With Christmas rapidly approaching and shopping days swiftly diminishing, many of you may be looking for last minute gifts to reward yourself with (no need to be ashamed, we all do it!). Therefore, over the next couple of days, I will be profiling several items that may contribute (either directly or indirectly) to sports health and athletic performance. While none of these products should be considered a “be all, end all”, when incorporated correctly, they can contribute greatly to one’s current regime.

Gift Idea #2

Resistance Bands by Thera-Band

Arguably one of the least expensive pieces of exercise equipment one may ever own, the resistance band is also one tool that every athlete should not be without. These bands have existed in the rehabilitation world for many years and with the recent surge of the “corrective exercise” paradigm within strength and conditioning, their use will, and should, expand into the sport performance world as well.

The versatility of the these bands are virtually unmatched and their use can easily be incorporated into regular training programs in various ways.

1. As part of “filler” exercises: athletes can perform shoulder pre-habilitative exercises such as full can, bilateral glenohumeral external rotation, and dynamic hug. These exercises have been researched extensively and can be found here.
2. As a secondary exercise during primary training. For example, one can improve frontal plane, CKC hip abduction strength with a resistance band while working on sagittal plane hip extension strength. Its simple, just do this exercise (thanks Bret!) with a resistance band creating an “inward” or “valgus” force at the distal aspect of both femurs.
3. Another example is as part of stability work to improve joint proprioception and kinesthetic awareness. My good friend Dr. Andreo Spina demonstrates this quite well as part of a push up variation.

As you can see, traditional resistance bands can be utilized by athletes in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. But if the above information has yet to convince you, would pre-cut bands do the trick?

Related posts:

1. Last Minute Gifts to Buy for…..Yourself: The Grid With Christmas rapidly approaching and shopping days swiftly diminishing, many...
2. Assess and Correct: A Review On Friday, I finally received my DVD copy of Assess...
3. Don’t Forget About the Swim: How the swim affects triathlon performance The ability to perform well during a triathlon is dictated...
4. High-Performance Sports Conditioning *Going back into the archives for an oldie but a...
5. Kinesiology-type Taping: A Psychological Intervention in Sport? This is a tough one to answer and likely will...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.