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Oct 30, 2024

Best Resistance Bands for Seniors (2024) | BarBend

Resistance bands are ideal for building full-body strength through low-impact training. No matter your age, the best resistance bands can be a huge asset to your fitness routine. You might use them

Resistance bands are ideal for building full-body strength through low-impact training.

No matter your age, the best resistance bands can be a huge asset to your fitness routine. You might use them primarily for stretching and warming up, or you might mostly use them for your strength training. Resistance band exercises are an excellent way to build strength, increase muscle, and boost your range of motion — without subjecting your joints to the stresses of high-impact, high-intensity resistance exercises.

Simple elastic bands are also portable, lightweight, and easy to store, making them an excellent way to carry out a resistance training exercise program at home. For older adults, this versatility can be a tremendous asset in building an at-home fitness routine. Our team of fitness experts and certified personal trainers has tested the best resistance bands for seniors, and we’ve detailed all the pros and cons you need to know about each option.

This bundle of latex superbands provides four resistance bands, ranging in resistance from 2-15lbs up to 25-80lbs. Loop these around a pull-up bar for assisted pull-ups, or attach them to your barbell to add resistance or assistance throughout your lift.

If you want the best of the best resistance bands for older adults, BarBend fitness writer and product tester Rosie Borchert gives these Titan Fitness Light Resistance Bands a perfect score of 5 out of 5 for the overall experience. “These are multi-functional and super easy to transport,” she says. “You can use these for rehab, prehab, strength training, or to assist your pull-ups.” In other words — these bands are all-around winners.

Borchert also says these bands are “super convenient,” noting that she can keep one in her bag at all times for any need, including a quick workout on the go. Because of their small size and light weight, Borchert adds that these bands are ideal for those who don’t want to (or can’t!) bring any heavy or bulky equipment into their home.

Because these are looped bands, they’re great for certain compound exercises — like squats, good mornings, and shoulder presses — for which you can use your feet as anchors. If you don’t have anywhere to anchor them, such as a pull-up bar or squat rack post, you might feel a bit limited as far as exercise selection. That said, we really like this option for older adults who might not have exercised in a while (or ever!), since the maximum resistance is 80 pounds, and exercises can start with the lightest band, which has a minimum resistance of 2 pounds.

Worth noting: Resistance bands will eventually degrade to the point of being useless. It’s just the nature of the product. However, Rosie awards these Titan Fitness bands a durability score of 5 out of 5, since the brand offers a protection program. With proper care (don’t leave them out in the sun!), these should last several years at least. All told, we think these are some of the best home exercise equipment for beginners.

This set of resistance bands with handles comes in three different color-coded resistance options, and the resilient handles are designed to provide a firm, secure grip.

If you’re an older adult (or really, an athlete of any age) searching for a relatively cheap — but very high-quality — set of resistance bands with handles, try the REP Fitness Tube Resistance Bands With Handles. These come in a set of three, with one each of light, medium, and heavy resistance — color-coded to make selecting the right band a breeze. Each band has a handle on each end. And at only $21.99 per set, you’ll probably like the price.

Our expert tester and experienced fitness writer Rosie Borchert has nothing but good things to say about these bands. “I’ve been using these types of bands for the last 10 years and most recently used them to warm up my shoulders the last several weekends before playing beach volleyball,” she says. “They’re also lightweight enough to slip into my purse whenever I leave the house.” Because of this, she rates the portability a 5 out of 5, as well as ease of use, functionality, and overall experience.

Thanks to the handles, exercise options increase significantly. You can still use your feet to anchor these bands for squats and overhead pressing, you can also hook these bands around a sturdy anchor point — like a pole of sorts — and use them for standing chest presses, oblique rotations, woodchops, and seated rows. Another option is to loop a handle around your ankle for glute and hamstring isolation exercises.

You can purchase any of the three bands as a single, but the most cost-effective way to buy them is as a full set. It only costs about $22 for all three, and then you’ll have a range of resistance levels to use for different exercises — because we’re definitely not overhead pressing the same weight we squat!

[Related: Exercise for Seniors]

Living Fit makes their resistance bands from natural rubber latex. They’re available in six different tension ranges from five pounds all the way up to 200 pounds and are sold both individually and in sets. Add some variety to your workouts or have more thorough warmups with a set of resistance bands from Living Fit.

Older adults searching for resistance bands to use at home need look no further than the Living Fit Band Set, which comes a door anchor with each set — no more makeshift anchors required. Sure enough, our product tester, a certified personal trainer and CrossFit Level-1 coach, says these bands from Living Fit have become a staple in their regular training and recovery routines at home after using them for a few months.

They award the Living Fit Band Set a score of 4.5 out of 5 for the overall experience, saying that the bands are highly functional. “They have a bit more resistance than other bands and don’t have a lot of give — that means that they’re a little restrictive for certain movements,” our tester says. “But again, super great bands overall, just different from the typical resistance profile.”

These bands also earn a perfect 5-out-of-5 score for durability, with our tester saying, “I haven’t seen any significant wear and tear after using them for months in my home training routine.”

With resistance levels ranging from 10 to 200 pounds, this set is ideal for individuals looking to start light and work their way up to heavier sets. These bands are of the long-looped style, so they’re ideal for compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and presses. With the lighter ones, you can also do plenty of isolation exercises such as band pull-aparts and lateral raises; with an anchor point, your exercise selection will increase significantly, including inverted rows to strengthen your back and posture.

Notably, this resistance band set comes with a lifetime warranty: Living Fit will replace any of your bands if they snap.

Read our full Living Fit Resistance Bands Review.

These latex-free resistance bands provide between 20 and 175 pounds of resistance, perfect for assisting with pull-ups, stretching, and attaching to a barbell for added resistance in your bench press or deadlift.

Most resistance bands are made from natural rubber, which contains latex. Some people have allergies to latex, meaning latex bands are out of the question. Luckily, there are some quality latex-free resistance bands available, like these from Fringe Sport. Made from biomedical-grade synthetic rubber, they are safe for people with latex allergies to use.

Our tester and fitness writer Rosie Borchert awards the Fringe Sport Resistance Bands a score of 5 out of 5 for functionality, saying, “These bands are incredibly versatile. You can use them to stretch, to strengthen, to aid in mobility, to recover, and to assist with pull-ups. The more creative you are, the more exercises you can do with them.”

Borchert says she likes using the smaller bands to warm up, especially her shoulders, and the thicker (heavier) bands for strength exercises. She does note, however, that the thickest bands can be challenging to work with, especially for beginners or those with limited mobility — the orange band goes up to 175 pounds of resistance, so that checks out! She says that it’s tough to get into the starting position for deadlifts and other exercises where the band has to loop around your neck and shoulders.

You can buy the Fringe Sport Resistance Bands as singles or as a set; there are a few different set options depending on your needs. With prices starting at $28 for the lightest band and up to $192 for a full set, these bands are a bargain no matter how you slice it: It’s nearly impossible to come by 175 pounds of resistance for that price with the best adjustable dumbbells.

The Living Fit Full Body and Squat Workout Kit is the resistance band set you need if you want to do everything from squats to biceps curls to alternating lunges. This set comes with three nylon-covered tube resistance bands with attachment points on each end of each band, to which you can fasten handles or a small steel barbell that comes with the set.

At $169, this isn’t the least expensive set, but it’s a worthy investment for those who want to be able to mimic most movements they could accomplish with free weights. Thanks to the barbell, it’s easier to perform various squatting, lunging, pressing, and pulling motions than it is with a typical loop band or tube band. People who are very tall might face some challenges with overhead pressing, as being taller means you must overcome greater resistance (due to the band stretching out further).

In addition to the barbell, which breaks down into two smaller pieces, this set also comes with handles and a door anchor to further increase your movement choices. All of the bands and accessories fit neatly into the included carrying bag.

The light band provides up to 20 pounds of resistance; the medium band provides up to 40 pounds; and the heavy band provides up to 60 pounds. For beginners and many older adults, these resistance levels are sufficient for challenging the muscles and improving fitness.

[Related: Best Barbells]

Rogue Tube Bands are perfect for performing banded versions of standard accessory moves, like curls, rows, and overhead presses. Throw them in your gym bag for your next workout.

Known for making equipment like the best kettlebells and squat racks, Rogue Fitness also makes a variety of resistance bands. This set of tube bands from Rogue is our top pick for resistance bands with handles for older adults because of their durability and versatility. According to our product tester, a certified personal trainer, the handles significantly increase the number of exercise choices that can be performed with these bands.

Our tester also calls these bands very durable, which they attribute to the latex-based elastic construction. While that rules these bands out for those with latex allergies, it’s a big positive for those who aren’t allergic.

But for older adults wanting to do some overhead presses, being tall might be an obstacle. “The handles make these really versatile — however, I struggled to do overhead presses because I’m tall,” explains our tester. To be fair, that’s less the fault of these bands and more about the functionality of resistance bands for overhead presses to begin with. Still, it’s worth noting this drawback for taller individuals.

Available for purchase as singles or in a few different set options, these Rogue resistance bands range from “very light” to “super heavy.” The lightest band provides 10 pounds of resistance while the heaviest provides 60 pounds, making these suitable for a range of strength levels and different exercises. In terms of price, our certified personal trainer tester scores these bands at a 4 out of 5, saying: “They’re expensive but likely because of their durable latex-based elastic.”

The 5 pack of mini bands ranges in resistance from X-Light to XX-Heavy, so you can train with progressive overload or activate your glutes before you lift heavy.

Product tester and fitness writer Rosie Borchert is a fan of mini resistance bands — she’s had a set in her gym bag for the last 20 years. They’re great for activating the glutes before a leg workout, as well as getting in some strength work from a seated position, she says. So it’s high praise when Borchert rates Iron Bull Mini Bands a 5 out of 5 for the overall experience, making them our favorite mini bands for older adults.

Borchert explains that Iron Bull Mini Bands aren’t just great for glute and leg exercises, but also for shoulders and biceps. She gives them a 4 out of 5 for durability, knocking that one point just because mini bands in general don’t tend to be super durable. “I’ve been using these bands for about two weeks, and so far they’re holding up fine,” she says. “However, my experience with these types of bands is that they only last so long. They’ll slowly lose their elasticity over time and you’ll need to replace them. These feel really strong, but just the nature of this type of product isn’t extremely durable.”

Borchert also commends Iron Bull for the breadth of resistance across these bands. “There’s a good amount of resistance ranges in this pack,” she says. “You get six bands ranging from X-light (green) up to XX-heavy (black). The heavy resistance bands are great for leg work and glute activation, while the lighter bands are perfect for those getting into fitness, older adults, or upper-body work like one-arm rows and overhead triceps extension.”

Allergic to latex or just want a break from skin- and hair-tugging during your resistance band workouts? These resistance bands are designed with a fabric exterior, bringing you all the benefits with none of the ouch.

Let’s be honest — at any age, comfort is (or should be) key with fitness equipment. The idea is already to push yourself — why should you start out uncomfortable before even lifting anything? Enter DMoose Fabric Resistance Bands. This unique set of looped resistance bands is a must for those who want to exercise with resistance bands but find typical latex or synthetic rubber bands uncomfortable to the touch. Rubber resistance bands can pull at skin and body hair, not to mention they might roll up or snap during use — especially near the end of their usable lifespan.

These DMoose Fabric Resistance Bands eliminate all of those problems thanks to their woven construction. One of our expert testers, a certified personal trainer and CrossFit Level-1 coach, says: “After a few weeks of use, these fabric bands held their tension really well. None of them were frayed or damaged at all, which is encouraging since this is such an unusual material for bands.”

You can choose from a pack of three (light, medium, and heavy) or a pack of five (light, medium, heavy, extra heavy, and super heavy), though the DMoose bands aren’t available for purchase as singles. According to our product tester, these bands seem to produce more resistance than rubber resistance bands for a given category.

“I’ve used a whole lot of these types of bands, and I have to say that even the light resistance band seems a little more intense than most of the competition’s light bands—so be ready!” they say. “Usually, I struggle to get enough challenge from light resistance bands, but this light version still got my glutes firing really well. I love that because whether I was squatting or doing glute bridges and clam shells, my glutes were feeling it.”

[Related: Best Home Gym Equipment]

Our team of certified personal trainers, CrossFit instructors, weightlifting instructors, and athletes has spent collective years using resistance bands for various fitness purposes. We also took each of the products featured here — plus several others — through specific tests and ranked them from 1 (not great) to 5 (awesome) across different categories using our BarBend equipment testing methodology.

Resistance bands are some of the fitness equipment you can get for older adults — and, let’s be real, people of any age. Not only can resistance band workouts help you build muscle, but unlike treadmills and other bulky equipment, bands are lightweight and easy to stash when not in use.

Don’t forget that cardio is important, too — learn about the benefits of walking as a complement to your strength training routine.

One of our favorite things about resistance bands is their affordable price. Unlike larger, tech-driven pieces of equipment, such as the best treadmills or exercise bikes, resistance bands won’t require a huge upfront payment.

Don’t be fooled by the idea that your workout routine and equipment need to be fancy to be effective. Then again, you’ll want to avoid an impulse buy. Here are some of the factors you’ll want to consider before making your purchase.

Between long-looped resistance bands, hip/glute resistance bands, tube resistance bands with handles, fabric resistance bands, and therapy (non-looped) bands, there’s a type of resistance band for virtually every type of exercise.

Loop bands are best for compound exercises like squats, while hip/glute bands are ideal for lower-body isolation exercises such as hip abductions (fabric bands usually fit into that category, too). Tube bands are excellent if you have a strong anchor point, and they allow you to do plenty of pushing and pulling exercises for the upper body. Therapy bands tend to have less resistance and are ideal for warm-ups and injury rehab.

Most individuals will find it ideal to have a complete set of resistance bands with multiple resistance levels, especially if those bands constitute the entirety of their strength training equipment. Older adults may especially benefit from a resistance band set that allows you to gradually increase the challenge to your muscles while focusing on form and technique with lighter bands.

A sturdy anchoring system takes you from being able to do just the basics — like squats, shoulder presses, and deadlifts — to being able to perform an exercise routine that mimics the complexity of one you can do with free weights. When shopping, look for strong anchoring systems such as those that bolt into a wall (if portability isn’t a concern) or high-quality door anchors.

While not necessary, accessories can also elevate your home workout routine. Consider purchasing a resistance band set with ankle straps and different types of attachments for the end of the band.

Absolutely; resistance bands are an excellent way for older adults to add resistance to their strength training exercises. They’re an especially great option for individuals who feel that even the best bodyweight exercises aren’t challenging enough anymore, and want a safe and effective way to progress their fitness.

Older adults can use resistance bands at home for virtually any exercise. If you’re unsure of proper form or technique, consider signing up for a coaching program, logging onto one of the best workout apps, or doing a few sessions with an in-person personal trainer before doing the exercises at home on your own. Alternatively, you could look up instructional videos on YouTube for guidance.

The exact exercises anyone should do depend on their fitness level, strength, mobility, and movement limitations and skills they may have. For an 80-year-old exercising with resistance bands, seated exercises may be the safest option depending on previous experience and current abilities. While seated, it’s possible to do leg extensions, hip abductions, marches, calf presses, overhead presses, band pull-aparts, and more.

The best resistance band level is entirely dependent on the exerciser’s current strength level, as well as the exercise being performed. If planning to exercise with resistance bands at home, it’s ideal to have a full set with varying resistance levels. This will allow you to safely and effectively perform a range of exercises for both the upper and lower body.