Best resistance bands 2024 for home workouts, pull-ups and more

The best resistance bands don’t often get enough credit for their versatility and muscle-building benefits, but they’re one of the best pieces of home gym equipment your money can buy, especially if you can’t afford a pair of dumbbells.

While they may not look impressive, studies have shown that, when used the right way, resistance bands can be just as effective as using free weights. They can build muscle, improve strength, are safer to use, and can be easily stowed in your gym bag when not in use.

Whether you’re warming up, doing a full-body workout, or need some assistance with your pull-ups, the humble resistance band can do it all. Check out our pick of the best resistance bands below. 

Best resistance bands to buy right now

If you're looking for a set of resistance bands that are durable, strong and excellent value for money, then you can't beat this resistance band and accessory set from MiraFit for your home gym set-up. Costing less than £30, they're an absolute steal.

There are four different resistances – 20 lbs, 30 lbs, 50 lbs and 60 lbs – plenty for beginners, although more advanced users may want to check out our heavier bands below. They also come kitted with two detachable foam handles, two ankle straps, and a door anchor, so whether you want to do bicep curls, lat pull downs, or RDLs, it has everything you need to achieve a full-body workout. 

They do come with a latex warning, so we advise against using them if you have a latex allergy. However, they are covered in a nylon stretchy material.

Simple in design, excellent value for money, and incredibly strong, WODFitters flat bands are versatile enough to add additional load to your exercises, use for full-body workouts, and assist your pull-ups. 

Made from multiple layers of tough rubber, they’re designed to last without suffering deformation over time and easily offer the biggest resistance range of the bands listed here, going up to a whopping 175 lbs/ 79 kg. What's also great about these bands is that if you do want to increase the resistance even further, you can just use multiple bands together. Who said you can't build muscle with resistance bands, ey?

These loop resistance bands from Mirafit are excellent for lower body workouts/warmups and the quality is fantastic too. Made from a blend of polyester and latex, these bands are super strong and designed to stand the test of time, so you won’t find them snapping on you like regular latex ones. 

They come in three different resistances which we found offered more than enough variety to carry out numerous glute and leg exercises. When testing, we really appreciated the rubber material dotted on the inside of the material, which keeps the band securely in place and stops it from rolling down your thighs. The mesh bag that they come in also makes them very transportable and easy to store in your gym bag and use on the go.

This MyProtein set includes five resistance bands and all the accessories you need for an effective full-body workout, including: two cushioned foam handles, two ankle attachments, and a door anchor. All of this comes in nylon carry bag so you can store everything neatly in. 

While they don't have the heaviest resistance – the strongest band is 50
lbs/ 22.8 kg – but you can clip multiple bands together to increase this. Technically speaking, if you clipped all five bands together you'd have a total resistance of 150 lbs/ 68 kg, which is pretty decent!

We didn't find them as comfortable to use as the material-covered resistance bands, especially when doing exercises like chest flyes where the band would come across the body and dig into our arms. It's not a deal breaker, but they can just be slightly more fiddly to work with.

Mirafit resistance bands come in a variety of sizes and resistance levels. The lightest #1 band is great for toning, and the strongest, #6, is strong enough to replace dumbbells with its 230 pounds resistance level. Made out of non-snap 100% natural latex material, these bands were designed for heavy-duty use and for a variety of exercises. Suitable for men and women, young and old, the Mirafit resistance bands are also ideal for physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

Resistance bands in general are affordable, but these bands from Gritin are ridiculously inexpensive. With this set you get five bands ranging from 'light' to 'XX-heavy', which are colour-coded for ease of use. They're also made from premium natural latex, to be kinder on the skin.

These bands are best for offering additional resistance to lower body exercises (think glute bridges, crab walks, squats etc), rehab work, core exercises, and using in warm -ups. While they definitely fired up our glute muscles fast during our monster walks, and felt durable, we don't suspect they will last as long as the MiraFit mini bands. However, if it's an affordable set that you're after to test the waters with, you can't really go wrong with these.

How to buy the best resistance bands for you

In-depth: How to choose the best resistance bands for you

The first thing you'll want to consider is what you're buying your resistance bands for: is it for upper body exercises, lower body exercises, or both? Different types of resistance bands are better for different things, so here's a quick breakdown...

Resistance tubes are great for full-body workouts. These tend to have handles at either end for gripping with your hands or, if you’re feeling extra flexible, your feet.  The tubes come in colour-coded resistance levels along with add-ons such as hooks for specific exercises or for hanging from doors. 

Pull-up bands are also a solid choice for full-body workouts. They're essentially a giant rubber band and are known as 'pull-up bands', as people use them for extra assistance when learning to do this exercise. However, they can be used for multiple exercises. Again, resistance levels are colour-coded and their simple design makes them a versatile and portable option. 

Loop resistance bands, also called 'booty bands' or 'mini bands', are small resistance bands that are best for lower body and hip exercises. They're often made from latex rubber or fabric (the latter is a lot longer lasting). Their resistance levels are often labeled on the band itself as extra light, light, medium, and heavy, or are numbered. 

Don't forget to consider the price too. While resistance bands are an affordable piece of home gym equipment and definitely shouldn't break the bank, very cheap bands are more likely to be of poor quality and won't last you as long. That's why we've taken price and quality into consideration with our choices above.

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