6 Reasons RBT Makes You More Athletic

Don’t workout to just stay in shape and get strong. Implement RBT into your workouts to achieve athletic fit longevity.

One of the biggest struggles people have as they age is not being able to move like they use to. By that I mean not having the range of motion, coordination, balance and mobility to perform actions they easily use to do. For many active aging men and women this can be frustrating. Unfortunately, working out using traditional exercise programs to just stay in shape is simply not going to help slow down father time’s influences.

Many people, me included, want to workout to stay athletic, both through appearance but far more in regards to how we move and feel. Interestingly, just focusing on maintaining a high level of strength is usually not the driving force behind achieving this athletic fit longevity goal. In other words, it requires more than just lifting weights.

I am seeing something similar in today’s professional athletes. Training programs are not designed to increase strength, explosiveness or power. Instead the veteran professional athlete is focused more on sustaining good mobility, agility, coordination and balance. Strength is important but not top priority anymore.

As a result, they are not spending hours in the weight room lifting heavy weights. Instead they are implementing tools like resistance bands that keep muscles and tendons strong and flexible without beating them up. Plus, they are noticing a better transfer of their training onto field performance which is what is really creating this mind-shift in training.

If it is working for professional athletes, why not for you!!

Why RBT Transfers Better Onto the Athletic Field

1. Provides resistance while performing daily movements

RBT allows you to provide resistance while performing natural athletic or daily movements. Therefore, the body is being trained the exact way it is designed to move versus using artificial movement patterns often seen with lifting weights. The use of “real movement patterns” allows the nervous system to send signals to the muscles that are very recognizable. This creates a faster muscle response along with a high level of muscle recruitment.

Traditional use of free weights can’t do this because they can only train in a single vertical plane of movement. These are also patterns of movement not instantly recognized by the body.

2. Allows you to create force from any angle

RBT’s non-gravity dependent variable resistance allows athletes to create force from any angle and through any plane of movement. Weights can only impact a vertical gravity dependent plane. This is only 1 out of a hundred ways the body can move. Training in only one plane over and over again results in both lost of mobility as well as muscle coordination. This, in turn, leaves individuals feeling and moving stiff and slow.

3. Applies an ascending variable resistance

RBT applies an “ascending variable resistance” which means resistance increases the further into the range of motion a movement is performed. This progressive variable resistance also allows individuals to change speeds while performing any exercise. This change in speed teaches and trains individuals how to accelerate movement against a force. This is how power, not just strength, is increased. Power, more than strength, is exactly what is needed in athletics and daily life activities.

Free weights are constant resistance that do not change speeds and therefore do not allow for acceleration of movement. Over time only lifting weights decreases movement speed and quickness which foster slowing down of reflexive responses. This, again, is helping father time win.

4. Accelerates deceleration

RBT’s ascending variable resistance also accelerates deceleration. This means individuals training with bands learn how to stop faster against resistance or slow down momentum. Knowing 95% of all orthopedic related injuries happen as a result of poor deceleration control, training with RBT provides individuals with the ability to train their muscles how to control deceleration forces and effective slow down momentum. This functionally correlates into better dynamic balance, agility and muscle control throughout the day.

5. Strengthens muscles to stabilize joints

RBT’s ascending variable resistance strengthens muscles to stabilize peripheral joints, like knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows and wrists, when they are positioned furthest away from the body’s center of gravity which is located at the navel region. Being able to teach muscles how to stabilize, or support joints, has a dramatic impact on injury prevention. This is because most injuries to the peripheral joints happen when the joint is furthest away from the body’s center of gravity or core.

It is a fact that as the body ages, rotator cuff tears, ACL tears, elbow ligament tears and ankle sprains are more likely to occur. Better muscle stabilization strength training as a result plays a greater role and needs to be a significant part of active aging exercise programs. RBT is the best way to bring that stabilization component into every workout.

6. Creates unlimited exercise options

Lastly, staying fit, especially athletically fit, requires consistent training doing a variety of different exercises to meet the demands of active lifestyles. Fortunately, bands create unlimited exercise options and go where ever you want them to go. As a result, you can consistently get in great athletic-based workouts regardless of location, time or workout goal.

Summary

To train athletically requires training outside the traditional model of free weights and machines. It requires being able to train in multiple planes, using a variable resistance that allows you to change speeds while performing movements that mimic real world movement patterns. RBT allows you to do all this regardless of if you are a professional athlete or active aging adult that wants to stay athletically fit.

RBT Resistance Band Training