The Thera-Band or Cando brands of tubing are widely used in physical therapy for resistive exercise training. In the clinic, exercise intensity is typically prescribed empirically using color-coded tubing. A precise quantitative prediction of tension resulting from a given length of the tubing is thereby not possible unless the mechanical properties of the material are known. Furthermore, tension values for tubing of various colors may differ with respect to the 2 manufacturers. In this technical note, tension generated for percentage change of the resting length of various colors of tubing is compared across the Thera-Band and Cando brands. In general, with the exception of the yellow and gray tubing, tension generated by the elastic material used by these 2 companies is relatively similar. But for the same color of tubing, when high accuracy is required, therapeutic applications should be based on direct measurement of the respective brand of tubing.

J Ortho Sports Phys Ther. 2002; 32(11):576-578.