Chiraag's Musings

Everyone knows they should exercise. It's so ubiquitous in our culture that —– if you have the time and money —– you feel bad if you don't work out. My own journey with this was a bit winding and starts back in school.

Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, I would try to keep regularly active, and it was definitely helpful that we went to active summer camps relatively often. During the year we would have gym class (my least favorite class!), but until high school I didn't intentionally try to get a workout schedule (I'm not even sure I knew what a workout schedule was).

By high school, we had an elliptical at home, so I started using that a few times a week —– usually one of the pre-programmed courses. It was always a bit sporadic, but at least I was trying.

By the time college rolled around, I knew I should intentionally try to get exercise into my weekly schedule. I would go for an hour at the gym, using the elliptical or the weight machines. But it was hard between classes and exams and just needing down time, to the point where it happened, but was more sporadic than I would have liked. It was definitely intentional, but I was almost never happy with my progress or consistency.

In grad school, I mostly stuck to the same approach and it was similarly sporadic. I would go for a few months (6 months even!) and then it would eventually peter out and I'd fall off the wagon. I was never unhealthy by any measure, but it felt like I was always playing catch-up.

Then, COVID hit. We were all confined to our homes and the university gym got repurposed into a COVID testing center. I had to find something different. Out of desperation, and wanting to get some physical activity into my routine, I started doing a bodyweight HIIT routine. It was 30 minutes and brutal. Because it was only 30 minutes (and because I was working from home anyway), it was impossible for me to say I didn't have time. It felt ridiculous to pretend as though I couldn't fit half an hour into my schedule with zero prep time and zero travel time. This was, by far, my most consistent period during grad school. I stuck with it and got into a routine to the point where I felt odd if I didn't do my workout three days a week.

At some point, though, I started hitting the limits of bodyweight workouts. It was great (and that HIIT routine was intense), but at some point it felt like I was plateauing and I wasn't able to increase the intensity to push my muscles harder. I needed some form of resistance, but we didn't have the space for a full home gym (apartments anyone?). I also had gotten so used to the at-home aspect of my workout that I didn't want to physically go to a gym to do my workout either.

This is when I discovered resistance bands. They are amazing. They are portable and light, and they come in many different weights. I have them all the way down to 15 lbs and all the way up to 200 lbs. You can get them in short or long forms (the short ones are great for certain leg exercises and for archer moves, and the long ones are great for full-body moves).

Ever since I switched to a resistance band HIIT workout, I have never looked back. It's a 20 minute full-body workout that I cannot ever justify skipping. It's short enough that I can do it in the morning before work and then do my normal commute. I have had the most consistent period in my workout history since I switched (there was even a period where I would take the bands with me on work trips, but I stopped doing that for various reasons). I might sometimes still take breaks (e.g. vacation or work trips), but as soon as that's done I'm right back to my workout schedule. It's quick, it's intense, and I never feel like I can say I don't have time.

If you are struggling with trying to maintain a workout, I would highly recommend giving resistance bands a try, particularly in combination with a HIIT workout (there are tons). You can either do a full-body HIIT resistance band workout or find different videos that target different sets of muscles (I prefer the former approach). The HIIT aspect makes it hard to justify skipping and the resistance bands are a relatively cheap way to significantly increase the amount of effort your muscles have to put in.

Am I a bodybuilder? Absolutely not. But I do want to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy amount of muscle, and my HIIT resistance band workouts integrate seamlessly into my schedule.

The only downside with bands is that even small changes in posture and grip can significantly affect the load on your muscles, meaning that it can sometimes be hard to track progress (you don't know if you're just a bit weaker today or if you messed up your grip). My rule of thumb is simply to push as much as you can (sometimes I can do a ton of banded pushups and other times I'm struggling to do half of what I normally do). Especially with HIIT, even small things like the amount of hydration and sleep can affect your performance, especially if you're working out in the morning like I do.

The following links are solely what I use. Feel free to look for other resources (there are many!). Tip on resistance bands: You want to make sure you're looking for layered bands since if a layer rips, you get advance warning before the entire thing snaps (look at the side profile of the band in photos, the layers should be visible).

Resistance bands: Rogue Monster Bands, Rogue Shorty Monster Bands, Rogue Tube Bands.

HIIT Resistance Band Workout: James Grage's video