By Lauren Jackson, Physiotherapist

One of the easiest ways to add resistance to your workouts is by using resistance bands. Resistance training is crucial for the health of our joints, muscles & bones and must not be neglected. We must keep our muscles strong to protect our joints & prevent muscle atrophy in order to continue to perform activities of daily living without pain or discomfort. When we strengthen our muscles under load, we also keep our bones healthy by improving the supply of nutrient-rich blood. By increasing our lean body tissue (muscle), we also increase our metabolism, which can help with weight management.

In short, a physiotherapist will nearly always prescribe resistance exercises to improve joint pain. Incorporating resistance bands into your exercise programme is one of the best places to start as they’re accessible and easy to use.

In this article, I highlight my favourite resistance band exercises for each common joint complaint and hope to help those suffering with a variety of joint pain.

Resistance Band Exercises for Ankle Pain

Ankle pain can be debilitating. As one of the most distal joints in our body, it is important that this joint remains supple and pain-free to allow us to walk freely with a “typical” gait pattern. Pain & stiffness in the ankle can lead to compensatory movement patterns (limping), which can affect other areas of our body and diminish our functional capabilities. The following exercises can help to keep the ankle & its surrounding musculature strong & supple.

Resisted Ankle Inversion & Eversion

Place the resistance band around your feet. To perform ankle eversion, keep your feet hip-distance apart and take one foot out to the side, widening the distance between your toes without moving your leg. To perform ankle inversion, cross one leg over the other and move the toes of your crossed leg away from the other one. When performing both movements, ensure to move slowly through your available range with a short pause when the resistance band is most taut.

Resisted Ankle Plantarflexion

This movement focuses on strengthening the calf muscle, which is a triplanar muscle, important for protecting both the ankle and knee joints. Place the resistance band around your foot and hold the other end in your hands. Pull the resistance band taut and point your toe towards the ground. Pause for a second before allowing your foot to come back up into the starting position slowly.

Resistance Band Exercises for Knee Pain

Arthritic knee pain is one of the most common complaints I see in clinic. The knees take a considerable amount of impact throughout daily living and are vulnerable to cartilaginous changes, especially if previously injured (ligament or meniscus damage). In order to offload our precious knee joints, we should aim to strengthen all muscles in our lower body. However, I often prioritise exercises that target quadriceps when prescribing a knee pain programme. The quadriceps are located at the front of the thigh and are the driving force for knee extension, helping to create space in the knee to offload and protect it.

I've written about my favourite resistance band exercises for knee pain here. These next two exercises specifically help strengthen the quadriceps through range and at end range to keep the knee strong throughout the gait cycle.

Seated Leg Extensions

Place the resistance band around your ankles whilst sitting on the edge of a chair or bed. Slowly raise one leg by straightening your knee, keeping the other leg still. Flex your foot when your knee is completely straight and pause for a second before slowly lowering your leg back to the starting position.

Total Knee Extensions

Place the resistance band around a table leg. Then wrap the other end around the back of your knee. Let your knee soften to create a small bend, allowing the resistance band to slacken slightly before straightening your knee to tighten the band again. Pause with your knee straight before slowly letting it bend again.

Resistance Band Exercises for Hip Pain

As a ball & socket joint that prioritises stability, the hip moves in many different planes of motion. Flexion, extension, abduction, adduction and rotation allow us to walk, run, jump, pivot, swim, bend and live a life full of movement. However, the hips can also undergo cartilaginous changes, which can cause pain and stiffness. It is vital to keep the surrounding musculature strong in order to protect this important joint. The following exercises aim to increase glute activation and strength, which can offload and improve the power of the hip joint in everyday movement.

Bridge with Abduction

Place the resistance band just above your knees with your feet hip-distance apart. Drive your hips towards the ceiling by pushing through your heels and activating your glutes. At the top of the movement, keep your hips lifted whilst pushing your knees out against the resistance band to increase its tautness. Pause for a second before bringing your knees back together and lowering your hips back to the starting position.

Side-Lying Resisted Clams

Place the resistance band just above your knees and lie on your side. Bend your knees and keep your feet together. Lift your top knee away from your bottom knee, keeping your feet together. Ensure that your hips do not rock backwards throughout the movement. Pause at the top before slowly lowering your top knee back to meet your bottom knee.

Resistance Band Exercises for Back Pain

Lower back pain is one of the most common problems seen in musculoskeletal outpatient clinics. There are many causes, but treatment plans can often be similar. After the pain is controlled, it is important to restore movement, stability and core control. The muscles in our lower back can often be very over-protective as they harbour precious cargo (our spinal cord), but it is important to keep them strong & supple to avoid muscle spasm & pain.

Anti-Rotation Step-Outs

A great exercise for core and spinal stability. Place the resistance band around a door handle and hold it in front of you with your arms straight out at shoulder height. Take a step away from the door, increasing the tautness of the band whilst resisting its pull. Keep your arms straight out in front of you throughout the movement as you step out and step in, ensuring the movement is slow & controlled.

Resisted Dead Bugs

The dead bug is a fantastic exercise to activate the transverse abdominis muscle and improve counter control around our trunk. Place the resistance band around one foot and hold the other end in the opposite hand. As you move your leg away from your body, keep the resistance band still in your opposite hand. This increases the intensity of the movement, making your core work harder to stabilise your body.

Resistance Band Exercises for Shoulder Pain

As the connecting point between our arms and our trunk, the shoulder is another ball & socket joint that favours mobility over stability. This allows us to reach overhead, behind our backs and into little nooks and crannies so we can continue to access our surroundings throughout daily life. When experiencing shoulder pain, it can make even the smallest activities difficult, such as putting on a T-shirt or holding a kettle. I've written a blog about the best resistance band exercises for shoulder pain here, but the following two exercises improve shoulder stability to offload the joint and provide protection.

Resisted Wall Slides in Flexion

Place the resistance band around your wrists and pull it tight by moving your wrists away from each other, keeping your elbows pinched in. Slide your arms up the wall until your elbows are straight, maintaining the tautness of the resistance band throughout. This will activate your rotator cuff, which will stabilise and protect your joint.

Resisted Shoulder External Rotation

Place the resistance band around a door handle and hold the other end in your outside arm, bending your elbow at 90 degrees with it pinched into your side. Slowly take your forearm out to the side, increasing the tautness of the band whilst keeping your elbow pinched into your side. This movement again activates and strengthens your rotator cuff.

I commonly use these exercises in my practice when treating different types of joint pain and often see great results.

However, it is important to consult a health professional before starting a new exercise programme to ensure it is tailored to you and your body.

This blog is written by Lauren Jackson BSc (Hons) Physiotherapist HPC Registered. 

Lauren graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first class honours degree in Physiotherapy in 2020. After completing professional placements in a variety of specialities, she completed her last year of study working in the USA in a busy outpatient clinic, using innovative and advanced methods to treat a multitude of clients including athletes and post-operative patients.

Lauren incorporates manual therapy, therapeutic massage, rehabilitative exercise, gait re-education & valuable advice and support to address all kinds of conditions, to treat & prevent further musculoskeletal issues from arising.

Lauren is also a qualified gym & Pilates instructor and has qualifications in sports massage and sports taping which she utilises to aid her patients’ recovery. She has an avid passion for fitness & exercise so understands the importance of returning to full health as quickly as possible. Lauren is proficient in person-centred practice to ensure that her Physiotherapy treatment is tailored to her patients' goals and lifestyle.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.