Resistance Bands with P90X Review

So, as I stated in my last post I purchased the Bowflex Selecttech dumbbells yesterday after using bands for P90X for about 14 weeks. The red one snapped, but that was just a little more motivation along a track I was on anyway, that is to get actual dumbbells.

The bottom line is simple: dumbbells are superior, but bands can certainly serve a purpose. They are far more portable, much, much cheaper and perhaps slightly safer if you don't know what you are doing. Honestly, if you haven't exercised for a while and don't know if you will stick with it, I would recommend definitely dropping 50 bucks on bands before shelling out $400 on a set of dumbbells.

There are certain workouts which are unwieldy with the bands, especially on the second set of workouts and then there are some that are basically impossible (Damn you back-flys). Also, regardless of whether you use bands or weights, you certainly need a dedicated pull up bar.

With the large difference in weight between the beginning and the end of the lift with bands, it can be difficult to get a full workout, because it seems easy at first but becomes very hard to finish reps. The highest end of the lift has all the added resistance and it's just harder to gauge then weights. Also, it's very hard to document exactly how much you lifted from week to week since a slight variation in foot placement can change the resistance significantly. Perhaps you could document more, but I don't want to write a dissertation about my foot placement between every exercise.

To reiterate, the bands are a great starter tool to get you back into exercise and are certainly recommended for those who want to make sure the program is right for them before financially committing themselves heavily. I will continue to use the bands occasionally for certain exercises, but I am excited to get my dumbbells and the prospect of a more complete workout.