Supercharge Your Training with a Full Body Resistance Band Workout

A full body resistance band workout can be awesome for many reasons! Although I usually stick strictly to 2 major muscle groups and 2 main exercises per workout, sometimes you need something different.

There are times where I’ve fallen off the wagon, and I just need a full body pump to get back into the right mindset and set me up for some targeted training sessions. There are times when I just can’t make a trip to the gym, and need a workout that’s easy to set up and do, without a ton of set up. Or, maybe I just want a nice pump and defined muscles before hitting the beach.

If you are looking for a hypertrophy routine to help build muscle mass, then I recommend you follow my upper body resistance band workout, and tack on squats and deadlifts for a leg day. The body splits and 10 sets of 10 reps in that workout routine will be better for you.

However, if you’re really looking to target the full body in a single workout, then let’s go!

Full Body Resistance Band Workout

The rep range for the exercises below depends on what you are looking for. I wouldn’t recommend a full body workout for people looking to gain mass, as I believe you’ll better support muscle growth by choosing effective splits and training specific body parts in each session.

For a full body workout, that means I’ll usually aim for something like 5 sets of 10 reps for each exercise. This falls short of the 100 reps per exercise you’ll aim for when training for mass, but will better meet the goals of a full body resistance band workout.

I still keep a 1-0-1 tempo, which I think should always be your baseline idea of workout temp when size gains are your primary motivation.

It’s also worth noting that there are many different types of bands available. I prefer to use a band with handles attached on each end for this workout.

Banded Push-ups

The first exercise I want to promote is the banded push-up. I am a big fan of push-ups for bodyweight exercise. If I have to choose one move to really hit the upper body, without using any weights, it would be the push-up.

Depending on your experience with training and mind-muscle connection, you can engage a lot of your upper body muscles to varying degrees during push-ups. This includes your chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps and even back muscles.

Mainly, you are targeting your chest, and your upper arms with the banded push-up. I prefer to keep my hands about shoulder width apart, or just slightly wider than shoulder width. The wider your hand placement, the more you focus on chest development. It’s great because you get a nice stretch on your pecs, but you also lose emphasis on your biceps and triceps.

So, I keep it a little more narrow when I am looking for an effective full body workout.

Hold one band handle in each hand, and let the band travel across your deltoids and over your upper back. Then, complete the push-up as usual, with this added resistance.

If you are not able to do banded push-ups, an alternative is the band floor press. Think of this as replacing the bar in a bench press with a band, and the floor is your bench. See the video below for an example.

Band Overhead Press

The next full body resistance band exercise I like is the band overhead press. It’s the standard dumbbell overhead press, except with a band. What I like about this is how it recruits many of your upper body muscles for a great workout.

Your shoulders, upper chest, triceps and upper back get involved.

While I prefer the side lateral raise with pause to target just the shoulders, when I’m thinking about full body, this exercise is superior as a compound movement.

Seated Band Rows

Any type of row is a great complement to the pushing motions above to recruit your back muscles. It’s the classic push vs pull.

I think seated band rows are a particularly great addition to a full body resistance band workout. This particular move allows you to shorten the length of the band, which allows for greater resistance throughout the entire rep. A lot of band exercises for the back lack this. The first half of each rep usually feels like the band is not engaged at all. This decreases time under tension and your gains.

Also, with seated rows you can change your grip on the handles (face palms toward the ceiling, toward the ground, or to the side) to target different muscle groups. For example, a neutral grip with your palms down will help to emphasize your lats in your upper back. If you flip that to a reverse grip with your palms up, you’ll get greater engagement from your lats and also recruit your biceps more.

Check out the video from one of my favorite youtube channels for full body resistance band workout advice without any fluff. The first exercise is the one I recommend. Pay particular attention to how he wraps the band around his foot to shorten the band. That little trick is useful for band workouts in general.

Band Lunges

When I think about a full body resistance band workout, lunges sticks out as particularly beneficial. This move gets your hamstrings, quads and glutes involved, so you do not have to perform 3 different exercises for each major muscle group of the legs.

The trick to doing lunges with a band is to have your stable leg, the one that doesn’t move, on the band. Then, perform the lunge on one leg at a time, while staying in the same place. For example, you’ll lunge with your left foot 10 times before switching the band position and repeating the exercise for the right foot.

The tilt of your body will determine which muscles take the primary role during the exercise. Lean forward to activate the hamstrings and glutes. Keep your torso straight up and down to really light up your quads instead.

Thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments!