I am interested in this for toning, it's not really designed to replace dumbbells, so if you're looking for that go another route. Being that I like to lift weights, I wanted a band to help tone my arms a little more. In that respect it works great, I would say that when standing on this band with both feet, it gives you about 25-35(at top)lbs. of resistance on each arm with a bicep curl. Obviously this isn't for building huge arms or anything, but it is very convenient and portable nonetheless. The band itself is built really solid too, so I expect this to last a long time. As far as instructions go, I already knew how to properly use bands, but in case you don't look it up on the Internet.