The 5 Best Mini Band Sets for Stronger Legs, Hips, and Glutes

The importance of hip and glute strength is often understated. Weakness the hip abductors and external rotators is considered a risk factor for several running-related injuries, including Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) (1) and Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) (2). Female athletes who experienced a lower extremity injury were more likely to have decreased hip strength as those compared of similar age (3). That’s why using a mini band set is one of the easiest ways to prevent injury at home.

Our hips are so important based on their location within the body. The hips are the most proximal or closest joint to our trunk and the farthest influencing joint from our feet. Meaning, our hips control and are the masters behind whats occurs with our legs. If our hip rotates inward, our knee and ankle will rotate inward. Vice Versa if our hip rotates out, then our knee and ankle will rotate out. Weakness in our hips puts extra stress on our knees and ankles as those joints may have to compensate to keep our legs in proper alignment during activities. There is good research supporting weakness in the hips being a precursor to ankle injuries.

Our glutes and hips are extremely strong and powerful. We use our hip muscles all day long during functional tasks such as walking, standing from a sitting position, going up and down stairs, and especially during recreation activity. There is not a standing movement you can perform well without using your glute muscles.

Now imagine if those hips are weak and the amount of stress that places on your knees and ankles? Don’t let this happen to you, it’s important to keep your hips strong.

Name	Price	Best Feature	Our rating	Best Price
Perform Better Mini Band	$	The Thickest and most durable set we tried	9.7/10	See Current Price
Fit Simplify Resistance Bands	$	The Best "Bang for Your Buck" bands	9.5/10	See Current Price
Synergee Resistance Mini Loop Bands	$	We love the high amount of resistance in the heavy band	9.5/10	See Current Price
INMAKER Workout Bands	$	Comes in two different sets for advanced and beginner levels	9.4/10	See Current Price
Whatafit Mini Resistance Loop Bands	$	Great durability and overall mini bands	9.4/10	See Current Price

Improving Glute and Hip Strength with a Mini Band

Improving glute strength can be both injury preventative and extremely important in injury recovery. As mentioned above, injuries in other areas of the leg benefit from hip and glute strengthening to decrease the risk for re-injury.

Glute strength and more specifically glute weakness is commonly associated with ACL and knee ligament tears. Weakness in the hip abductors, external rotators, and the hip extensors is typical found following ACL reconstruction and may persist for two years or more after surgery (6).

Glute strength has been shown to be successful at increasing strength (3) and decreasing pain (4) over a 4-week to 8-week program. One of the easiest ways to maintain consistency with glute strength is to have your own set of resistance bands at home.

You don’t have to rely on going to the gym every evening
The bands listed above offer great resistance
Exercises are easy to perform to improve your glute strength
Time saving! You can get in a quick workout within 15 minutes
Cost effective! This is much cheaper then fancy equipment or a gym membership

Anatomy of the Hip Joint

The anatomy of the hip is quite complex. There are many different muscles that cross the hip joint that influence either the spine or the distal to the knee. There are many large muscles such as the Glute Max and very small muscles such as the Inferior and Superior Gemelli. List below are the most common break down of the hip muscle groups and why they are important.

What are the Different Hip Muscles

Hip Abductors – The muscles on the outside and posterior aspect of the hip. These muscles help us kick the leg sideways and more importantly keep our pelvis level with walking.

Gluteus Medius – The bigger of the two main hip abductors, most common muscle involved with “Hip Bursitis” even though the name and pathology is no longer correct.

Gluteus Minimus – The smaller of the hip abductor muscles. Helps stability and even rotation of the hip.

Hip Extensors – The big powerful muscles that help propel us forward. These muscles bring the leg backwards and help with the powerful movements of pushing off such as in running and stair stepping. The two primary extensors are listed below, although there are smaller muscles that do assist.

Glute Maximus – The most famous glute muscle and one of the strongest muscles in the body. Performs powerful hip extension and aids in hip rotation

Hamstrings – The Hamstrings are a pretty amazing group of 4 muscles. They are most commonly thought of as helping with bending the knee but are just as important in extending the hip.

Deep hip Rotators – A group of small muscles that lie underneath the bigger glute muscles. Despite their size they play an extremely important role in hip stability. The Piriformis gets all the press but often unfairly blamed for problems it’s likely innocent of as you can see form the link.

Hip Flexors – The hip flexors are in the front of the hip and help the leg come forward and upwards towards the chest. These are strong muscles that also help control the spine and stability of the hip.

Why a Mini Band Set is Great for Hips and Glutes

The hips respond really well to using resistance bands for strengthening. The small loop bands offer a diverse set of exercises that can be performed to target the various muscles and help in reaching long term goals.

Easy to comply with a program at home
East to increase resistance
Easy to take traveling in suitcases or purses
Easy to track progress with increasing resistance bands
Inexpensive and affordable

How to Use a Mini Band

The Best Mini Band Sets for Hip and Glute Strength

Perform Better Resistance Bands

Summary: The Perform Better bands are our favorites because of their durability. We have had a set in the clinic for over a year and they don’t crack, break, and have help color. That’s not always the case with the other bands. They may be a few dollars more but are worth it in the long run when you have to buy multiple of the other guys.

Incredibly durable bands that are made thicker than the rest
Mini-Bands can be used anywhere – on the field, at home, in the clinic or gym, or even when traveling.
Effective for both upper and lower body training.
The bands come with a set of 4 bands. Yellow – Light Resistance. Green – Medium Resistance. Blue – Heavy Resistance. Black – Extra Heavy Resistance and Exercise Manual.