11 Mini Band Exercises to Warm Up and Assess Athletes

by Corey Beasley

Today we're gonna go over what we can do with the Elite FTS monster mini bands. We do a basic warm up that addresses the entire body and is done before each workout.  These drills are also a great assessment for young athletes or new people that you've never worked with before.

Pre Lifting Warm Up, Strong 101 Gym style:

1. Pull Apart

• Band doubled up
• Wrist straight
• Elbows locked
• Pull apart fast, bring it back nice and easy
• No slack on the band...keep constant tension

2.  Overhead Pull Apart

• Similar to regular pull apart, but arms are overhead.
• Same rules as above

3.  Squats

• Feet shoulder width or wider, standing on the band
• Pull band over the head
• Hips back, chest up

4.  Good Morning

• Wide feet, band over head
• Hands up, shoulder pined back
• Hips back, chest up

5.  Deadlifts

• Band doubled up
• Hips back, chest up
• Weight on the heels

6.  Bent over rows

• Similar position to the deadlift
• Pull thumbs toward your armpit, shoulders back
• pull fast, return slow

7.  Push Ups

• Thumbs thru the ends
• Wrap around the back, below the shoulder blades
• Arms locked before going to the ground
• Hands flat, elbow in, body straight

8.  Single Arm Shoulder Press

• Stand on the band with one foot
• Bring arm up to shoulder height and press straight overhead
• Arm in line with the body, wrsit straight, Finish arm by the ear

9.  Basic Curls

• Same basic start position as the shoulder press
• Simply curl fist toward the shoulder.

10.  Front Raise

• Both feet on the bands, shoulder width
• Both hands on band, knuckles up
• Arms straight, wrists flat
• Raise arms overhead

11.  Up and Overs

• Same start position as pull aparts
• spread the band
• raise the arms up and over the head
• basically taking the band from the front of your hips to the back and repeat

So there you have it.  That's  basically how we use the monster mini everyday at our gym.  Simple warm up and its a great assessment for young athletes, that have never worked out before.

Mike Rojas owns Strong 101 Gym in Corona, CA and is know n for building some of the strongest, most explosive athletes in the area.