Surely a small section of elastic band can't produce as much power as dumbbells. Maybe? Maybe not?
To discover the facts, Page, et al. (2000) analysed the Thera-Band® brand of elastic resistance bands and discovered the following:
- The resistance band output depends on how much the band or tubing is stretched, or “percent elongation”.
- The “percent elongation” that the elastic is stretched is based on the increase in length from it’s resting length.
Using a “force elongation” chart, you can predict what the force will be at a specific percent elongation for Thera-Band® colours.
For example, if your 0.5 metre length of Blue Thera-Band®, then when you stretched it to 1.5 metres (200% elongation), you’d have about 5 kilograms of force. Stretched to 2.0 metres (300% elongation), you'd have about 7 kilograms of force.
What's the Effect of Mulitple Resistance Bands?
If you use two resistance bands or double up your resistance bands simultaneously you will double the force. This means that if you double up a 0.5 metre length of black Thera-Band® and elongate to 2.0 metres you'd be producing about 18.4 kgs of force.Three bands treble the force, which would produce 27.6 kgs of force in the same scenario, which is about the weight of a 9-year old!
Page, et al. JOSPT 30(1):A47. 2000
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012
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