Maybe. I really like my current build with the GEKU bar, and it is a lot cheaper. I'm going to make a full updated video soon discussing all of the pieces that make up my setup, and you can use my free program at gamerbody.com so you don't have to pay the extra cost to X3 for it. Not knocking his at all, but wit this updated GEKU bar (the aluminum alloy one) I think it will heavily compete with the X3 system.
Similar thoughts on these newer Undersun bands. I needed to replace an older band and immediately noticed that the newer ones were shiny with these black spots on them. Two of the new bands snapped on the third set. Definitely a change in the manufacturing/formula makeup. Disappointing as Undersun is what sold me on band training in the first place.
I got my 2020 bands and they still look and feel great. Luckily I got a spare set of the Military color brand new so I’m set for a while but sad to see this. This honestly is my favorite brand. Love the branding and the people behind it hope they get back to the quality they were :(
Do you prefer loop or tube style bands? I literally just got these new undersun bands today and saw you posted this video. Mine have that exact same black mark smudge. So I’m kinda looking to see what the next best or better option for resistance bands would be? Also affordable !!
Loop bands for the setup I use. Tube bands are OK for standing exercises like biceps curls. The loop bands provide a lot more resistance as well and in the setup I use, can quickly be changed from a single loop to double loop depending on the exercise. Im using the Serious Steel bands right now and they are kicking my butt.
I wanted to get their red-black bands but I also read complaints that directly buttress what you've pointed out to us here. These were the only bands I had found without powder or oil added. I may try the silicone or fabric bands from Vector. Thanks for the heads-up!
I get a small allergic traction to the powder. My Serious Steel bands had it all over when I received them. I found a video where they washed it off, so I did that. I wouldn't have had to though if the new bands weren't so bad
My guess is that they are trying to either increase or maintain profit by reducing the quality of raw materials, base on the assumption of their position on the market and branding. Amazon has increased its offer of loop style bands. I've noticed that because almost daily I checked for deals on things I buy regularly and 1 year ago they didn't have that much to offer with that particular style of bands, regular sets whether branded or generic where sold for about 25-80USD, from 6 months ago or so I've noticed A LOT of loop bands sets for as low as 7 USD and a few brands dropping their prices for several weeks in order to compete, I've bought Veick and Rubmate for about 10 USD per set... a year ago they were above 30. Outside Amazon I just bought a whopping (at least to me) 250 lbs single loop band for just 25 USD. That kind wasn't been offered a while ago.
I think it is becoming more popular now (really started during the pandemic) and companies are now trying to catch up and get some of the profits. I wish the new UnderSun bands didn't drop so hard in quality though. Sad to see it and I do hope they change to a better product in the future.
As I said before, I managed to snap the two thickest ones - this was a set bought in 2021. I'd obviously hardly used the X one too. No reply from them when I reached out, forget about them. Happy with my serious steel replacements so far.
Same, i snapped the xheavy band like 3 months into using it. contacted them, they didn't respond so I did an amazon replacement on all of them.. then snapped the xheavy band again like 6 months in doing a very basic chest press with it (not over-stretching). they're just cheap junk. Switched to serious steel and i don't have any complaints.
I thought about getting the new Black and Red bands but decided against it and glad I did. I knew they had gotten rid of their lifetime warranty. Selling a LOT of my extra bands now and will be sticking with the ones I got from Vector Athletics and still have my old Undersun ones as a backup.
I’d recommend the rogue fitness monster resistance bands. I thought about getting the Elitefts resistance bands but never did purchase due to already having the rogue fitness bands. The rogue brand also comes with A 1 year warranty. Mine are on year 4 and still going strong! I use the bodylastic Ez curl bar , hands & A amazon metal based straight bar.
True. I had to buy some replacement bands and found out they got rid of their lifetime warranty and my bands were out of warranty. The new ones had cracks in them and they never got back to me about a replacement. I don’t think they care anymore. They never expanded their products. I mean, I bought their jump rope. That was a great addition and great product. They said to me a bunch of times on social media that they would have a bigger band than the XHeavy and never did. Their Facebook group where everyone is supposed to share knowledge about exercising with bands would take down any posts where you used something other than Undersun equip with your bands. Come on, make a bar or handles. Not all of us have gorilla paws like James 😂 Some of us are programmers with wrist issues. I can’t crush my hand under the band every workout.
Damn dude I still have mine from 2021 I think? The quality was so good and you could really feel the difference in your hands. I could stretch those bad boys from one state to the next .. tis a shame. :o
They are more expensive, but I've really liked using the Serious Steel bands in my 3 month test (I am 1 month in so far). The main difference is that I had to drop 2 band sizes for some exercises as they are a lot "stronger" than the UnderSun were. You do get 6 bands as well, so I broke them down as: 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 The "5" goes between the other bands as I look to progress in resistance before fully moving to the next strongest band. It has worked well so far, but they seem to be holding up really well in my initial testing. I still have more to do, but looking good :)
I feel like alot of companies do stuff like this to improve their profits. They probably did well during the pandemic when gyms were closed. Now it may be harder to sell them especially with more brands on the market.
@@GamerBodyYeah I still have them but they never became my primary workout equipment (weights and machines have been). The one exercise I've somewhat consistently used them for though has been assisted Nordic curls, which they've worked fine for. I never noticed a drop in tension when I was experimenting with them for other exercises though, but then again I never had any older ones to compare them with.
Only been using my undersun bands for a couple months. Already broke the extra light and medium bands and I car feel them losing elasticity. I'm switching to Clench bands.
I haven't tried clench. So far the Serious Steel Bands have been good. They are tough though compared to the UnderSun (dropped 2 band sizes for some exercises).
Clench bands are the best I've used, although I haven't tried X3 or Harambe. I also have some Serious Steel bands, and they were better than Undersun even before the drop in quality.
Maybe, but i haven't run into a good use case for something like that yet. I'm trying to avoid unnecessary additions for bands to keep things simple. Do you use those for anything specific? I could see them being better for a shorter person.
@GamerBodyI'm 6 feet tall, and after using them for about a month, I found that they worked better for most "push" exercises like chest press, triceps extension (on knees), shoulder press (on knees), squats (with jhooks), RDLs, and bicep curls because the tension starts at the beginning of the exercise when the muscles are more stretched. I had to reduce the band size for each exercise because it made the workouts harder, but in a good way(there was a noticeable difference in muscle pump). One of the main issues I faced with the 41-inch bands was a lack of tension at the start of the workouts. It would be interesting to see you try them and share your thoughts.
Years ago i thought "they're all the same". I purchased an aluminum bar that came with bands. Mind you, i already had bands(good ones) and thought it would be nice to have extra for friends or travel... I opened the bands and they had this cheap waxy look. They were not that natural fresh latex look. They looked plastic. I tried them and they were oddly stiff and non linear. That day i learned these loop bands don't all come from the same factory and just get different labels.
As disappointing as it is, this is great that you're publicly calling them out. It seems like in very limited cases, they do end up helping when they get publicly condemned, which is absolutely ridiculous. That being said, come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Serious Steel is gonna have a whole lot more happy customers.
I would return them and try another brand. I am using the Serious Steel Bands right now which are working for me, but they are a lot harder than the UnderSun (you get 6 bands though, but they are more expensive)
Now I know why you are reluctant to get extremely cheap bands. As I said before, 10 USD bands sets from Amazon have been great for me, most of them actually are not 10 USD per se but heavily discounted to a price of just 10 USD when I purchased them. Man but I've bought 3 bands from Chinese sites in the last month, just to try them and they are actually horrible, half the resistance is advertised IF ANY, they provide almost no elasticity... The positive site about them is that they smell nice 😂 like a new beach ball.
I bought the green under Sun bands just few days ago. I can relate to your comments. Since James has moved on resistance band training so even the quality of his bands. The price doesn't justify the quality
Bodylastics quality on the bands part seems to have gone down. They are breaking at the metal grommets and seem cheaply made. Their older bands which i still have seem to blow them out of the water. Not sure if he spent all his money on flexicon but they are not for me anymore. Undersun were the same way for me. I had the old ones and they were great compared to the replacements i bought in March. Where in washington are you at?
Undersun are cheap molded bands. Their spokesman James Grage is always in Thailand because there you can walk into pharmacies and buy testosterone over the counter. 🤣 He did not get stacked using Undersun bands.
Is it my imagination or since the pandemic, prices have gone up but quality on everything has gone down?
Not your imagination, it really has
Companies either cut costs or raise prices. Sometimes both. But customers get shafted either way
Lots of competing companies like Clench, Serious Steel, Harambe, X3, Vector have caused the profit pie to be sliced thinner.
I felt the same way about the Undersun green military bands. The seemed thinner and wore out quicker.
Will you ever review the x3 system?
Maybe. I really like my current build with the GEKU bar, and it is a lot cheaper. I'm going to make a full updated video soon discussing all of the pieces that make up my setup, and you can use my free program at gamerbody.com so you don't have to pay the extra cost to X3 for it. Not knocking his at all, but wit this updated GEKU bar (the aluminum alloy one) I think it will heavily compete with the X3 system.
Similar thoughts on these newer Undersun bands. I needed to replace an older band and immediately noticed that the newer ones were shiny with these black spots on them. Two of the new bands snapped on the third set. Definitely a change in the manufacturing/formula makeup. Disappointing as Undersun is what sold me on band training in the first place.
I got my 2020 bands and they still look and feel great. Luckily I got a spare set of the Military color brand new so I’m set for a while but sad to see this. This honestly is my favorite brand. Love the branding and the people behind it hope they get back to the quality they were :(
Same, I love the 2020 version I have! This new version though is so bad (I returned them).
Do you prefer loop or tube style bands? I literally just got these new undersun bands today and saw you posted this video. Mine have that exact same black mark smudge. So I’m kinda looking to see what the next best or better option for resistance bands would be? Also affordable !!
I would recommend clench
loop bands for sure
Loop bands for the setup I use. Tube bands are OK for standing exercises like biceps curls. The loop bands provide a lot more resistance as well and in the setup I use, can quickly be changed from a single loop to double loop depending on the exercise. Im using the Serious Steel bands right now and they are kicking my butt.
Yep just switched to Serious Steel too - had similar reactions to the new bands
I wanted to get their red-black bands but I also read complaints that directly buttress what you've pointed out to us here. These were the only bands I had found without powder or oil added. I may try the silicone or fabric bands from Vector. Thanks for the heads-up!
I get a small allergic traction to the powder. My Serious Steel bands had it all over when I received them. I found a video where they washed it off, so I did that. I wouldn't have had to though if the new bands weren't so bad
My guess is that they are trying to either increase or maintain profit by reducing the quality of raw materials, base on the assumption of their position on the market and branding.
Amazon has increased its offer of loop style bands. I've noticed that because almost daily I checked for deals on things I buy regularly and 1 year ago they didn't have that much to offer with that particular style of bands, regular sets whether branded or generic where sold for about 25-80USD, from 6 months ago or so I've noticed A LOT of loop bands sets for as low as 7 USD and a few brands dropping their prices for several weeks in order to compete, I've bought Veick and Rubmate for about 10 USD per set... a year ago they were above 30.
Outside Amazon I just bought a whopping (at least to me) 250 lbs single loop band for just 25 USD. That kind wasn't been offered a while ago.
I think it is becoming more popular now (really started during the pandemic) and companies are now trying to catch up and get some of the profits. I wish the new UnderSun bands didn't drop so hard in quality though. Sad to see it and I do hope they change to a better product in the future.
As I said before, I managed to snap the two thickest ones - this was a set bought in 2021. I'd obviously hardly used the X one too. No reply from them when I reached out, forget about them. Happy with my serious steel replacements so far.
Same, i snapped the xheavy band like 3 months into using it. contacted them, they didn't respond so I did an amazon replacement on all of them.. then snapped the xheavy band again like 6 months in doing a very basic chest press with it (not over-stretching). they're just cheap junk. Switched to serious steel and i don't have any complaints.
It's crazy that they would change so much just 1 year after I purchased them. I guess I got lucky with the customer support from before.
I thought about getting the new Black and Red bands but decided against it and glad I did. I knew they had gotten rid of their lifetime warranty. Selling a LOT of my extra bands now and will be sticking with the ones I got from Vector Athletics and still have my old Undersun ones as a backup.
I’d recommend the rogue fitness monster resistance bands. I thought about getting the Elitefts resistance bands but never did purchase due to already having the rogue fitness bands. The rogue brand also comes with A 1 year warranty. Mine are on year 4 and still going strong! I use the bodylastic Ez curl bar , hands & A amazon metal based straight bar.
I'm using the Serious Steel Bands as a replacement, but I'll keep the Rogue Fitness in mind.
True. I had to buy some replacement bands and found out they got rid of their lifetime warranty and my bands were out of warranty. The new ones had cracks in them and they never got back to me about a replacement. I don’t think they care anymore. They never expanded their products. I mean, I bought their jump rope. That was a great addition and great product. They said to me a bunch of times on social media that they would have a bigger band than the XHeavy and never did. Their Facebook group where everyone is supposed to share knowledge about exercising with bands would take down any posts where you used something other than Undersun equip with your bands. Come on, make a bar or handles. Not all of us have gorilla paws like James 😂 Some of us are programmers with wrist issues. I can’t crush my hand under the band every workout.
Lol at the "gorilla paws". Trying to grip those large bands is tough, especially if you are using X-Heavy!
American Barbell resistance bands are amazing. No powdery residue.
Damn dude I still have mine from 2021 I think? The quality was so good and you could really feel the difference in your hands. I could stretch those bad boys from one state to the next .. tis a shame. :o
Thanks for sharing, canceled my undersun order before it got shipped. Was supposed to get the black-red ones.
I think it was just a color change, so you would have most likely run into a similar issue. Are you looking to get a different brand?
@@GamerBody Yes I'm looking for my first bands set, and I want it to be quality.
They are more expensive, but I've really liked using the Serious Steel bands in my 3 month test (I am 1 month in so far). The main difference is that I had to drop 2 band sizes for some exercises as they are a lot "stronger" than the UnderSun were. You do get 6 bands as well, so I broke them down as:
5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
The "5" goes between the other bands as I look to progress in resistance before fully moving to the next strongest band. It has worked well so far, but they seem to be holding up really well in my initial testing. I still have more to do, but looking good :)
I feel like alot of companies do stuff like this to improve their profits. They probably did well during the pandemic when gyms were closed. Now it may be harder to sell them especially with more brands on the market.
My old Undersun bands (from 2022) also have the black discoloring spots.
Hmm so the change might have happened quite a bit sooner. Did you keep yours?
@@GamerBodyYeah I still have them but they never became my primary workout equipment (weights and machines have been). The one exercise I've somewhat consistently used them for though has been assisted Nordic curls, which they've worked fine for. I never noticed a drop in tension when I was experimenting with them for other exercises though, but then again I never had any older ones to compare them with.
@@GamerBody also the orange coloring on my 2022 ones matches the 2020 coloring in your thumbnail rather than the 2024 coloring.
Only been using my undersun bands for a couple months. Already broke the extra light and medium bands and I car feel them losing elasticity. I'm switching to Clench bands.
I haven't tried clench. So far the Serious Steel Bands have been good. They are tough though compared to the UnderSun (dropped 2 band sizes for some exercises).
Clench bands are the best I've used, although I haven't tried X3 or Harambe. I also have some Serious Steel bands, and they were better than Undersun even before the drop in quality.
I thought about getting these bad boys, but I opted for serious steel instead (thankfully).
I'm using them now, and they are "Serious". I had to drop 2 band sizes for some exercises.
Would you do a review on the 37" serious steel resistance bands?
Maybe, but i haven't run into a good use case for something like that yet. I'm trying to avoid unnecessary additions for bands to keep things simple. Do you use those for anything specific? I could see them being better for a shorter person.
@GamerBodyI'm 6 feet tall, and after using them for about a month, I found that they worked better for most "push" exercises like chest press, triceps extension (on knees), shoulder press (on knees), squats (with jhooks), RDLs, and bicep curls because the tension starts at the beginning of the exercise when the muscles are more stretched. I had to reduce the band size for each exercise because it made the workouts harder, but in a good way(there was a noticeable difference in muscle pump). One of the main issues I faced with the 41-inch bands was a lack of tension at the start of the workouts. It would be interesting to see you try them and share your thoughts.
@@wulfser2556 Definitely something to consider with the pressing movements!
Years ago i thought "they're all the same".
I purchased an aluminum bar that came with bands. Mind you, i already had bands(good ones) and thought it would be nice to have extra for friends or travel...
I opened the bands and they had this cheap waxy look. They were not that natural fresh latex look. They looked plastic. I tried them and they were oddly stiff and non linear.
That day i learned these loop bands don't all come from the same factory and just get different labels.
As disappointing as it is, this is great that you're publicly calling them out. It seems like in very limited cases, they do end up helping when they get publicly condemned, which is absolutely ridiculous.
That being said, come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Serious Steel is gonna have a whole lot more happy customers.
Been using Serious steel bands for years, by far the best and I've tried a bunch of brands.
I've been using Sunpow bands for months with no problems.
I recently snapped the strongest Sunpow band. I liked them otherwise, but the last pair didn't go very long for me.
Clench bands my favorite.
Okay so the bands I bought have that same weird coloring, which is making me consider sending them back.
And apparently I bought them exactly one month ago, so they're still eligible for a return...
I would return them and try another brand. I am using the Serious Steel Bands right now which are working for me, but they are a lot harder than the UnderSun (you get 6 bands though, but they are more expensive)
Now I know why you are reluctant to get extremely cheap bands. As I said before, 10 USD bands sets from Amazon have been great for me, most of them actually are not 10 USD per se but heavily discounted to a price of just 10 USD when I purchased them.
Man but I've bought 3 bands from Chinese sites in the last month, just to try them and they are actually horrible, half the resistance is advertised IF ANY, they provide almost no elasticity... The positive site about them is that they smell nice 😂 like a new beach ball.
Good honest review.
Terrible cash grab - profit over quality
I bought the green under Sun bands just few days ago. I can relate to your comments. Since James has moved on resistance band training so even the quality of his bands. The price doesn't justify the quality
Bodylastics quality on the bands part seems to have gone down. They are breaking at the metal grommets and seem cheaply made. Their older bands which i still have seem to blow them out of the water. Not sure if he spent all his money on flexicon but they are not for me anymore. Undersun were the same way for me. I had the old ones and they were great compared to the replacements i bought in March. Where in washington are you at?
I'm in the Vancouver area now, but I'll probably end up moving more North as we have family there now, and the twins :)
Undersun are cheap molded bands. Their spokesman James Grage is always in Thailand because there you can walk into pharmacies and buy testosterone over the counter. 🤣 He did not get stacked using Undersun bands.