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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I started with the red bands and now use the blue for some exercises. I hava a frozen shoulder and had to find an alternative way to exercise since freeweights put too much of a load on my shoulder. I have gained more movement and the workout is better than PT. You can progress pretty quickly to the next color band for some exercises (bicep, chest and back). I will still use the bands even when I am able to return to using freeweights.

I purchased my two Spri resistance tubes from a local sports equipment store for almost twice as advertised on Amazon.

This tube(purple) is more than adequate for the mid-experienced trainers. Recently, I injured a shoulder at the gym and had to take some time off from heavy lifting so i started using this at home for the last several months and the results are quite impressive. I use this mainly for upper body workouts, but it can also be used for lower body as well.

If you use both handles per arm and reduce the length of the tube, you can get close to 70-80 lbs of resistance. This is useful for curls, shoulder press, lat workouts and others that require higher resistance. Just remember that you need to use the door attachment for several of these workouts.

Things I like:

1.)High potential for increasing resistance to 80+ lbs(using both handles).

2.)Overall good quality product EXCEPT for the plastic handle. It can bend once you increase the resistance to 80+ lbs.

3.)Portable

4.)Useful for all major workouts(arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs).

5.)Door attachment works well as long as you use it properly.

6.)Inexpensive

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Good luck

I bought this product around a month ago. I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea since I'm unable to go to the gym more than 4 times a week, and that I would probably use this for some heavy resistance, but the very heavy turned out to be much lighter than I thought, and I doubt the Ultra heavy is much of an increase. To be honest I don't really benchpress that much compared to others, around 90 pound dumbells, and I could easily do around 18 reps on the Xertube. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad product except their resistance isn't so resistant. Women and a casual lifters might enjoy this product, and this product can give a great deal of toning, but if you're a heavy lifter, don't count on it for anything other than some light toning. It just doesn't have enough resistance.

I bought these bands so that I could strength train for swimming. I am blown away at how exhausting and challenging the resistance is. I experienced tremendous burn and muscle fatigue. I highly recommend the tube for supplemental training if you are not able to get in the water to swim. My strength in the water has increased noticably. I am a true believer in this product.