• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Use Bands to Build Bulletproof Abs

Bands are particularly useful for the core because they force you to stay as tight as possible and help to create tension in your body.

Written by Emily Beers Last updated on July 8, 2019

Physio bands are one of my best friends in the gym. They’re great for shoulder health, great for activating my sleepy lats before a big pulling day, and even useful for building some muscular endurance through exercises like lat pulldowns and triceps extensions.

Lately, I’ve also been using them for my core—to bulletproof those abs!

Bands are particularly useful for the core because they really force you to stay as tight as possible and help to create a whole lot of tension in your body. If you don’t create enough tension during banded core movements, the band will manhandle you out of position. Having to fight hard to keep your position through bracing will help you get the most bang for you buck to build that core.

It will also translate into you becoming more effective at bracing when you’re squatting or deadlifting, too!

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 1: Planks

I always hear people say, “Planks are easy.”

Considering the men’s world record plank hold time is 10 hours long, and a Canadian woman just broke the women’s word record time this May with a time of four hours and 20 minutes, there is an argument to be made that the one minute plank holds most of us do just aren’t that hard.

You will not be saying this with a banded plank!

I like to use a squat rack to anchor the band, but you can also use heavy dumbbells. Slide your body underneath the band, place the band in the center of your back and plank away. You’ll be surprised how much tension you need to build in your body to stop that band from pushing you down to the floor.

  • 3 sets of 30 seconds each hold

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 2: Bent Knee Hold

Use a heavy dumbbell to anchor one end of the band to the ground. Hang from a bar and have a partner place to other end of the band over your knees. Then hold with your knee at hip height (90 degree angle). You should feel your abs working overtime to stop your knees from being pulled down to the ground by the band.

  • 3 sets of 30 seconds

Banded Bent Knee Hold

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 3: Banded Hollow Lat Pulldowns

Place the band over the pull-up bar and put a dowel through the band. Lay flat directly underneath the bar. Grab the dowel with your hands shoulder width apart and pull yourself into a perfect follow body position with your head and back off the ground, as well as your legs (leaving just your bum on the ground).

Hold for 2 to 3 seconds. Relax, lay flat again, and then pull yourself back into the hollow body position. You’ll feel like you’re working extra hard just to pull yourself into a hollow position.

  • 3 sets of 20 reps

Banded Hollow Lat Pulldowns

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 4: Pallof Hold

A simple one, but a great one for the often underworked obliques.

Attach at band to a post. Face the wall. Grab the band and move away from the post (the further you are away from the post, the more challenging it will be). Interlace your fingers as you’re holding the band, pull it to your sternum, and then press the band straight out until your elbows are straight.

It helps to bend your knees a bit to keep your hips square and your spine neutral. You should feel the band trying to twist your body and pull you back to the post. Use your obliques to combat this twisting and do all you can to maintain your ground.

  • 3 sets of 30 seconds per side

Banded Palof Hold

You can also try this as a Pallof press, meaning once you’re in the holding position, simply bring the band back into your chest and then press it out again.

  • 3 sets of 20 reps per side

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 5: Alphabets

From the Pallof hold position, start writing the alphabet in the air. Make sure you’re keeping your hips square and maintaining your ground. This will force you to stay as tight in your core as possible.

  • 3 x 26 letters in the alphabet

About Emily Beers

Emily Beers is a freelance health, fitness and nutrition writer and a strength and conditioning coach at MadLab School of Fitness in Vancouver, B.C.

A former college basketball player and rower, Emily became heavily involved in CrossFit after finishing her Masters degree in journalism in 2009. She competed as an individual at the 2014 CrossFit Games. Emily's work can be found at CrossFit.com, as well as at various health-related companies, including Precision Nutrition, The Whole Life Challenge, the MadLab Group, and OPEX Fitness.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

hollowhold
The Hollow Body: The Most Important Skill to Master
fixribflare
Fix Your Rib Flaring Posture
handstandstrength
Develop Your Handstand: The Importance of Progression
Method Man Incline Dumbbell Presses December 2022
Check Out Rapper Method Man Cruising Through 120-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses for 10 Reps

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Ryan Terry Diagrams His Ambitious 1,874-Calorie Mass-Building Protein Shake

Andrew Jacked’s Trainer Thinks His “Best” Will Come at 2023 Arnold Classic

Bodybuilder Logan Franklin “Cried For 3 Days” After Withdrawing From 2022 Olympia, Outlines 2023 Return

How to Do the Reverse Biceps Curl for Complete Arm Development

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About