Never been a fan of the gym? You're not alone - studies suggest that only 16% of UK adults have a gym membership, while working out at home has been riding a seemingly never-ending wave of popularity in recent years.
And we're totally here for it - because it's entirely possible to build both strength and fitness from the comfort of your own home, without the need for bulky or expensive equipment, either. Enter: the humble resistance band. They may look innocuous, but these stretchy elastic bands are one of the most effective pieces of kit you can have in your fitness arsenal, plus one of the simplest to use. Research (such as this 2019 study, published in the journal Sage Open Medicine) shows that resistance bands provide similar strength gains as traditional resistance methods like machines and weights. Meanwhile, researchers at Yogyakarta State University deduced that the bands are effective when it comes to improving balance, which is intrinsically linked to core strength.
