Yahoo Lifestyle 
Sam Wood: The one piece of workout equipment you need to invest in
This is a tough one but after some careful deliberation I’ve made my decision.
If you’re going to invest in one piece of workout equipment, it should be resistance bands.
Here’s why:
1. They’re versatile
Resistance bands give you the ability to train almost any muscle. You can adjust the resistance by narrowing or extending your grip which allows you to increase or decrease the difficulty of each exercise. Having the ability to adapt the intensity of each move means you can increase the difficulty as you progress with your strength and fitness.
2. They’re light weight
Resistance bands are the ideal travel companion because they weigh virtually nothing. This means you have no excuse not to work out when travelling because you can take your bands with you ;)
3. They’re affordable
Fitness equipment can be expensive, especially if you’re trying to buy a different piece of equipment to focus on different body parts. Resistance bands can work your entire body and are relatively low cost.
4. They’re low impact
Resistance bands are gentle on the joints and body so this makes them perfect for those with injuries or people who generally just want a lower impact workout that is still challenging.
5. The options are endless
There are honestly so many different ways to use a resistance band and if you google it, you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of different resistance band workouts.
Here is a full-body resistance band workout you can try anywhere:
1. Resistance Band Row Left Side
Loop your resistance band under the couch or around a door handle.
Start in a standing or half kneeling position. Using your left arm, pull the band in towards your ribcage, keeping good posture and ensuring you don’t shrug. This exercise is great for your back and your biceps.
2. Resistance Band Row Right Side
Exactly same as above but swapping arms
3. Resistance Band Glute Bridge
Lie on your back with your hands by your sides, your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor hip distance apart. Loop a medium strength resistance band around your thoughts, just above your knees. Squeeze your glutes and brace your core and push through your heels to lift your hips a few inches off the floor. You want your body to form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Hold this position for a couple of seconds, ensuring you keep tension in the band and your knees don’t collapse inwards. Slowly lower back down to the starting position.
4. Resistance Band Lateral Lunge
Start in a standing position. Loop a resistance band around both of your ankles.
You can either hold your hands together in front of your chest or place them on your hips.
Take a big step to the left. When your left foot hits the ground, hinge at the hips and push your butt back as you bend your left knee into a lunge. Pause in the lunge position before pushing off your left leg to return the starting position. Repeat on the opposite leg.
5. Resistance Band Pull-Apart
Stand with your feet hip distance apart with one hand on each end of the resistance band. Hold the resistance band out in front of your body at shoulder height. Have you grip on the bands so that there is about 1ft in between each of your hands. Pull on each end to that you are slowly pulling the band apart, whilst keeping your arms up at shoulder height.
6. Resistance Band Shoulder Press
Stand inside the band with both feet. Grab the band and bring it up towards your chin. Push it up above your head with both hands, into a shoulder press. Lower down slowly.
7. Resistance Band Crab Walks
Use a tight resistance band or double up a looser one and step into it so that it is around your ankles. Keep your knees slightly bent and your toes pointing forwards. Walk sideways in one direction, never letting your feet get closer than shoulder width apart, then walk back the other way.
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