Can I use elastic resistance bands for the strength workouts?

Short answer = yes, you can.

Longer answer...

We actually prefer you to use weighted objects (gym equipment such as dumbbells and kettlebells, or improvised equipment such as milk bottles and backpacks loaded with heavy objects) for your strength workouts. Click here to see our guide on what equipment to use for your workouts.

Here's why...

Bands have a couple of disadvantages related to the fact that they provide a variable resistance, meaning the more they are stretched, the more resistance they provide.

The disadvantages that result from this are:

1. It's harder to track progress. Because the resistance is variable you don't actually know how much resistance there was, so you can't measure progress as easily. With weights, you can track your progress. eg. week 4 was squatting with 8kg and have increased to 10kg for week 5. With bands it's not always clear.
2. The changing resistance means part of the movement is harder and part of it is easier. This is not ideal for strength training as the muscle is only working adequately hard for part of the movement, not the whole movement. Often the greatest resistance from band is not where we would ideally want it to be for many exercises.

That being said, resistance bands are better than not using anything. They increase resistance, causing your muscles to work harder, which results in greater improvements in strength and muscle mass (compared to using nothing at all). Bands also have a couple of advantages: they are lightweight and take up very little space, making them easy to travel with and store away.

If you do want to use bands, this short tutorial shows you some examples of how you can apply them to common strength training movements: