When To Incorporate Bands & Chains
When training, differentiation is always good to keep your training from becoming stagnant or boring. Some people might try to change up the tempo, change the moment arm, or add another variable. One common tool you might see in the weight room is someone adding chains or bands.
Why we might add chains and bands:
- Add resistance at different joint angles to accommodate changes at different leverage points
- The athlete can accelerate the weight faster from the bottom of the rep
- More neural activation in relation to the stretch-shortening cycle
When would it be appropriate to add chains or bands?
- When your athlete needs more or less specific joint angles
- When trying to establish a faster bar speed from your athlete
- When you want to create a different neural stimulus for your athlete
In strength,
Spencer Haywood
M.S. CSCS