Part of the India health ring
MoveLab
Home-friendly equipment

Resistance band exercises

Cheap, light, packable — the single most useful thing an Indian home gym can add for under a thousand rupees. Tension rises as the band stretches, so the hardest point is the end of the range.

What this kit can actually load

31MOVEMENTS

Covering 16 muscle groups as prime movers and 6 of the 9 movement patterns — all of it usable in a front room.

SOURCE·Published exercise references·COVERAGE COUNTED FROM PRIME MOVERS ONLY·REVIEWED JUL 2026

How the resistance band list is built

  1. Start from the joint action, not the sensation. A muscle is credited when the action it produces is the one being resisted.
  2. Credit exactly one role per exercise: prime mover, or synergist and stabiliser. Nothing is listed twice.
  3. Rank by technical demand on a 1–5 scale — how much practice the movement needs to be done safely, not how hard the set feels.
  4. Credit a movement to a piece of kit only when that kit supplies the resistance — a bench you lie on is not the load.
  5. Attach the published MET category so the energy figure on every card traces back to the same table.

The attribution rules in full →

SOURCE·Published exercise references·ATTRIBUTION BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026

All 31 resistance band movements

Exercises using resistance band, easiest first.REVIEWED · JUL 2026
ExercisePrimary musclePatternLevel
Band External Rotation Rotator cuff Pull Beginner
Band Face Pull Rear deltoid Pull Beginner
Band Lat Pulldown Lats Pull Beginner
Band Pallof Press Obliques Rotation Beginner
Band Pull-Apart Rear deltoid Isolation Beginner
Band Straight-Arm Pulldown Lats Isolation Beginner
Band Woodchop Obliques Rotation Beginner
Banded Good Morning Hamstrings Hinge Beginner
Banded Lateral Walk Glutes Isolation Beginner
Clamshell Glutes Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Calf Raise Calves Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Chest Press Chest Push Beginner
Resistance Band Curl Biceps Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Fly Chest Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Front Raise Front deltoid Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Glute Bridge Glutes Hinge Beginner
Resistance Band Kickback Glutes Hinge Beginner
Resistance Band Lateral Raise Side deltoid Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Leg Curl Hamstrings Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Leg Extension Quadriceps Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Overhead Press Front deltoid Push Beginner
Resistance Band Overhead Triceps Extension Triceps Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Romanian Deadlift Hamstrings Hinge Beginner
Resistance Band Row Upper back Pull Beginner
Resistance Band Shrug Trapezius Isolation Beginner
Resistance Band Triceps Pushdown Triceps Isolation Beginner
Standing Band Twist Obliques Rotation Beginner
Band-Assisted Pull-Up Lats Pull Beginner
Banded Dead Bug Abs Brace Beginner
Band-Assisted Nordic Curl Hamstrings Hinge Intermediate
Band-Resisted Push-Up Chest Push Intermediate

Muscles you can cover with resistance band

Not covered: forearms, lower back, adductors, hip flexors. That is the honest gap — fill it with another implement or with bodyweight work.

The questions that come up on the floor

What can I train with resistance band?

31 exercises on this site use resistance band, covering 16 muscle groups as prime movers and 6 of the 9 movement patterns. 11 of them are compound movements, which is the number that decides whether a piece of equipment can carry a whole programme on its own.

Is resistance band enough to build muscle?

Yes. With 31 exercises across 16 muscle groups, resistance band covers enough of the body to run a complete programme. Muscle growth responds to effort, load progression and volume — not to which brand of resistance supplied them.

Can I use resistance band at home?

Yes — this is home-scale equipment. Cheap, light, packable — the single most useful thing an Indian home gym can add for under a thousand rupees. Tension rises as the band stretches, so the hardest point is the end of the range.

How do I make resistance band exercises harder over time?

Not by doing more reps forever. Move to a harder variation, slow the tempo down, add a pause at the hardest point, or switch to a single-limb version — each of these adds load without adding equipment. Every exercise page on this site lists its harder versions.

Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.

SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The people behind these sites

Follow the build

This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.

Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.

See all 10 sites in this family, with what each one answers

Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.