Resistance band exercises

Why is a band hardest at the top?

Because latex resistance comes from stretch, not from mass. At the start of the rep the band is short and doing almost nothing; halfway through it starts to pull for real. So the rep has a completely different shape than the same rep with a dumbbell: empty at the start, heaviest exactly where the muscle is already fully contracted.

For some movements that lands perfectly. Hip extension, leg abduction, squeezing the shoulder blades together, locking out a press - all of them are strongest at the end, so resistance that climbs with the range keeps them under tension right where a weight unloads itself. That is why the band has the most to offer for glutes and rear delts.

The downside shows up on the other end. If what you want is load in the stretch, flyes for example, or the bottom of a press, the band gives you the least there. You can make up part of it by setting up so the rep already starts with some tension on the band, but that does not change the shape of the curve.

Loop, long band or handles?

The loop, a closed circle you pull over the thighs or the ankles, does one thing and does it well: it drags the knees inward and the hip has to resist. That is where clamshells, abductions, bridges and squats with a band above the knees come from. It costs almost nothing, fits in a pocket, and covers a solid chunk of the list below.

A long band anchored to a fixed point behaves the most like a cable machine. Face pulls, flyes, kneeling pulldowns and pull-throughs do need something that will genuinely hold a loaded band, though: a door frame, a post, or a door anchor. This is the only version where the anchor is a decision of its own rather than a detail.

A band with handles, pinned under your feet, stands in for dumbbells at home on pulls and curls. Its advantage is that you set the length with your stance, so the resistance changes smoothly without swapping gear. The same band also works in reverse: slung over a pull-up bar or across your shoulders it takes weight off pull-ups and push-ups instead of adding resistance.