APU Health & Fitness Original

Elastic Tubing: How It Can Be Used for an Effective Workout

According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), elastic tubing is an inexpensive method of training the upper extremities such as the arms, wrists and hands. All that is needed for this type of training are a few pieces of rubber tubing.

Free weights and universal weight machines, along with other workout equipment, certainly build strength and coordination, as Well and Good notes. However, they do not necessarily allow an exerciser to safely train the muscles for a precise, sport-specific range of motion. They also cannot affect the speed of muscle contraction, which makes a difference in hitting and throwing.

Related: How Warmups and Stretches Can Help Athletic Performance

The Main Advantages of Elastic Tubing Workouts

The main advantage of using elastic tubing is the conditioning of the muscles and tendons of the shoulder girdle, forearm, and wrist. In addition, the muscles can be trained for the exact range of motion required in sports such as tennis, baseball, squash, softball, racquetball or swimming.

Most people understand the concept of training for a specific sport. For instance, if you want to improve your running ability, you run long or short distances. If you want to improve your cycling ability, you ride a bike; if you want to improve your swimming, jump in the pool.

Vigorous swimming certainly provides an excellent workout for the cardiorespiratory system, However, if treadmill running is used to evaluate swimming effects, it is easy to make the mistake of concluding that there is no conditioning effect. The same holds true for anaerobic vs. aerobic conditioning, eccentric vs. concentric muscle contractions, and weigh-bearing vs. non-weight-bearing exercise.

Another big plus of elastic tubing workouts is that the speed of muscle contraction while hitting a tennis ball or racquetball can be simulated more closely. The arm speed of a major league baseball pitcher is reported to be 2,000 to 2,500 degrees per second, according to Baseball America.

By contrast, the normal speed of a bench press or arm curl is in the range of 60 to 150 degrees per second, says the National Association of Sports Medicine. It would obviously not be safe to pump weights or even use elastic tubing at speeds this high, but muscle contractions at moderate to moderate-high speeds with elastic tubing are no problem.

I am often asked if there is any secret training technique or substance – such as anabolic steroids, bee pollen, or seaweed extract – to improve sport-specific strength. My answer is, “Try elastic tubing workouts!”

Sprinters are often seen running against the resistance of speed cords attached to their beltline during practice sessions, but few people have thought of elastic tubing workouts to improve upper body strength and coordination. Several athletes who I have encouraged to try elastic tubing workouts have claimed that they would have used elastic tubing throughout their whole career if they’d have known about it earlier.

Elastic tubing is undoubtedly the least expensive high-tech training device on the market today. All you need to start is a seven-foot piece of 3/8 inch diameter tubing. Elastic tubing with fancy handgrip devices can be purchased at sporting goods stores for $30 to $35, but you can save money by getting it from a medical supply outlet.

Related: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and the Reasons Why It Happens

Getting Started with Tubing Workouts

To improve your tennis or racquetball stroke, the Journal of Physical Education recommends that you tie the elastic tubing to a fixed object such as a doorway or furniture item behind you at just below waist level. Be sure to tie off the tubing very securely as Atemi Sport recommends; a square knot will work fine. It’s important for the tubing to be secure, because it will endure a considerable number of repeated stretches during high-intensity workouts and may come loose.

Before you get started, be sure to warm up and stretch your shoulder and arm muscles for 10 to 15 minutes. Many baseball pitchers even put a heating pad on their shoulder before a workout of this caliber to prepare the muscles for intense stress and hopefully prevent excessive muscle soreness or possible connective tissue damage. I recommend that athletes perform elastic tubing workouts prior to a match or practice session to ensure that shoulder muscles are adequately warmed up.

Start off about three feet in front of where the tubing is tied down; you can progress to four to five feet as soon as your strength improves. Adjust your distance based on the resistance you wish to encounter but be sure to start out close to where your tubing is anchored. Otherwise, you might get overly sore on your first workout and never want to do it again.

Depending on your initial arm strength, you will probably not want to increase your distance for at least two weeks. Wrap the tubing three times around your hand and consider wearing a glove, which will greatly help to prevent blisters.

You can also experiment with elastic tubing and different heights to simulate the normal forehand or backhand stroke in tennis or the low kill shot for racquetball or squash. A topspin forehand or backhand tennis stroke is usually conducted with the swing in the low to high position. The racquetball kill shot involves a stroke low and horizontal to the ground while the player stays low during the follow-through. During exercise, bend your knees and step into the stroke making it into a full-body workout. 

Start out with two to three sets of 35 to 40 repetitions. If you can do more than 40 reps, then move away from where the tubing is anchored to increase resistance. If you can’t do 35 reps or so, move closer. Be sure to take about a one- to two-minute break between each set of repetitions.

Use slow contractions to start and progress to moderate and moderate-high speeds. Only go as fast as is reasonably comfortable, especially when you’re just beginning this type of workout.

To mimic the overhand serve for tennis or the overhand throw used in baseball or softball, attach the elastic tubing at shoulder level behind you. Although you will not be able to contract as fast as during the actual stroke, moderate speed contractions of this nature will make your workout much more sport-specific If you do three to five sets of about 40 reps for each shoulder movement, it will probably be the most beneficial 20-minute workout you could perform.

As with strength training, make sure to limit yourself to three elastic tubing sessions per week, giving your muscles at least two days rest between workouts, according to Bodybuilding. Separating high-intensity workouts by 48 hours and eating a high-carbohydrate diet will ensure optimal gains in strength. Research has also shown that a muscle that is not overloaded at least every 72 hours will begin to atrophy, notes U.S. News and World Report.

A workout performed with elastic tubing reduces the risk for injury and can be highly useful in training muscles. For recreational or professional athletes looking for an alternative form of exercise, elastic tubing has several benefits.

Daniel G. Graetzer, Ph.D., received his B.S. from Colorado State University/Fort Collins, a M.A. from the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah/Salt Lake City. He has been a faculty member in the School of Health Sciences, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, since 2015. As a regular columnist in social media blogs, encyclopedias, and popular magazines, Dr. Graetzer greatly enjoys helping bridge communication gaps between recent breakthroughs in practical application of developing scientific theories and societal well-being.

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