I love training with resistance bands. There’s a ton of different options and variations you have when it comes to bands.
What I love the most about resistance band training is how you can take your regular bodyweight training to a whole new level.
Now when I talk about “resistance bands”, I’m not talking about your typical exercise bands you find in most gyms. You know the one’s with the handles or the kind that snap after you use them a few times.
The bands I’m referring to and personally use are Performax Bands because these bad boys are built to last. Not only are they tough, but they’re extremely versatile as well. I’ve had many of the bands I still use today for over 4 years now and are still going strong.
You can take your regular bodyweight movements like push ups, squats, lunges, planks, pull ups, dips, and even animal movements to whole other levels. Not to mention all the different band specific movements you can do as well. There’s a whole slew of different options you have when it comes to resistance band training.
On top of that, you can attach these bands to walls for different banded sprinting and locomotion type movements as well as add them to barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells for added band resistance too.
Resistance bands are easy to bring with you when you travel or go around town. This is good in case you want to go hit up a park for a serious training session or train it up in your hotel room possibly. I always have a band or two in my backpack with me where ever I go. You never know when you might have to whip it out…
So, for this week’s Hardcore Hundred, I hit up a resistance band circuit. I not only did one variation of the circuit, I did two.
You see, one of the other bonuses with resistance band training is the fact that the resistance you get from using bands is quite different than the resistance you get from kettlebells, barbells, and dumbbells. Bands have a constantly changing resistance level in that when you lengthen the band, they get tighter and supply you with more resistance. With DB’s, KB’s and barbells, you only get a constant tension level since they’re dead weights. Obviously, all those tools are still highly effective and you need to be training with them but bands will help increase your strength and acceleration in a different way DB’s, KB’s, and Barbells can’t do.
When you contract against band tension, you must accelerate all the way through the movement because if you don’t and you happen to slow down, the chances of you getting barried half way into your movement and missing a rep is way more likely.
That’s why I like to throw in band resisted movements every now and then so I can work on my acceleration and power a little bit differently.
Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell’s methods of training are well known for adding in band resistance to their deadlifts, squats, and bench pressing movements to help increase speed and acceleration for more overall strength. That’s a whole other blog post in itself!
The #truth – using band resistance with in your training works!
For The first Hardcore Hundred band resistance circuit variation I used a thicker / heavier band for more resistance. With this, I used a lower rep range for each movement so I could work on speed and power.
This was the circuit:
4 rounds of:
1A) 5 Squat Jumps
1B) 5 Push Ups
1C) 5 High Pulls
1D) 5 Thrusters
1E) 5 Overhead Squats
For the second Hardcore Hundred resistance band circuit, I used a lighter band and worked with a higher rep range to work more conditioning.
This was the circuit:
1 Round of:
1A) 20 Squat Jumps
1B) 20 Push Ups
1C) 20 High Pulls
1D) 20 Thrusters
1E) 20 Overhead Squats
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_AaN-q3RWU[/youtube]
It’s good to switch it up a bit and add in band resistance training to throw your body for a loop. Mess around with different rep ranges and band tensions.
Here’s a challenge for you: For the next 3 weeks, for each of the following bodyweight movements, you must use band tension for each one. So, for your push ups, squats, bear crawls, planks and regular lunges, you must use some sort of band tension of these variations for the next 3 weeks.
I’ll be implementing this as well as an “experiment” of sorts to see how it comes out. I’m guaranteeing that I’ll be more explosive as well as stronger in each of these bodyweight movements after I get through the next 3 weeks! I know YOU will be too if you take the challenge!
If you need some solid bands, I would go with and recommend Performax Bands.
There’s a great starter kit you can get with all the assortments of different sizes and tensions you need in this package HERE!
Live Aggressive and Get Strong!
If you got questions or comments about band training, hit up the comments below or post them up on my Fan Page!