The best resistance bands for every workout 2023

Best resistance bands: Woman performing a bentover row with a resistance band outdoors against a yellow background
(Image credit: Getty Images / Unknown)

The best resistance bands offer strength and recovery training for exercisers who pack light when they travel or need an alternative to weights. 

If you're working through injury rehabilitation or enjoy outdoor workouts, a resistance band is a perfect addition to your gym bag. They're also far more affordable than kettlebells and dumbbells and could still help you build lean muscle mass and increase mobility and flexibility, which is why we rate them in our best home gym equipment round-up. 

Don't believe us? We recently tried the resistance band workout Chris Hemsworth used for Thor: Love and Thunder, and wow. Moreover, the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine shows that resistance band training could significantly improve your hamstring and inner thigh flexibility when used regularly. 

The best resistance bands come in a variety of strengths and some packs even offer different attachments like ankle cuffs or handles. For low impact full-body workouts, we've tried and tested the best resistance bands on the market to help you decide which one is the best for you. 

The best resistance bands right now

Why you can trust Tom's Guide? Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Best long resistance bands

Best mini resistance bands

How to choose the best resistance bands

Price

When deciding on which resistance bands you should get, price is usually a good place to start. Some hardcore resistance band kits cost upwards of $100, but you can get a decent set for less than $30. Personal fitness should never break the bank, especially when it comes to basic gym accessories at the beginner level. Nevertheless, you get what you pay for, and poor band construction is an eyeball injury waiting to happen.

Challenge

As the name implies, these dead-simple gym accessories can add an extra challenge to various exercises; when leveraged properly, they can also provide assistance for more challenging exercises like pull-ups. The best bands are often stackable, so you can use multiple bands to increase total tension.

Resistance bands come in several basic styles, such as individual tubes, heavy duty superbands and mini bands; the best bands all depend on what you need them for. 

Superbands are just what they sound like: giant rubber bands that instantly up the ante. Mini bands are much smaller, making them useful for physical therapy or just stretching out an achy limb. Tube-style bands have handles, and they’re super for bicep curls, shoulder presses, lateral arm raises and much more.

Most resistance bands are made out of latex or rubber, so keep an eye out for allergy-free materials if your skin is sensitive to the former. 

How we tested the best resistance bands

To see which are the best resistance bands, we performed a number of exercises, varying them based on the type of band we were testing. 

For the mini bands on this list (the ones without any handles), we used one medium-tension band from each brand to perform two sets of 10 reps for lateral arm raises, and one set of 10 reps for lateral walks with a lower-tension band. For any tube-style bands (the ones with handles), we used them for two sets of 10 reps for bicep curls and chest presses

We put the superbands through the same paces as the tubes, in addition to one set (10 reps each) of assisted pull-ups and another of resisted standard push-ups.

The methodology for testing these bands is by no means an exact science, but every body has a different fitness journey, and these things are built for adaptability.

More from Tom's Guide

Get healthy and in shape with our other fitness gear guides:

Wearables Best smartwatches | Best running watches | Best Garmin watches | Best sports watches | Best fitness trackers | Best cheap fitness trackers | Best Fitbit | Best cheap running headphones | Best running headphones

Workout equipment Best treadmills | Best adjustable dumbbells | Best home gym equipment | Best resistance bands | Best foam rollers | Best yoga mats | Best weighted jump ropes | Best smart scales | Best shoes for Peloton and indoor cycling

Apps and exercises Best workout apps | Best running apps | Best 10-minute ab workout | How to lose belly fat | Best tabata workouts | Best 30-minute workouts | Best beginner HIIT workouts

Jane McGuire
Fitness editor

Jane McGuire is Tom's Guide's Fitness editor, which means she looks after everything fitness related - from running gear to yoga mats. An avid runner, Jane has tested and reviewed fitness products for the past five years, so knows what to look for when finding a good running watch or a pair of shorts with pockets big enough for your smartphone. When she's not pounding the pavements, you'll find Jane striding round the Surrey Hills, taking far too many photos of her puppy. 

With contributions from