Fit Life: 4 moves with a resistance band for an at-home workout

Pamela Hernandez from Thrive Personal Fitness shows us 4 moves with the stretchy band and the right way to work out with one of them.

Here's what Pamela told us:

Yes, you can get a challenging workout with just a resistance band. Resistance bands are a simple and portable tool that you can use anywhere, making them perfect for a home or backyard workout. The secret to making a band workout challenging is slow and controlled movements. Don't let the band lead the movement, keep control in both the contraction and relaxation phase of the movement. Here's a four-move workout to try with your resistance band today. Start with a sumo squat with a chest pull apart. Stand with your arms at your sides and your feet wide, knees and toes angled out to the sides. Hold your resistance band in front of you at chest height with palms down and arms straight. Initiate the movement in your hips, sit back and down into your squat, keeping your knees wide as you pull your arms across your chest. At the same time pull the band apart, tight across your chest. As you rise up out of the squat, let the resistance band return to the start position. Our next exercise mimics the lat pulldown machine in the gym. Start with your band over your head, arms straight in a "Y" position. Pull your right arm down, drawing your right elbow down to your side. Return to start and repeat on the left side. Next we go back to a squat but this time borrowing a little bit from yoga. You might recognize our narrow squat, with feet close together and inside the hips, as a form of chair pose. But for this version you will anchor your band under your feet, holding an end of the band in each hand. Sit back in your squat (chair) and hold the position will you use the band to perform bicep curls. To get the most out of your curl, keep your elbows tucked in close to your sides. Hold the squat for the entire set. Finally, we'll hit the triceps will working the legs in a different way. Borrowing from yoga again, assume the Warrior II stance. Start with left leg leading and straight, toes pointed with your back leg also straight and toes pointed to two o'clock. Hold your band up at shoulder height with your left arm straight ahead and the right arm bent. As you straighten your right arm to a fully extended position also bend your left knee, opening the arms and opening the hips. Return to start and finish the set on one side before switching to the other side. With a circuit, you'll do each exercise back to back with no or little rest in between for 30-45 seconds per exercise or 10 to 15 repetitions.