Did you buy resistance bands during the pandemic? I did.
I’m not using them much at home any more, except for physio. Mostly I’m happily back at the gym. But I do travel with them.
When I pack them in my suitcase, I’m always reminded of Arthur Less, the protagonist of the novel Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It’s one of my fave books in recent years, the story of a gay writer turning 50 who travels around the world after a break up. BTW: The audiobook is also very good.
Here’s the relevant bit from the book:
“Less has, for years, travelled with a set of rubber bands that he thinks of as his portable gym—multicolored, with a set of interchangeable handles. He always imagines, when he coils them into his luggage, how toned and fit he will be when he returns. The ambitious routine begins in earnest the first night of any journey, with dozens of special techniques recommended in the manual (which he lost long ago in Los Angeles, but remembers in part); they involve wrapping the bands around the legs of beds, columns, and rafters, and performing what the manual called “lumberjacks,” “trophies,” and “action heroes.” He ends his workout lacquered in sweat, feeling that he has beat back another day from time’s assault. The second night, he advises himself to let his muscles repair. The third, he begins the routine with half a heart as the thin walls of the room tremble with a neighbor’s television. Less promises himself a better workout in a day or two. In return for this promise: a doll-house whiskey from the room’s doll-house bar. And then the bands are forgotten, abandoned on the side table: a slain dragon.”
Are you wondering what to do with your resistance bands?
This looks like a pretty good list that focusses on glutes: 13 Resistance Bands Moves for Workouts You Can Do Anywhere.
And here’s a list of resistance band moves for arms and abs.
What your favourite resistance band workout? Pls share it in the comments for those of us travelling with resistance bands in our suitcases.
