Fitness Bands Do Break!

As an enthusiastic user of fitness bands for at-home workouts, I check my bands before every workout for signs of fatigue, wear, or splits. Even so, I had two fail on the same day recently. One snapped me hard in the hand rather than the face, for which I was grateful. I now face away from the band as much as possible as a further safety precaution. Manufacturers recommend bands be replaced after 90 days of heavy use, and I do heavily use mine.

For extreme use, such as the gravity-defying chest exercises Erik Janicki demonstrates in the photo above, I place chair cushions on the floor in front of me to land on just in case a band fails mid-exercise.

Another precaution I take is teaming up two (or more) lighter bands instead of using a single heavy band. This way the stress is distributed over 2 (or more) bands instead of all the stress being put on a single band. If one fails, the fallout should not be as severe.

I also make sure the mirror I am looking into is out of my reach so that I don’t inadvertently crash into it. YouTube FAIL videos have taught me how easily dangerous shit can happen that you never foresaw.

Amazon has many choices in fitness bands priced currently between $18.99 and $26.99. Replacing them 4X a year comes in at about $100, cheaper than any gym membership I know about.

I just ordered the $18.99 version due to the many positive reviews and will review this set in a month or two after I’ve put them to heavy use. Watch for it.