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Upper Body Power Training: Ropes and Sleds Drills
Upper Body Power Training Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 6 Ropes and Sleds Drills
Sleds and Rope training are a great way to condition athletes and they are even more effective when they are combined together.
Sleds can be a very effective tool for increasing leg strength and sprinting speed. When using the sled for strength heavy loads can be used for both pushing and dragging. The low handles are great for mimic the acceleration position and will help athletes build a strong and powerful start for athletics. When using the sled for pure speed the weights should be lighter and as a general rule of thumb the athlete shouldn’t be more than 10% slower in order to get a good carry over for speed training. The ropes can be very effective for speed and strength as well.
Rope training to the upper body is like sled training for the lower body. It is a way to load quick movement of the arms. This exercise works the muscles in the arm, the grip, upper back, shoulder and the MIND. It is a tremendous conditioning tool on its own, but I really enjoy combining the ropes with a lower body exercises such as a sled. I enjoy this combination because while the legs are resting. When the upper body is getting work from the ropes the arms are resting and the lower body is getting work from the sled.
This can take your cardiovascular system even further than you ever imagine because now the muscles are not the limiting factor. Typically if you are in very good “cardio” shapes you might not be tired physically, but there is a point where your muscles are fatigues and you cannot continue. At that point you can switch to a different muscles group and continue to work the cardiovascular system to its limit. I have found no other upper body implement to be as effective as the battling ropes system. It is like sprinting with your hands!
We like to use longer ropes when we training outside. The longer ropes require you to put more force into the rope. If an athlete isn’t strong or fast enough the “wave” will not reach the “anchor” point of the rope and give the athlete some visual feedback. This gives the athlete visual motivation to reach the anchor point every rep of every set.
For conditioning training purpose it is important to try to be as fast as possible when performing the rope training drills. The rope you can tell how fast an athlete is going by how many waves are visible when performing the exercises.
The rope can also be utilized for traditional upper body sled training when attached to the sled. These exercises are quite effective for working the muscles of the grip as well. I find the rowing variations work extremely well from a conditioning standpoint.
If you have a rope, but don’t have a sled I have also included some footwork and rope combinations at the end of the article. This is a great way to train for coordination. It takes a lot of physical and mental concentration to be able to move the feet and hands quickly. The athlete must concentrate on moving both the upper and lower body very quickly. This is another way you can integrate both upper and lower body movement training simultaneously. The combinations here are endless as you can do any footwork drills in combinations with a rope drill. Give these a try and let us know what you think!
Try out the sled and rope combo for new twist for a BRUTAL conditioning workout!
Sled and Ropes Combinations Examples
Prowler Push Rope Pull
Alt. Wave and Forward Drag
Double Wave & Backward Drag
Sled Sprint and Power Rows
Lateral Shuffle and Triceps
Lateral Shuffle and Biceps
Backwards Sprint and High Pulls
Footwork and Rope Drill Combinations
Lateral Shuffle Partner Rope Drills
Merry Go Round Partner Rope Drills
Upper Body Power Training: Chaos Drills
Upper Body Power Training Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 5 Chaos Drills
By John Gaglione
For this installment of this series I will go over what many coaches refer to as Chaos training.
In case you missed parts 1, 2 , 3. or 4 click here.
The idea of Chaos training has been popularized by many strength coaches such as Robert Dos Remedios and Jim “Smitty” Smith.
True sport is very random in nature so it is important to train for speed and movement using both open and closed drills. Open drills are when the athletes must react to a stimulus whether it be visual, verbal or kinesthetic. Closed drills are when the athlete is given a set pattern and know when to start and stop for each drill. It is important to master proper mechanics and do closed drills first before the athletes can progress to open drills. A few studies have also shown open drills to reduce injuries in players since it more closed mimic the demand of the given sport.
In essence open drills are just more sport specific and when you factor in that it is scientifically proven to reduce injuries any coach would have to be foolish to not incorporate some sort of chaos training into their program. If athletes always perform closed drills they are simply just getting back at performing the drills. They do not have to react as if they were actually playing sports. In open drills the athlete is forced to make a split second decision and act upon it quickly, much like we see in sports. Chaos drills are also a fun and different way to conditioning our athlete and by using mirror drills
Mirror drills are when two or more athletes are doing the drill together. One athlete dictates the direction and pattern and the other athlete must copy it. One way to explain this is one athlete is the “rabbit” and the other is the “chaser”. The chaser must copy the rabbit in order to “catch him”. Make sure you have athletes with fairly similar abilities levels or the drill isn’t as valuable. The mirror drill is great ways to have athletes compete against each other. When athletes are forced to compete against each other they will undoubtedly push beyond their previous limits and get an even more intense conditioning workout than ever before.
We like to include crawling variations into our Chaos drills. Much like the lower body chaos drills they are great for training reaction time and to help prevent injuries. Crawling variations are a great way to increase the athlete’s relative body weight strength as well as their shoulder and core stability. When you combine the crawling drills with the running drills it creates a very chaotic environment, which is great for developing agility and sport specific conditioning. The random nature of the drills is perfect for training for athletics as well as for injury prevention. The athletes really need to be “on their toes” for these drills. Chaos drills are not only a very effective to condition, but they also make for a very competitive and fun environment for our athletes. Give the Chaos drills a try and let us know what you think!
Chaos Drills Examples
Linear Drills
Forward and Backwards Sprint (Open Verbal)
Forward and Backwards Mirror (Visual)
Bear Crawl Forward and Back (Open Verbal)
Lateral Drills
Lateral Shuffle (Open Verbal)
Lateral Shuffle Mirror (Visual)
Lateral Crawls (Open Verbal)
Combinations
Forward, Backwards Run and Crawl Mirror Drill
Laterl Shuffle and Crawls Mirror Drill
Mirror Drill Anything Goes
Upper Body Power Training: Ladder Drills
Upper Body Power Training: Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 4 Ladder Drills
By John Gaglione
In case you missed parts 1, 2 or 3 click here.
Ladder Drills are a great tool for improving coordination, quickness and timing. The athlete will learn to have fast feet and hands as well as having very accurate feet and hands. These ladder progressions do not necessary need to be added in after the hurdle drills they can be worked on at the same time as some of the other drills. If you do not have a ladder at your facility you can simply put tape down on the floor and put the desired number of boxes. I like the ladder better than the tape because when the athlete makes a mistake the ladder will move and give you immediate feedback. The ladder can be used to teach running mechanics and give a great conditioning workout as well.
I personally like to use the ladder for conditioning with my more advanced athletes because I can force them to use a complicated pattern when under fatigue. In sports we must be able to keep good form and speed even when we are tired and in the final minutes of a game or match. Pretty much any pattern that can be done with the feet can be done with the hand, but there are a few patterns that I find work particularly well. When performing the hand variations it is important to try to maintain a flat back and keep good posture. They can straddle the ladder with their feet so their feet will not get in the way. The ladder can used to help increase speed and improve conditioning as well as stability.
You do not want to let your athlete’s hip sag as this can create stress at the lower back. Think of the hand ladder drills as kind of a dynamic plank. This will help them build stability in their core as well as their shoulders while developing quick hands and feet. Sometimes when going for speed the hips will rise up a little high and I think this is okay as long as the back isn’t severely rounded. When training for stability I recommend keeping a neutral spine while keeping the abdominals and glutes squeezed very tight. If you have very strong athlete you can even use jumping variation for the hands with the ladder.
Ladder drills are a great way to develop speed, strength, and stability for both the upper and lower body. We typically start off with simple patterns such as two feet in the box and then progress to move advanced moves such as the Icky Shuffle. The simple moves are great for speed work and the advanced more are great for coordination and agility training. The complex patterns really teach the athlete to change directions quickly. Jumping and hoping variations can also be utilized to develop reactive ability and power endurance. Here are a few examples below.
Ladder Drills
Linear Drills
Linear One Foot
Linear Two Feet
Icky Shuffle
Linear Jumps
Linear Hand Drills
Linear One Hand
Linear Two Hands
Icky Hand Shuffle
Linear Hand Jumps
Lateral Drills
Lateral One Foot
Lateral Two Feet
Buzz Saw
Lateral Jumps
Lateral Hand Drills
Lateral One Hand
Lateral Two Hands
Buzz Hand Saw
Lateral Hand Jumps
Educate, Motivate, Dominate
-Coach Gaglione
Upper Body Power Training: Hurdle Drills
Upper Body Power Training: Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 3 Hurdle Drills
For the next installment of Power Training we will discuss hurdle drills. In case you missed parts one or two you can find them above.
Hurdle Drills are the next step in our progression for plyometrics and we are finally getting into more advanced power drills. If you do not have hurdles other implements can be used as well. The reason I personally like hurdles is because if an athlete hits a hurdle it will fall down and there is a very low chance of injury when the athlete makes a mistake. For the sake of this article a jump is when the athlete takes off on two feet and lands on two feet. A hop is when the athlete takes off on one foot and land on the same foot. A bound is when the athlete takes off on one foot and lands on the opposite foot.
The reason hurdles are more advanced than boxes are because now we have to factor in the additional component of gravity. During the box jump the athlete lands on the box and exercise is over. When an athlete performs a correct box jump they essentially land in the same position where they started so there is much less stress on the joints as opposed to jumping up and landing with no box. When the athlete jumps over a hurdle they must also come down the same distance they jumped up. Basically they will need to have additional strength and stability in order to stick the landing in a safe position.
I recommend that the coach spends several weeks on box jumps and landing before going to hurdles. Once the athlete is ready the coach should have the athlete stick each landing and really learn to stabilize before they go on to continuous drills. Once the athlete shows he or she can stabilize effectively the continuous drills should be executed in a rapid fire fashion. The goal is to minimize the ground contact time and this have really help produce a great deal of speed and power in our athletes.
Hurdle Drills
Linear Hurdle Jumps Continuous
Lateral Jumps Continuous
Rotational Bounding
Linear Hurdle Hand Jumps Continuous
Lateral Hurdle Hand Jumps Continuous
Rotational Hand Jumps
Upper Body Power Training: Low Box Drills
Upper Body Power Training: Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 2 Low Box Drills
By John Gaglione
In case you missed part 1 click Here
For this installment of the series of upper body movement training we will talk about low box training. Low box training is a good way to improve speed, agility and quickness for athlete of all ages. When we talk about low box training we are talking about a box that is less than 12 inches high. This allows most athletes to accomplish these drills without having a huge strength demand. Low box training is a great tool for teaching athlete to learn how to reposition their feet during training.
These drills can certainly be regressed to just simple lines drills if the athlete isn’t as strong or coordinated enough to perform the low box drills. These drills can also be progressed to higher boxes if the goal if more strength or power oriented. These drills are great for building coordination as well as foot and hand speed. As with normal size box drills we still want to land soft and under control on the box. We never want to sacrifice speed for form especially in the beginning phases. As the athlete gets more advanced and stronger he or she can progress to a slightly higher box.
These drills can be used as part of a movement training session or as part of a metabolic conditioning circuit. As in all jumping and hoping drills it important to make sure the joint are in good alignment when performing all of these movements. Watch for the knees caving in on the lower body movements and watch the position of the wrists and scapula during the upper body movements. These drills should be performed as quickly as possible with good form. I typically use 6 second sets to ensure high intensity, but they can certainly be done for longer duration if conditioning is a goal of the session. Depending on the sport that the athlete plays you can manipulate the time frame to mimic the energy system demands of the sport when using the low box drills as a conditioning tool.
Low Box Drills
Linear Foot Transfer
The athlete will start with facing the box with one foot on the box and one foot off the box. The athlete will jump up and switch the position of their feet so now the opposite foot is on the box. This will be done for a given amount of time.
Lateral Foot Transfer
The athlete will start standing to the side of the box with one foot on the box and one foot off the box. The athlete will push off the outside leg and switch the position of their feet so now the opposite foot is on the box. This will be done for a given amount of time.
Wide Outs
The athlete will start with both feet straddling the box in an athletic stance. The athlete will jump up and bring both feet on the box and then repeat for a given amount of time.
Linear Hand Transfer
The athlete will start with facing the box with one foot on the box and one foot off the box. The athlete will jump up and switch the position of their feet so now the opposite foot is on the box. This will be done for a given amount of time.
Lateral Hand Transfer
The athlete will start standing to the side of the box with one foot on the box and one foot off the box. The athlete will push off the outside leg and switch the position of their feet so now the opposite foot is on the box. This will be done for a given amount of time.
Hand Wide Outs
The athlete will start with both hands straddling the box in an athletic stance. The athlete will jump up and bring both hands on the box and then repeat for a given amount of time.
Linear Foot Transfer Double Touch
The athlete will perform split jumps, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other leg.
Lateral Foot Transfer Double Touch
The athlete will perform lateral push offs, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other leg.
Wide Outs Double Touch
The athlete will perform wide outs, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other leg.
Linear Hand Transfer Double Touch
The athlete will split hand jumps, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other hand.
Lateral Hand Transfer Double Touch
The athlete will perform Hand Lateral Push Offs, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other hand.
Hand Wide Outs Double Touch
The athlete will hand wide outs, but double touch the box. The athlete will tap the box twice before switching to the other hand.
Educate, Motivate, Dominate
-Coach Gaglione
Upper Body Power Training: Box Drills
Upper Body Power Training: Integrating upper body movements into your speed programs.
Part 1 Box Drills
By John Gaglione
Lower body plyometrics are generally appropriate for almost any athlete and any sport. Various sports require athletes to produce a maximal amount of force in a short period of time. When people think of plyometrics, power, or speed training, most people think about training the lower body. Just like strength training it is important to balance out the body. It would be foolish to train solely one part of the body for strength and I believe power training should be done in a similar fashion. In many sports upper body power is just as important as lower body power.
According to plyometrics expert Don Chu plyometric drills for the upper body are not used as often as those for the lower body and have been studied less extensively, but they are nonetheless essential to athletes who require upper body power. He also explains plyometric training for the upper body may also prevent injury to the shoulder and elbow joints. There are many situations in sports where hand speed, upper body agility and quickness are of paramount importance. Think about a defensive back jamming a receiver off the line of scrimmage or a wrestler aggressive snapping his opponent’s head to set up for a takedown. Both of these situations involve athletes aggressively using their upper body in an explosive manner in order to control his or her opponent.
In this series of articles I will cover some familiar speed, agility and power drills for the lower body and show how they can be applied to the upper body as well. Of course it would be important for the strength coach to first analyze the specific demands of the athletes sport and then pick an appropriate progression for the particular athlete, but hopefully these drills will inspire you to include more upper body plyos and movements skills into your programs. It is important to note to make sure all athletes understand proper upper body and lower body alignments during these drills and they have no orthopedic limitations that prevent them from doing high speed drills. The athletes should also have a solid foundation of relative body weight strength for attempting any plyometric drills.
For the first installment of the series I thought it would be appropriate to start off with simple box drills. Although it is not a true plyometric in nature the box jump is one of the most fundamental drills for increasing lower body power. Before box jumps are performed it is wise to teach your athletes how to land properly. This will help prepare the joints of the body to absorb force. When people get hurt jumping it is almost always during the landing phase not the take off so it is very important we spend time just on landings. We will start with what we call altitude landings as our first progression. Teaching proper landing mechanics should be the foundation of any athletes speed and power program. The athlete should land in a good athletic stance soft and in control.
Here are some of the exercises athletes can perform with boxes for power development for both the upper and lower body.
Box Drills Lower
Box Landing
The athlete will step on a box and step off and land in an athletic stance. The athlete should have their head up, shoulders back, back straight, hips back and knees bent when they land. The athlete should try and land soft. Strength coach Joe Hashey has a great cue to try to “land like a ninja”.
Box Jump with Stick
The athlete should have already mastered the landing at this point. The athlete will jump on the box and stick the landing for a set amount of time and then step off. The goal is for the athlete to learn to express power and also be able to control that power and stabilize their own bodyweight.
Tuck Jumps with Stick & Continuous
The athlete now has mastered the box jump so now the coach can take the box away. This introduces gravity into the equation and therefore there is a lot more stress on the body. The athlete will jump as high as he or she can and tuck the feet as if they were jumping onto a high box. The athlete should first learn to stick and then he or she can progress to a continuous action next. This exercise can be a great addition to a metabolic conditioning circuit as it required no equipment.
Depth Box Jumps
Depth Jumps are great progressions from regular box jumps. The athlete will land off one box and then quickly jump up onto a second box. This exercise is really great for teaching the athlete to be reactive since they are landing and reversing the motion very quickly in order to get onto the second box. Depth jumps are a great exercise, but again can be hard on the joints if used too frequently. Make sure to monitor the volume closely when performing this variation.
Kneeling Box Jumps
Kneeling Jumps are one of our favorite progressions for developing power in our athletes. The athlete will assume a kneeling position and jump up into their stance. This takes a lot of stability as well as relative body weight strength. The athlete will then quickly land and jump up onto a box. Much like the depth jump the kneeling jump is very reactive in nature and is a great drill to improve power. The difference is the kneeling jumps requires a lot more strength to perform the move since the athlete start in a static position and must explode to get into their stance and be in good position for the second jump. This drill is great for teaching athlete to explode out of their stance quickly and produce force in a short period of time.
Box Jump Continuous
The athlete will now go back on the box but the jumps will be continuous. Since it is a continuous action the exercise is truly plyometric in nature and causes a great deal of stress on the athlete and should be considered an advanced progression. When done for higher repetitions or time this exercise is great for power endurance.
Box Drills Upper
Box Push Up Landing
The athlete will assume a push up position hand walk up on a box and step off and land in a proper push up position. The athlete should have their abdominals tight, glutes tight, back straight, and have their shoulder in good alignment with their hand and elbows when they land. The athlete should try and land soft just as in the box landing.
Power Box Push Up with Stick
The athlete should have already mastered the box push up landing at this point. The athlete will perform an explosive push up and in essence jump on the box and stick the landing for a set amount of time and then hand walk off on hand at a time. The goal is for the athlete to learn to express power and also be able to control that power and stabilize their own bodyweight just like with the box jump.
Power Push Ups with stick & Continuous
The athlete now has mastered the power box push up so now the coach can take the box away. This introduces gravity into the equation and therefore there is a lot more stress on the body. The athlete will jump as high as he or she can and lift their arm up as if they were performing an explosive push up onto a high box. The athlete should first learn to stick and then he or she can progress to a continuous action next. This exercise can be another great addition to a metabolic conditioning circuit as it required no equipment. There are also many clap push up variation that can be substituted here as well, such as clapping the hand in front of the body, behind the head, slapping the chest, slapping the thighs or clapping behind the back.
Depth Box Push Up
Depth Box Push Ups are great complement to the Depth Box Jump. The athlete will land off one box and then quickly jump up onto a second box. Just like the Depth Box Jump this exercise is really great for teaching the athlete to be reactive since they are landing and reversing the motion very quickly in order to get onto the second box. This is a great way to train the upper body to be reactive and explosive.
“Kneeling” Box Push Up
“Kneeling” Box Push Ups are a very advanced upper body move. The athlete will assume a plank position (on the elbows) and explode into a push up position. This takes a lot of stability as well as relative body weight strength. The athlete will then quickly land and perform an explosive push up onto a box. Just like the kneeling box jump the “kneeling” Box Push Ups requires a lot of strength since the athlete starts in a static position. Starting in a static position it takes a lot more effort to explode and get moving again.
Power Box Push Up Continuous
The athlete will now go back on the box but the power pushups will be continuous. Since it is a continuous action the exercise is truly plyometric in nature and causes a great deal of stress on the athlete and should be considered an advanced progression. The athlete will perform an explosive push land on the box and immediately push off and land on the floor and explode back up again. This can also be done in between two boxes as well. When done for higher repetitions or time this exercise is great for power endurance for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Educate, Motivate, Dominate
-Coach Gaglione
Training with a….Keg?
Sand Bag and Keg Training
Sand bag and kegs are a great way to add variety into your training. The are both a form of odd object training or strongman training. They can be used for strength exercises as well as for metabolic circuits.
The kegs can be filled with water to make a very unstable environment to increase the core demand of the exercises. Odd object training is great for sports due to the awkward and random nature of the implements.
The sand bag is also great for training the grip and muscles in the forearm since it is very difficult to hold, compared to regular implements.
Here are a few variations that can be performed with a keg and a sandbag. Try to combine these exercises as part of a metabolic circuit.
Here are a few different ways the implements can be held in order to perform a variety of exercises. Each exercise has it own inherit benefit. In general most positions require a great deal of stability due to the nature of the odd objects.
Normal Grip
Keg Rows
Sand Bag Rows
“Zerker” Position
Sand Bag Squat
Keg Reverse Lunge
“Racked” Position
Keg Curl to Press
Sand Bag Clean to Press
“Bear Hug” Position
Sand Bag Shouldering
Keg Shouldering
Bonus Exercise
Keg Push Ups
These are just a few examples of uses of odd objects for training. Stay tuned for more! Any questions? Please leave a comment below.
Educate, Motive, Dominate
-Coach Gaglione
Sand Bag and Keg Training
Sand bag and kegs are a great way to add variety into your training. They can be used for strength exercises as well as for metabolic circuits. The kegs can be filled with water to make a very unstable environment to increase the core demand of the exercises.
Here are a few variations that can be performed with a keg and a sandbag. Try to combine these exercises as part of a metabolic circuit.
Normal Grip
“Zerker” Position
“Racked” Position
“Bear Hug” Position
Bands and Chain for Stability Part 2
Bands and Chain for Stability Part 2
Last week we discussed how hanging chains and bands can be sued for stability work with barbells. Chains and bands can also be used in combinations with body weight exercises as well as traditional Dumbbell type exercises. For all of these exercises you will need a D Handle or other cable attachment for both set ups as well as several carabineers(or one big carabineer if it can fit all the chains you want).
You can attach chains to a D Handle for a variety of different exercises. Any exercise that are standing up or lying on an incline bench will work great since the chains will be hanging in the air. The athletes will have to stabilize his or her body in order to perform the exercise correctly. Here is an example below.
When doing lower body exercises with the chains overhead makes the exercise extremely changing. By keeping the weight overhead the body is FORCED to stabilize the shoulder in order to keep them in a safe position. This also makes the exercise harder since the weight is further away from the body. Add that to the fact the chains want to start swinging all over the place and you have a extremely tough stability variation. Lunges and squat variations are perfect for this set up. Talking a walk overhead is a great variation as well. Here is an example of an overhead reverse lunge with chains.
Bands can be used for all of the exercises mentioned so far as well. You quadruple the bands through a kettlebell for all of these variations and attach them to a D hand as well. The bands are more advanced than the chains since they are much more unstable. As the athlete performs the exercise the band will make the weight oscillate through the entire range of motion. The athlete must stay extremely tight in order to maintain form throughout the entire set. Here is an example of an alternating Hanging Kettelbell Incline Press.
There are tons of other combinations that can be utilized for stability training. This is a great way to add variety to your training routine while building extra core strength and rock hard stability.
Teaching Body Weight Exercises with Bands
Band Training Part 2: Regressing Body Weight Exercise
Relative body weight strength is very important for athletes as well as for overall health for the general population. Often times many athletes will start off and not be able to perform a proper pull up or even a proper push up. The crazy thing is sometimes even the BETTER athletes have poor relative body weight strength. Good athletes are very good at COMPENSATING in the sport if they have any short comings at all. Sometimes athletes and even trainers want to jump to the most ADVANCED progression like some of the chain loaded variations we discussed here, but often times when athletes come to a trainer they are not ready for these progressions just yet.
Many times once a good athlete develops some relative body weight strength their performance will improve drastically. By improving strength on body weight exercise generally their movement will improve as a result as well. Relative body weight strength is very important for athletic performance as well as for overall health. This can be very frustrating for trainer and it can make programming for the athlete very difficult. By using bands we can REGRESS the exercises in order to still perform these fundamental movement patterns in our programming.
We can use bands to take off some the load in body weight exercises to make them easier for our athletes. This is very similar to the reverse band idea we talked about last week. The band will be set up above the athlete in order to take off some the load in the bottom position. This is a great way to work the pattern through a full range of motion for those aren’t strong enough to perform the exercise. You can use the same bands we discussed in last week’s article. We also like to use the gray cook bands for certain exercises as well.
A very common exercise in most training programs is the pull up. It is a great exercise to build upper back strength. Unfortunately even some fairly strong people have trouble doing pull ups. The reverse band pull up is a great way to build strength for the vertical pulling pattern. Some people may ask if there a difference between doing a reverse band pull up and a pull up machine and there is a substantial difference in the two exercises. Since bands are a form of accommodating resistance the band is helping the athlete the most in the bottom position and the least at the end range position. Essentially they are holding up their own body weight at the end range of the movement. This will help give more carry over to the pull up than using a regular pull up machine. The pull up machine takes off the same amount of load through the entire range of motion. Here is an example of a reverse band pull up. The bands can be used for a variety of other exercises such as push ups as well.
For other exercises we prefer to use a Gray Cook band for a variety of different exercises. The benefit of using the gray cook bands versus the jump stretch bands is that there is a pad on the band which makes it very comfortable for our athletes. Sometimes the band can really dig into the skin when using the jump stretch bands, which can make the exercise very uncomfortable. The other benefit to the cook band is that is can be set up on any door, which makes it a very versatile tool for training facilities and home gyms alike. The cook band works very well for lower body exercises. For very weak clients it can be used for squats and split squats.
The cook band can also be used to assist the athlete for single leg squats. The single leg squat can be very challenging strength and stability exercise. The assisted single leg squat is still a very challenging exercise and is an advanced progression for most people. As the athlete gets stronger they can us a thinner band. The thicker bands provide more assistance than the thinner ones. After a few weeks of training they can progress to a lighter band and eventually no band at all.
Bands are a great way to make exercises easier for our beginner athletes and clients. This allows them to keep good technique and train through a full range of motion. Eventually the athlete will progress to body weight and even loaded body weight exercises using this method. In general start off with 6 reps on and exercises and then build up to 8, 10, and eventually 12 repetitions. Once they can perform 12 repetitions with good form you can usually make the exercise hard by using a lighter bands.
Any questions on set up or other exercises using bands? Please leave a comment below.