Resistance bands are versatile, portable, and can provide heavy enough resistance for a variety of exercises, making them a valuable addition to your gym bag. Unfortunately, one of the best band styles is the long, strong type that comes without handles, which can mean they’re awkward to hold.
You might be tempted to just buy bands that have handles, but the ones without handles are more versatile: You can use them with weights, stretch them out on a rack, or use them as a band aid on pull-ups and dips. Therefore, finding a solution that keeps your hands comfortable while wearing these bands may be a better option than buying different bands. Here are some things to try:
wear gloves
I’m usually not a fan of wearing gloves in the gym, as you can better develop your grip strength with your bare hands, but this is one of the cases where gloves really make sense. The fingerless type may not protect your fingers well enough, so he considers a regular pair of work gloves or gardening gloves.
use a towel
For an even simpler solution than bringing a dedicated pair of gloves, you can wrap a towel around the part of the band that you’ll be holding. This can be a bit finicky, especially if you’re doing a two-handed exercise where you need to wrap two separate areas of the band, but the convenience of avoiding additional equipment can be worth it.
Use a thick grip or hook style handle
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a handle that could be attached to the band for exercises that require it and then removed? While regular resistance band handles don’t work very well, there are products made specifically for this type of resistance band, such as these hook style handles.
Or use a fat grip. (Fat Gripz is a brand name, but there are other products that do the same thing.) They are typically used on barbells or dumbbell handles to widen the handle and further challenge your forearm muscles while holding on. But since they slide easily onto anything you want to hold onto, they’re a perfect grip for resistance bands, like this video shows.
.
