I first encountered Bodylastics in my job as a writer, being asked to write several articles about the elastic band-based exercise system for a client. As I researched the system, read of other people’s experiences of using them, saw full color photos of the different components, equipped with detailed descriptions of each one’s purpose, and watched videos of them in action, I found myself becoming increasingly excited about the possibility of using them and the promise they seemed to offer me. I decided before the assignment was out, I wanted to have my own set. So I bought one.
To give a little relevant background – I’ve worked out, on again and off again (more circumstantial than out of desire or lack of it) throughout different points in my life – been a member of a gym, worked out with free weights and a bench in my house. The problem circumstance lately has been that I just made a major move to Hawaii with a fraction of my belongings - I could neither realistically fathom shipping my weights and bench overseas (could you imagine!) and I don’t have the room or money yet (frankly) to replace them now that I’m here. Bodylastics seemed to me to be the perfect solution.
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The first two things I liked about it (and still like) are its price (fifty bucks for every resistance exercise I could think of and more weight than I could ever possibly bear) and its compact portability (not only does the whole thing, accessories and all weigh only 2 measly pounds but it all fits nice and neatly into a smart little tote that’s smaller than my laptop).
I can (and do) travel with them anywhere I go. Whether I’m driving to the other side of the island to housesit and enjoy a few days of new scenery or flying all the way back to the mainland to visit my parents, all I need to perform a complete, full body workout fits snugly in the seat-back pocket. It’s also nice around the house to have a tidy place to stow away my workout equipment instead of needing to command a corner of my already cramped new house to keep it set up all the time or, worse, just have all the pieces strewn about everywhere.
To go back to that part about getting a “complete, full body workout” for a minute – I truly do find that I can perform virtually every exercise that I’ve ever been able to do with free weights, a weight bench, or a weight machine with my Bodylastics. No lie. I was amazed too (still am, really).
What’s even better, the Bodylastics People have put together a thorough and picture-packed handbook for using the system in an unimaginable assortment of ways. I know one of my big concerns about buying them, at first, was not really knowing how I’d use them other that to mimic the 9-year-old version of me stretching out Bodylastics’ ancient ancestor, three long springs attached to a couple of plastic handles.
But then I saw sample pages of the handbook, with helpful, detailed photos besides the instructions. There’s even a website you get access to when you join that has videos of each exercise. They had clips on the website which made me excited about the possibilities.
I don’t have to bother thinking up exercises to do with the bands, coming up with a routine, because it’s all right there. Different routines for different objectives. For participants of different sports. For beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. For different muscle groups.
All I have to figure out is how much weight/resistance to use, and Bodylastics thankfully makes even that easy. The numbers for the different weights are right on the bands, engraved into the clips, plus the bands are color-coded, so you quickly start to make the associations and remember which color is which weight. Then adding and subtracting weight is as easy as clipping it on. You can clip on one band or any number of them, so pretty much all the different weight combinations are possible.
The handles feel sturdy in my hands and comfortable to grip. I admit I haven’t used the ankle straps yet, but they seem really useful and I’ve already started imagining how I can incorporate them into my workouts, to get more leg work in especially.
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What really wowed me, though, in the way of accessories, though, is the door anchor. It’s such a simple design I can’t believe I haven’t seen anything like it sooner. With it, you can secure a looped handle to the top, bottom, or side of any door. This creates a sort of weight-machine effect with the Bodylastics, now, as I have something holding one end of the bands in place for me when I pull against it in various ways. By being able to place the door anchor at any position on the door I can work out pretty much any muscle group on my body – upper, lower, and middle. And with the looped handle, I pull one or more bands through and attach the ends to either a single handle or both handles (depending on the exercise) and I’ve just effectively doubled the weight (or resistance) of each band.
I’ve even used Bodylastics on a friend’s weight bench here, and it works great, expanding the range of ways I can use the system even further. (The handbook, by the way, includes some exercises that use a chair or one of those giant rubber exercise balls – but you don’t need either to use them. That’s just another great thing about them – that there are multiple ways to use them to work out the same muscles, so if one particular exercise doesn’t work for you, you can still find another and get the same need met.
I found that with just 15 minutes a day, 3 or 4 days a week, I saw a dramatic change in my body in about 3. And when you think about it,15 minutes really is nothing.
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