Westside barbell brought band use to the cutting edge of powerlifting technology, and for the past 10 years powerlifting records have been repeatedly broken.
There are two main benefits to band training that have led to this increase in performance.
1. With traditional weight, the resistance is constant over the whole range of motion, but in certain parts of the range of motion, your own mechanical advantage makes this weight easier or harder to lift. For example in a deadlift, initiating the movement is the hardest part of the motion, because of the angle of the back and the position of your legs. Once the weight is above your knees, lifting it is quite a bit easier. For bands, the opposite is true. What this means is, that in lifts like, squats, deadlifts and bench press where your mechanical advantage is the least at the bottom, the resistance from the band is also the least, and at the top of the movement, where it is normally easier, the bands provide greater resistance. This allows you to train with resistance over the whole range of motion and build strength in the part of the movement that is normally neglected. You can also combine, weight and band resistance to emphasize different portions of the range of motion.
2. In order to overcome the resistance of the bands, speed out of the bottom is required. If you try to come up slowly, the lift simply will not happen. This helps athletes build explosiveness that translates into increased power for the for all types of athletic performance.
Rogue carries two lengths of Monster Bands including our original 41″ Rogue Monster Bands and our brand new 12″ Rogue Shorty Monster Bands that can be used in situations where the longer bands would have to be doubled or tripled over band pegs in order to create tension.
Of course, bands can also be used for assisting body weight exercises, stretching, plyometrics and many additional exercises.
