So here's the question. Last night - my first night YAY! - I was flying by the seat of my pants a little - no matter how prepared I thought I was. I didn't have my chin-up bar set up yet, and I was doing Chest & Back. I thought - it'll be fine, there's someone doing the moves with the bands so that I know what to do.

EXCEPT HE HAD THE BANDS ATTACHED TO THE CEILING???

I own my condo. But that's just it. It's a condo! I'm also not handy. I wouldn't even know what to screw into the ceiling or whatever to be able to do what this guy was doing. I improvised so that I would keep going, doing SOMETHING. But they probably weren't quite the same.

Can anyone explain how to use the bands if you don't have a way to hook them to the ceiling? People travel with these so there must be something totally obvious and easy that I'm missing.

Thanks in advance for the help!

They (beachbody.com)do sell a little gizmo that you hook into the door. Also don't forget to lean over so you get the same motion as a pull-up.

Jeff

Not sure I understand. Is there any way to do these exercises that don't involve hooking up to anything other than yourself and the bands?

No, they have to be attached to something. But if you have an old belt, buckle the belt so you now have a closed circle. Now, put the buckle side on one side of a door, at the top, close to the side where the hinges are. close the door so the buckle part is on the outside, and on the inside you just have a loop. Run your bands through the loop, and voila! You now have a way to do the pull up exercises with your bands.

The belt you use has to be fairly thin though - one of those canvas belts (like the military type) should work. Or anything that you can close in the door such that it won't come loose and it creates a loop on the inside of the door.

Most important, you do NOT want this thing coming loose or breaking while you're exercising, or you're gonna get hit in the face with a VERY strong rubber band!

caedenspa wrote:

QUOTE:
Most important, you do NOT want this thing coming loose or breaking while you're exercising, or you're gonna get hit in the face with a VERY strong rubber band!

THAT scares the living daylights out of me. So, really, you HAVE to be attached to something? No way to do it alone? It doesn't seem to be that way in the manual - says something about sitting, standing...

Yes you have to have it attached to something. Once you are pulling down on the bands, then you can be in a sitting, kneeling position. Just set up the bar so next time you don't have to worry about that.

Veerukka wrote:

QUOTE:
Just set up the bar so next time you don't have to worry about that.

Like Veerukka said. Go ahead and mount your pull up bar. Then if you dont like using your pullup bar, use the bar to hold the bands and use the bands. Hope that helped!

LOL VetToPolice! That's how I used my bands too!

I PROMISE I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but if you're out of town and don't have a bar mounted or anything else to hang from, just improvise?

Be patient with me? Just trying to get it all figured out. It's pretty awesome so far.

And in terms of mounting the P90X bar, do you HAVE to screw it into the wall with the brackets, or is it safe without since it's braced everywhere by the door?

Allyn, Im really not sure how the P90X bar hangs b/c I already had a bar in my house so I didnt get it. Anyways on vacation, or traveling for work. Do what Caedenspa said, get you an old thin belt, something that you can close the door on. Make sure the belt is together to create a loop. Put the buckle on the opposite side of you, and close the door. Then run your bands thru the belt and *Presto* you have a make shift band holder for traveling and all that good stuff. Just make sure the belt buckle is on the other side of the door than what you are pulling from. If not you are going to have a bad exercise. Hope this helped!