I'm With The Band

Resistance bands are common tools for seniors, those rehabbing injuries and elite athletes. The stretchy bands are perfect additions to an at-home gym or for someone who travels a lot. While they take up little room, our fitness expert says the bands offer a lot.

For the past three months, Tami Jones has done everything to get in shape. She diets, runs and uses resistance bands along with weights.

Tami says, "You can do a full body workout with one set of bands. It's very easy. You don't have to move around. You don't have to worry about getting on equipment. It's always there."

That convenience is only part of the appeal. Certified fitness trainer Lori Johnson likes that she can build a full-body workout with the stretchy bands.

She says, "Pretty much every exercise you can do with a weight, you can do with a band."

All an exerciser needs is the right color-coded band.

Lori says, "Green is the lightest, then red, then blue. There are some other colors in there. Basically if something is getting too easy, you can do 25 reps, you need to move up to the next band."

On the flip side, if your range-of-motion is too short, you need to drop down a band.

Bands are often less intimidating to beginning exercisers than weights and will give even the hard-core a workout. The bands strengthen bodies each time they stretch.

Tami has lost 15 pounds and a significant amount of body fat in the past three months and that's made all the hard work worth the effort.

Another plus when it comes to resistance bands is that they're affordable. You can pick some up for approximately $15 at sporting goods stores.