SPRI ES501R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Red, Medium)

There's a lot of good reasons to choose resistance bands to exercise...

-good for home workouts
-great for traveling (some gyms in hotels are just pitiful); these are very portable
-great to use with exercise videos (a lot of ex. DVD's have you use bands)

What will they do for you?

-tone your muscles
-help you burn a few calories
-make your muscles stronger
-make your bones more dense

Why choose these particular ones?

-they're pretty sturdy
-come with a door attachment
-exercise charts included
-most find the handles comfortable
-offer different bands with varying levels of difficulty
-reasonably priced

Disadvantages?

-if you look like the incredible Hulk, you're probably not going to get enough of a workout
-some might find them hard to work with
-some might not like the "feel" of them as they do an exercise

All-in-all they're a great exercise tool to use to help you get in shape, prevent injuries, or even rehabilitate one (you see these in physical therapy clinics a lot). And don't forget, once you get comfortable using a given color, move up to the next harder band if you want to keep getting stronger. Also recommend Treat Your Own Tennis Elbow if tennis elbow is interfering with your workouts.

This is a good medium band at best, but not even close to being a heavy band. I'm a man, and I use it for several tricep kick back reps. For the average woman, this is a heavy band. My wife uses it for most of her 10 minute trainer exercises, but I only use it for a couple. I found a much heavier black band on amazon, that I highly recommend. To give you an idea about this band; with the biggest loop doing bicep curls, this band equates to MAYBE 20 lbs dumbells. With that other much heavier black band I found; with the same size loop I can barely do 8 reps. I'm guessing its more like 35 lbs and that is a huge difference.

I wanted to write this review to help others know more about this product because when I was looking around I was kind of in the dark. I ordered 3: the purple extra heavy, blue heavy, and red medium. I've worked out a lot off and on in the past with actual weights, and I'm always moving around, so this was just what I was looking for. Of course, how tall you are will make a difference, as taller people will have more tension in the bands when they are being stretched (if you're standing, of course, which is a lot of exercises). I'm 5'10", and unfortuantely my purpose in working out is to build muscle, as I'm kind of on the skinny side. The purple band isn't for "extremely fit" people, but it does offer a good amount of resistance. Here's a general guideline of what I found, based on my previous experience with weights:

If I double the purple band (grab both handles at once) and do one arm rows on a chair, depending on where you step on it, you can get a good 40-50 lbs resistance.
If you have one foot on the blue heavy band standing up, and doing curls, it's about 15-20 lbs each hand.
If you step on the red medium tube about 6-8 inches from the handle and do one arm extensions over your head, it's about 15 lbs

Again, these bands are very variable. You can increase the amount of tension by stepping closer to the handles, and by holding two bands at once, holding both handles at once, etc.

I would even recommend the green I think or the smaller ones for exercises such as lateral raises and for the rotator cuff, as stepping with one foot on the red tube while standing up, and raising both shoulders outwards provides a good 10-15 lbs.

Chest exercises are kind of awkward with this, my door frame is super weak so I don't use the door attachment but I tried what was in the instruction manual and am sticking to pushups.

Also it is great for developing stability, it's a lot harder to keep a stable motion with a cord than with an actual weight.

All in all, I would highly, highly recommend this, but if you're already benching 150+, this is probably just going to keep you toned, but you could probably build the smaller muscles. Also depends on how many handles you can grab at once or how good your grip is if you grab the actual cord.

This product is amazing. I recently did 5 weeks of bootcamp and we used these resistance tubes every time for biceps, chest, back and shoulders. Its amazing how effective these are and all the time you are just using your body weight. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want. I had to get them. The green one was a little too light for me and the blue one is a little too tight for a beginner woman. Best part is you can take this lightweight exercise gear anywhere you want and have a good muscle toning workout. Think you can google up the different exercises you can do with these. Plus for the price, it is so cheap, you dont even need to think twice.

Resistance Bands are THE most versatile, flexible, and portable fitness equipment ever made!

You can do any exercise, anytime, and anywhere with them. I carry my babies wherever I go.

I do them in classes, meetings, and movies.

Resistance band s is the most economical resistant equipment out there, since you can just buy a light, medium, and heavy band for all your needs. Simply combine the bands together to create different variations of intensity! Use the resistance bands with the stability ball, stability disc, and bosu balls for even greater workouts.

Just make sure you check the anchor you are wrapping the resistance band around before you do the exercise. Once, I put the resistant band on a door knob, and it slipped out and almost took out my eye. Also, check to make sure there are no tears in your resistant band. Safety first.

If you don't feel the burn after 10 repetitions, you are doing the exercise wrong. In all exercises, it is the eccentric portion of the exercise that builds muscle. Do the exercise in a smooth, controlled fashion with a 3 concentric and 6 eccentric count. Squeeze at the peak of the motion to get that extra pump.

As in all exercises, make sure to keep your wrists straight and check your posture with these seven vital points: feet hips-width apart and pointed straight ahead; knees slightly bent; pelvis at perfect middle, as if you are sitting at a bar stool; stomach tight, but not flexed; chest straight and aligned on top of ribs; shoulders parallel to ribs; and neck straight on top of body.

SPRI ES501R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Red, Medium)SPRI ES502R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Blue, Heavy)SPRI ES503R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Purple, Very Heavy)

Although I haven't found much wrong with the band itself (beside the fact that the resistance is lighter than I had expected), the term "door attachment" is somewhat misleading. What you're given is a strap; on one side, there is a loop to pull the band through, and one the other, is what I can only really describe as a small nub.

It makes sense that for such a low price, one shouldn't expect something that actually firmly attaches to the door, so I do not fault them for what it is, but, a word of caution: absolutely make sure that the door closes completely, and cannot be pulled open without twisting the handle.

I used my band probably ten times, and when I decided that I needed to move further back to create more resistance while doing pull-up simulation exercises (lateral pull-downs), I was shocked to watch the door open and see the band and door attachment flying toward me.

Yes, the door attachment hit me right below my neck AND square in the kisser; the band hit me in the chest. After crying like a little girl and icing my swollen lips and the definite outline of the band on my chest, I realized it wasn't that bad (I was mostly shocked), but it really could have been, had it hit me in the eye, etc.

I'm sure I sound like an idiot, but heed my warning. I thought my door was securely closed, but boy did I learn the hard way.

I've worked out at home for years, but only recently have I begun incorporating exercise bands into my strength training. I've had a few flat-type bands that have wound up getting worn and snapped over time, so I wanted to invest in a higher-quality band. Happily, this SPRI tubing perfectly fit the bill WITHOUT breaking the band! This is a very sturdy, very versatile little piece of exercise equipment. You can use it to replace weights in your usual workouts, which allows you to work your muscles in some new and unique ways (refer to the included exercise chart for ideas). When at home, you can actually use the tubing WITH your weights to add greater resistance throughout the entire muscle movement, OR you can pack your tubing with you when traveling--so light and convenient! Finally, the included door attachment is easy to use and allows you to perform an even greater variety of exercises. I wasn't sure which strength tubing to purchase, but I am an intermediate to advanced exerciser, and the medium (red) is perfect for me, as it is easy to adjust for either more or less resistance when needed. Highly recommended!

nice band, heat makes them weak, and standing on the band wears them out. I've snapped 4 bands already.

Simple way to do resistance exercise training. The door attachment easily jams in a closed door to allow the tubes to be used for top-down exercises. Despite all the hype over the fancy exerciser systems, the Xertube Resistance Bands are a great way to exercise. Easy to pack, they allow you to keep up an exercise routine while traveling.

This band is perfect for those of you who do some recreational resistance or weight training and also travel regularly. If you do a significant amount of muscle training at high weight or resistance, this will not offer much challenge to you. You should be aware before buying this, it is NOT a replacement for going to the gym. I wish it offered more resistance, but it doesn't. You're not going to open the package and find a magical rubber band that somehow gives you 200 pounds of resistance without you tearing your door off it's hinges. No, I'm afraid that fantasy product doesn't exist. This is a fine item for keeping you active if you get bored while watching TV. If you need something to use in a hotel room this is ideal for it's small luggage footprint as well as it's ease of use.

There are a large assortment of exercises that can be done with this band with or without using a door. You can curl it by standing on it and pulling upward, shrug it, do lunges with it, do rows with it (door needed for that one) and simulate pull ups (also needing a door for this one) to a reasonable degree. You can also adjust your own resistance on some exercises that require you to stand on the band by widening your stance. It's a very logical and simple product to use.

I don't recommend the purple band to those new to resistance training. There are other colors representing other weight simulations that you should probably consider, although the pricing is so cheap you can probably get a couple and work your way through them if you really wanted to do that.

A WARNING: Read the directions before you use this. For example, you may be tempted to close the strap for door use into the top part of the door, this is incorrect and could damage your door. You close the strap into the door near a hinge (definitely not near the knob). While this band does not offer much resistance, I strongly suggest wearing shoes when using your feet to provide tension as having it snap back into your face would probably not be a pleasant experience.

To revisit: It's not a gym replacement so don't pretend it is and then be disappointed when you buy it, that's just illogical. It's highly portable. It's highly diverse. It offers decent resistance for recreational or travel use when unable to use a gym or home exercise equipment. It could snap back dangerously if used in ways contrary to those spelled out plainly in the instructions.