Why Resistance Bands Suck
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The short version: Bands snap, burn skin, snatch hair, dig in, and wear out in weeks. So yeah, plenty about them sucks. But the part that sucks was never the resistance. The resistance is genius. It's been healing bodies for over 130 years. It's the band itself, and the hardware bolted to it, that lets you down. I spent years living with every one of those problems, including a wearable I built that hurt someone I cared about. So I set out to make a band as good as the resistance it gives you.
It all starts with resistance.
Every way we train the body comes back to one word. Resistance. It's how we get strong, how we move better, how we come back from injury, how we get ready for sport and for regular life. So if it all starts with resistance, it's worth looking at the different kinds.
First there's your own body weight against gravity. Push-ups, squats, lunges. It builds real strength. The catch is you've been fighting gravity your whole life. Your brain runs it on autopilot. You barely register it as resistance anymore unless you jump. So to get a lot out of body weight alone, you need a lot of reps and a lot of intention.
Then there's weights. I love the weight room. We go hard in there, and nothing loads you up like iron. But weights build strength by tearing the muscle fiber so it heals back stronger. Great in the right dose. Also harder on the joints, and not always what you want when you're rehabbing, or when you're a growing kid.
Then there's water. Get in a pool and gravity lets go of you. The water surrounds you and pushes back no matter which way you move. Resistance in every direction at once, soft on the joints. That's why so much rehab happens in a pool. Water is the closest cousin to a resistance band. The problem is you can't take a pool to the field. You've got to get wet, dry off, change clothes, and find a pool in the first place.
A band gives you that same all-around resistance on dry land. It pulls back the whole way, in both directions, and the tension climbs as you stretch. You can fold it in your pocket and bring it anywhere. That is the magic.
So why do bands get such a bad rap?
Because they can hurt you.
A study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found eleven resistance-band eye injuries at a single eye institute in just six months of 2020, the most ever recorded in research. Eleven, at one hospital, in half a year.
Anthony Richardson, the quarterback for the Colts, had a freak accident with a resistance band before a game last season. It fractured the bone around his eye and sent him to surgery. Months later he still didn't have full vision back. (article here)
Even Liver King, the loud, controversial one, was using a band at full tension when things went wrong, and he ended up needing multiple eye surgeries with poor vision in one eye. (article here) Say what you want about the guy. The point stands.
And you've seen the reels. The band that lets go mid-rep and turns into a blooper. We laugh after the fact. Nobody's laughing in the moment, and nobody's laughing about the part that comes whipping back.
So with all that, why would anyone keep using one?
Because nothing else gives you this kind of resistance. That's why you find bands in every rehab room, on the meat hook in the back of the gym, in every coach's closet, and in every school gym in the country. The benefit is undeniable. It loads you both ways. It's gentle enough to rebuild a broken body and strong enough to challenge a healthy one. And it goes anywhere.
The resistance was never the problem. The problem is the band, and the stuff you have to rig it to.
So let's break down the kinds, the good and the bad.
A quick note before the links start: some of the product links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I can earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Thin latex bands, the classic TheraBand type. Grippy when dry, slick the second you sweat. Tie it once and you're cutting it off with scissors. It hates the cold and snaps easier in the heat. It burns skin and snatches hair. Just look at this product image. The model is wearing safety goggles. They expect it to break. You can't make this up. I'll give latex one thing. That thinness lets you wrap a toe or a wrist, so for a kid rehabbing an ankle, it has a place. Different people, different poison.
Latex loop bands, the little circles sold three to a pack. One thin loop is one level of resistance, and it's so thin it digs into your skin. So they sell you a stack to cover the range you actually need.
Bands with handles and rubber tubing. These finally give you something to grip. But the tube is moody and quick to give out, and when it goes, a chunk of plastic or metal comes flying with it. Stack a few tubes on for more strength and now it's bulky. So much for the gym bag.
Thick rubber bands, the stretchy rope kind. Tougher than latex, and rougher. My ten-year-old held one and said it feels like it's digging into her skin. She's right. Still burns, still pulls hair, still one level per band.
Fabric and multi-loop bands. Now we're talking. Fabric booty bands feel better on the skin and handle sweat because they soak it up. The multi-loop ones even let you change resistance by picking a different loop, which is smart. Two problems. Most are made from cheap material that frays, curls, and goes flat after just a few weeks of use. And the loops are spaced for hands and feet, so try to wrap one around your thigh and you're stuck.
Figure-eight toners, like these. Compact and simple. Also just two or three moves and a short range, and that's the whole show.
Big power bands, the thick pull-up ones. Strong, great for assisted pull-ups. Also big, pricey, and loaded with so much tension that if one lets go, you might be the next ER number.
Different jobs, different bands. You end up with a drawer full of an assorted mess.
Quick break for a shameless plug, because the bills don't pay themselves. I chewed Neuro Energy and Focus gum the whole time I wrote this. Caffeine and L-theanine, sugar free, no jittery crash. Focus is half of training. If you grab a pack through that link I get a few coins and you get sharper. Everybody wins. Back to it.
The band is a staple. Every fitness company knows it. They still treat it like a side dish.
Think about McDonald's. McDonald's doesn't really make its money on the burger. It makes it on "you want fries with that?" Fries are cheap, plain, easy to refill. The accessory is where the margin hides.
The fitness world runs the same play. The band is the fries. Cheap to make, easy to lose, easy to sell you again next month, and so plain nobody bothers to make it better. Meanwhile the big, bulky, expensive machines get treated like the main course, because they look impressive. Like VertiMax. Great machine, no doubt. It's also a slab of metal you bolt down, wrapped in clips and bands, that runs you about five grand and never leaves the room. You go to it. The plain little band that could go anywhere got passed over for the shiny thing in the corner.
The band could be the main course. I know, because I spent years trying to make it one, and I got it wrong first.
Resistance bands are what helped me come back when I blew my knee out. They're what taught me to run the right way. I had them with me every time I trained, and one day it hit me. Why wouldn't this be just as good when I'm actually playing my sport? But to do that, I'd have to wear it. It would have to enhance the movement, not get in the way of it.
So I built a wearable. I called it CORED. The whole idea was you could put it on and forget it was there. And it worked. It worked so well that companies still sell knockoffs of my design from over ten years ago. You can find them on Amazon right now, here and here. Go look. You'll see what I mean in a second.
Because there were two problems.
First, you looked ridiculous. Bands on your hands and your feet at the same time, you're walking around the gym like Doc Ock with tentacles everywhere. Not the look most people are going for.
Second, and this is the one that changed everything, it wasn't safe. My first order took my whole life savings, and the velcro died inside 30 days. Then a buddy of mine, a coach, was testing one. A carabiner came loose, didn't catch right, and cut his knuckle open to the white meat. He messaged me from the ER. I was supposed to be the solution, and I'd become the problem. That gutted me. The next message like that could have come from a kid.
So I made a vow that day. No velcro. No metal. No plastic. One hundred percent fabric, and actually safe. And notice the thread running through every horror story up top. It's almost never the band on its own. It's the clip, the carabiner, the pole, the door handle, the hardware you're forced to attach it to. So I took the hardware out completely.
Then I borrowed from the iPhone. Steve Jobs didn't pile on 37 buttons. He took them away until there were almost none, and somehow it did more. I wanted that. Premium quality, simplest possible design. Could I get everything done with two or three pieces instead of a tangle of them?
That question led to Two8 Bands.
I took the good from every band and left the pain behind. A long band. A short band. Multiple loops. Bands you can use hands-free, or wear on your thighs, your biceps, your triceps, the big parts of your arms and legs. Booty band, push-up band, pull-up band, all in one small set. No velcro. No metal. No plastic. Nothing to snap a carabiner at your face. Built by Coaches. Athlete Approved.
I built the burger with the fries and the drink already inside it. One tight little system that still fits in your pocket and follows you onto the field. The complete meal, not just the side.
That was the whole goal. Make a band that doesn't suck. The resistance has been undeniable for 130 years. It earned a band that's just as good. This is my humble attempt at exactly that.
If you want to see it, here it is. And if you do most of your shopping on Amazon, it lives there too.
And if you want the way I think about movement, training, and coming back from injury, the whole playbook is in my book. Grab it here.
#CoachStokesSaidSo
Heads up: some of the product links above are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I can earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Coach Stokes earns from qualifying purchases.