Exercises with an expander for men and women

As you already know, a manual expander (and its twin brother, a rubber shock absorber) is one of the cheapest and most accessible “sports tools” aimed at training at home.

It does not take up much space, is not heavy, is suitable not only for men, but also for our beloved representatives of the fair sex - in general, simple, compact, convenient, unpretentious, versatile and also inexpensive. This is why daily resistance band exercises for men and women are becoming popular day by day. This sports equipment is recommended for children and elderly people to maintain their physical fitness, strengthen immunity and improve their health. In a word: “Must Have” - from English: “everyone should have.”

There is an incredibly huge variety of variations of this sports equipment:

1. manual,
2. foot,
3. with one-sided wall or floor mounting,
4. universal (with various options for handles and fastenings),
5. children's,
6. adult,
7. carpal,
8. for forearms,
9. and others…

In our opinion, the best choice would be to purchase a universal expander, as it combines all the best from all possible modifications. In fact, it can easily be transformed into any type of projectile you currently need. If the choice is between hand and foot, and purchasing both options is not in your plans (even in the long term), it is better to give preference to the hand one, since, in principle, by pressing one handle of a hand projectile with your feet/legs, it turns practically into analogue of the foot one. But there’s no way you can make it from a foot-made one by hand. Plus, having unfastened one handle of the device, we have a completely tolerable option for floor and wall mounts - all you have to do is figure out what to attach them to (you can screw steel anchors with rings at the ends into the walls). So, in our opinion, the manual version of the expander is practically an analogue of the universal one, and it is this type that is worth buying...

Of course, this sports accessory is not without its drawbacks. If a disc from a barbell or dumbbell can be easily bought, picked up from other similar equipment, and if absolutely necessary, can be machined at the factory (and breaking it is quite problematic), then the stretched spring will simply have to be thrown out, since there is no longer any possibility of restoring it . It is also not possible to buy new springs - they are not sold separately. It turns out that this sports equipment is limited to the starting purchase kit and it is no longer possible to somehow strengthen it or modernize it. And this is a significant disadvantage compared to collapsible dumbbells, for example, which can still be somehow improved and completed.

In the next part of the article we will provide a list of basic exercises that can be performed with a manual expander... For a better and more pronounced effect from their implementation, we recommend that you supplement your daily diet with sports nutrition for gaining weight; in this situation, success will not be long in coming, and your muscles will begin to progress noticeably...

Manual expander exercises for various muscle groups:

For the deltoids:

1.       Vertical position, legs apart, shoulder-width apart, hold the expander in your arms straight forward. Spread your arms to the sides against resistance, trying not to bend them.

For biceps:

3.       Standing with your right foot on one handle of the expander, take the other handle in your right hand, grasping it with your palm facing outward. Bend your arm at the elbow, press your fist to your shoulder, then smoothly straighten it.

4.       The same thing, changing the position of your arms and legs.

For triceps:

5.       While standing, we hold the expander in a vertical position behind our back, while the left hand is lowered, holding the handle of the projectile and pressed to the thigh, and the right hand is bent, the second handle of the projectile is in the clasped hand at the shoulder. It is necessary, without moving your left arm, to straighten your right arm upward, hold it for a couple of seconds and then slowly return it to its original position.

6.       Standing, expander behind your back in a horizontal position with bent arms. It is necessary to straighten your arms to the sides, then return them to their original position.

For the muscles of the forearms:

7.       Clenching and unclenching fingers with a wrist expander.

For chest muscles:

8.       Standing, holding the handrail with your left hand, in your right hand the handle of an expander attached to the right at chest level. Bringing the right hand to the left shoulder and the left to the right.

9.       Vertical position, legs apart shoulder-width apart, the expander parallel to the floor in straightened arms held above the head, with the palms turned outward. Raising straight arms to the sides.

For leg muscles:

10.     Lying on your back, with your leg bent at the knee, hook the handle of the expander, secured with the second handle at the level of the pelvis. It is necessary to straighten and slowly bend your leg. Repeat, changing legs.