Resistance tubing and bands are among the most common physical therapy tools, and we all know how great they can be for helping us get strong and stay that way. Resistance tubing is lightweight and easily portable, unlike cumbersome free weight sets. And with a simple accessory or two, like an Around-the-Door Anchor Strap, resistance tubing can replicate just about any free weight exercises.
Using resistance tubing alone, exercises are limited to those that involve stretching the tubing between two hands or perhaps wrapping it around your body or stepping on it. With these techniques, you’ll be able to perform simple moves like pull-aparts, squats, and biceps curls.
But you can open up a world of additional exercises by anchoring the tubing to a wall or door. A door strap for resistance bands allows you to add chest presses, rows, trunk rotations, lunges, and more.
What Is an Around-the-Door Anchor Strap?
First, let’s explain a couple other products:
- PrePak’s basic Web Anchor Strap is a simple, single loop of webbing that can be secured to any standard door as an anchor point for resistance tubing. If you need to change the height of the anchor point, just open the door, adjust the Web Anchor Strap, then close the door again.
- Our high end Web Slide Exercise Rails makes the Web Anchor Straps easier to use by providing a permanent workout station without the need for opening and closing a door to adjust the anchor point height.
The Around-the-Door Anchor Strap offers a compromise between these two products. Like the Web Slide Exercise Rail System, the Around-the-Door Strap provides multiple attachment points for door anchor exercises with resistance tubing, but in a less expensive, more portable format.
Each of these options is great for expanding the capabilities of resistance tubing and bands. Web Anchor Straps are highly portable but the least convenient, since you need to reset them in a door each time you change the height of your exercise point. The Web Slide Exercise Rail System is great for permanent workout stations in a home, office, or clinic. And Around-the-Door Anchor Straps provide low-cost alternative wall strap exercises compared with the Web Slide Exercise Rail.
Exercises with Anchored Resistance Tubing
In the video examples below, we show exercises using the Web Slide Exercise Rail System. However, all of these are easily adapted using the Around-the-Door Anchor Strap or Web Anchor Straps alone.
Chest Press
With free weights, chest presses must be performed lying on a bench. With resistance tubing they are performed seated or standing, depending on your personal preference. You can even perform incline and decline chest presses by raising or lowering the selected anchor point height.
- While seated or standing, attach the tubing at shoulder height. (Tubing can also be attached higher or lower than shoulder height for decline or incline presses.)
- Now turn facing away from the anchor point with the ends of the tubing held in each hand near the chest.
- Slowly push your hands away from your body, feeling the increase in the tubing tension as your arms extend. Slowly bring your hands back to the start position to complete one rep.
- Perform three sets of ten to fifteen reps each.
Shoulder Row
Again, these can be performed seated or standing with the Web Anchor Strap, Web Slide Exercise Rail, or Around-the-Door Anchor Strap.
- While seated or standing, attach the tubing to an anchor point at approximately shoulder height or a bit below shoulder height.
- Remain facing the anchor point and hold an end of the resistance tubing in each hand. There should be little to no slack in the tubing while your arms are extended away from you.
- Slowly pull your hands toward your body, feeling the increase in the tubing tension as your muscles contract. Slowly return your hands to the start position, with your arms extended in front of you to complete one rep.
- Perform three sets of ten to fifteen reps each.
Trunk Rotation
A great core exercise that can be modified to target different muscle areas by changing the height of the anchor point.
- Attach the resistance tubing to the anchor strap. Select an anchor point that is either high, low, or in between depending the muscles you wish to target.
- Stand with your side facing the wall, your arms extended in front of your body and parallel to the floor, and your hands together with the ends of the tubing gathered in both hands. Adjust yourself so that the tubing has little to no slack in this starting position.
- Now slowly rotate your trunk and arms away from the wall. Your core muscles should do most of the work here, but you can also raise or lower your arms as you turn (if you've chosen a low or high anchor point, respectively). Slowly return to the start position.
- After performing a set of ten to fifteen reps, turn to fact the opposite direction and perform an additional set of ten to fifteen reps on the other side. Do three sets on each side.
Lunges
Add resistance to your lunges to enhance the work on your quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
- Attach the tubing to the anchor strap below shoulder height.
- Face away from the wall with one end of the resistance tubing in each hand.
- Perform your first lunge by stepping forward with one leg and lowering yourself so that the forward knee is bent at approximately 90 degrees with the upper leg parallel to the floor. Step back to the starting position, then repeat with the other leg.
- Perform three sets of ten to fifteen reps on each leg.
Hip Abduction, Extension, etc.—With the addition of an extremity strap (or by tying the resistance tubing around an ankle) you can add an array of lower body strengthening exercises to your repertoire.
- Attach one end of the resistance tubing to the lowest anchor point. Use an ankle or extremity strap to attach the other end of the tubing to your ankle.
- Stand with your side towards the wall. The leg with the strapped ankle should be farthest from the wall for abduction exercises. Use a chair if necessary to hold onto and stabilize yourself.
- Stand with your feet together. While keeping your legs straight, slowly lift the strapped leg out away from your side, against the resistance of the tubing. At this point you should be standing on the other leg. Slowly bring the strapped leg back to the starting position.
- Perform three sets of ten to fifteen reps.
- Move the ankle strap to the other leg, turn to face the opposite direction, and perform three more sets with the other leg.
Get Your Fitness Products from PrePak
The Around-the-Door Anchor Strap is a simple, portable on-the-go fitness tool that opens up a wide range of new resistance tubing exercises that can be difficult to perform with tubing alone. It's also a key component of PrePak's Economy Gym, which includes a selection of tubing, handles, an extremity strap, and instructional exercise poster. Order yours today.