recommend the purple band to those new to resistance training. There are other colors representing other weight simulations that you should probably consider, although the pricing is so cheap you can probably get a couple and work your way through them if you really wanted to do that.
A WARNING: Read the directions before you use this. For example, you may be tempted to close the strap for door use into the top part of the door, this is incorrect and could damage your door. You close the strap into the door near a hinge (definitely not near the knob). While this band does not offer much resistance, I strongly suggest wearing shoes when using your feet to provide tension as having it snap back into your face would probably not be a pleasant experience.
To revisit: It's not a gym replacement so don't pretend it is and then be disappointed when you buy it, that's just illogical. It's highly portable. It's highly diverse. It offers decent resistance for recreational or travel use when unable to use a gym or home exercise equipment. It could snap back dangerously if used in ways contrary to those spelled out plainly in the instructions.
This is a good medium band at best, but not even close to being a heavy band. I'm a man, and I use it for several tricep kick back reps. For the average woman, this is a heavy band. My wife uses it for most of her 10 minute trainer exercises, but I only use it for a couple. I found a much heavier black band on amazon, that I highly recommend. To give you an idea about this band; with the biggest loop doing bicep curls, this band equates to MAYBE 20 lbs dumbells. With that other much heavier black band I found; with the same size loop I can barely do 8 reps. I'm guessing its more like 35 lbs and that is a huge difference.
I bought this product around a month ago. I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea since I'm unable to go to the gym more than 4 times a week, and that I would probably use this for some heavy resistance, but the very heavy turned out to be much lighter than I thought, and I doubt the Ultra heavy is much of an increase. To be honest I don't really benchpress that much compared to others, around 90 pound dumbells, and I could easily do around 18 reps on the Xertube. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad product except their resistance isn't so resistant. Women and a casual lifters might enjoy this product, and this product can give a great deal of toning, but if you're a heavy lifter, don't count on it for anything other than some light toning. It just doesn't have enough resistance. - Excercise Equipment - Resistance Bands - Exercise Bands - P90x'
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