Using bands for powerlifting

Ok so when it comes to powerlifting knowledge, I’d consider myself almost a newb. I’ve done “power building” for years & bodybuilding, but never purely worked at powerlifting specifically. So when it comes to certain accessory work, I’ve never done it. Bands & chains primarily. I’m wanting to start incorporating bands into my training but my gym is not equipped with any, so I’ll be coming out of pocket for them. There are plenty of end of year sales going on right now so it’s good timing to get some for 2018. My question is, is there a standard or recommendation that I should get to start out with? I’ve seen light, standard, monster, etc and understand the difference between them, but just looking for suggestions on what the first pair I should buy. Would I be correct in assuming standard resistance & length would be the right ones? I’ll be using them for squats & deads mostly as I get use to training with them. Just wanting to add something different to my training (I try to cover all angles in my approach to lifting). Thanks in advance guys

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Originally Posted by MRmichael.hooker

Ok so when it comes to powerlifting knowledge, I’d consider myself almost a newb. I’ve done “power building” for years & bodybuilding, but never purely worked at powerlifting specifically. So when it comes to certain accessory work, I’ve never done it. Bands & chains primarily. I’m wanting to start incorporating bands into my training but my gym is not equipped with any, so I’ll be coming out of pocket for them. There are plenty of end of year sales going on right now so it’s good timing to get some for 2018. My question is, is there a standard or recommendation that I should get to start out with? I’ve seen light, standard, monster, etc and understand the difference between them, but just looking for suggestions on what the first pair I should buy. Would I be correct in assuming standard resistance & length would be the right ones? I’ll be using them for squats & deads mostly as I get use to training with them. Just wanting to add something different to my training (I try to cover all angles in my approach to lifting). Thanks in advance guys

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While I haven't used bands for PL, I have used them a lot when I was doing some Mountain Dog programming. A good place to start without necessarily pushing a brand is a pair of narrow bands with moderate tension and a pair of narrow bands with heavier tension. Also a pair of wide bands with moderate tension and a pair of wide bands with heavier tension. The narrow bands are good for accessories such as banded hypers, banded tri-extensions, banded leg curls etc. The wide bands are good for banded and reverse banded exercises, squat/bench/deadlift. Hope I'm making sense with the narrow and wide descriptions.

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Originally Posted by swoleberry

While I haven't used bands for PL, I have used them a lot when I was doing some Mountain Dog programming. A good place to start without necessarily pushing a brand is a pair of narrow bands with moderate tension and a pair of narrow bands with heavier tension. Also a pair of wide bands with moderate tension and a pair of wide bands with heavier tension. The narrow bands are good for accessories such as banded hypers, banded tri-extensions, banded leg curls etc. The wide bands are good for banded and reverse banded exercises, squat/bench/deadlift. Hope I'm making sense with the narrow and wide descriptions.

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Yup absolutely. I appreciate the advice. For the wider bands, would I need to purchase 2 bands? For squat/bench/deadlifts. I know they make short and also regular length (looking on Elite FTS)

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Originally Posted by MRmichael.hooker

Yup absolutely. I appreciate the advice. For the wider bands, would I need to purchase 2 bands? For squat/bench/deadlifts. I know they make short and also regular length (looking on Elite FTS)

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Assuming 2. 1 for each side (squats). But wasn't sure when it comes to deads

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Originally Posted by MRmichael.hooker

Assuming 2. 1 for each side (squats). But wasn't sure when it comes to deads

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The first bands I purchased were from EFS, 2 reds, 2 greens, 2 wide oranges, and 2 wide grays.
Also I have a very thin orange which is good for some high rep rear delt work.

Squats you're spot on. As for deads, I have done it a couple of different ways, I've draped a red or green band over the bar so there are two points of contact just outside my grip and then I stand on the band for the anchor point. I've also used power racks that has band pegs down by floor, in this situation you could run a from front peg over the bar and onto the rear peg using one band per side. If you reverse band your deads, take the same approach as reverse band squats or bench.

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Originally Posted by swoleberry

The first bands I purchased were from EFS, 2 reds, 2 greens, 2 wide oranges, and 2 wide grays.
Also I have a very thin orange which is good for some high rep rear delt work.

Squats you're spot on. As for deads, I have done it a couple of different ways, I've draped a red or green band over the bar so there are two points of contact just outside my grip and then I stand on the band for the anchor point. I've also used power racks that has band pegs down by floor, in this situation you could run a from front peg over the bar and onto the rear peg using one band per side. If you reverse band your deads, take the same approach as reverse band squats or bench.

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EFS sells a pack called the mountain dog band pack, has everything I'm talking about including a short little red band which is good for "spider crawls." I also failed to mention, the wide gray band and orange bands are good to drape over your traps and stand on for banded good mornings.

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Originally Posted by swoleberry

EFS sells a pack called the mountain dog band pack, has everything I'm talking about including a short little red band which is good for "spider crawls." I also failed to mention, the wide gray band and orange bands are good to drape over your traps and stand on for banded good mornings.

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Yup I saw this too. Almost just bought that. Ended up getting 2 monster minis, 2 shorts, and 2 pairs in the pro size in different resistances. I have a band I currently use for shoulders/core work. Figured this would be a good starting point and give me a few different resistances to train with. Was a little cheaper than the Mountain Dog bundle since everything is on sale. Used the money I saved and put it towards one of the bow-ties that I've wanted for a while now. It also was on sale, so all good timing. Appreciate all the information man.

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Originally Posted by MRmichael.hooker

Yup I saw this too. Almost just bought that. Ended up getting 2 monster minis, 2 shorts, and 2 pairs in the pro size in different resistances. I have a band I currently use for shoulders/core work. Figured this would be a good starting point and give me a few different resistances to train with. Was a little cheaper than the Mountain Dog bundle since everything is on sale. Used the money I saved and put it towards one of the bow-ties that I've wanted for a while now. It also was on sale, so all good timing. Appreciate all the information man.

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Awesome man, glad I could help. Banded work is great and definitely can bring a new element to your training.

If I had it to do over, I would just get a lot of monster minis. I don't know where you are on your lifts, but I'm thinking like 10 of them. It varies exactly on what it is, but I would shoot for being able to make 200 lbs of tension. And it makes it easier to adjust tension and they are easier to put on the bar one by one and you can always add more if you want more tension.

As a guideline, chains will teach you to accelerate through out the lift. Bands will teach you how to strain.

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Originally Posted by BigChrisF

If I had it to do over, I would just get a lot of monster minis. I don't know where you are on your lifts, but I'm thinking like 10 of them. It varies exactly on what it is, but I would shoot for being able to make 200 lbs of tension. And it makes it easier to adjust tension and they are easier to put on the bar one by one and you can always add more if you want more tension.

As a guideline, chains will teach you to accelerate through out the lift. Bands will teach you how to strain.

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Appreciate the info man. I did get one set of the monster minis & another set of the shorts average, as a starting point. Got 2 pairs of the pro for squats. Figured this would be good to get going with them.

I feel chains would help me a lot, as my sticking point at the moment is more coming out of the hole and off of the floor. Just a lot easier to throw bands into a gym bag than chains. Changed my accessory lifts around to help more with my weaknesses and also working on more hip mobility work to loosen them up more. A lot of pause squats and deficit Deads as well as more low back work.

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Originally Posted by swoleberry

EFS sells a pack called the mountain dog band pack, has everything I'm talking about including a short little red band which is good for "spider crawls." I also failed to mention, the wide gray band and orange bands are good to drape over your traps and stand on for banded good mornings.

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I have a set of all colors from Westside Barbell.

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Originally Posted by Rex

I have a set of all colors from Westside Barbell.

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This is what I wish i did from the start. Instead, I purchased sets and sets over time, which ultimately ends up costing more.

With bands, it all depends on what you're using them for. For speed work [dynamic effort] training, you'd use mini bands for bench press and mini bands for deads. For squats, it depends on your strength, but anywhere between mini, light, or average bands. Tension varies and will increase mini>light>average>strong bands. For me, I used mini bands for bench and deads and use light bands for squat work. This is all based on my 1RM. Watch some youtube videos on how to set 'em up. I actually brought a scale with me to the gym to figure it out; set up the bands, hook 'em up, step on the scale (after getting the registered weight with just you and the bar) and figure out the difference. If you're going to use bands, use 'em the right way. Don't just loop them on any random way. There's a great article on elitefts titled ''setting up bands and chains''. It gives you ways to set them up, required tension, and what type to use based on your 1RM.

If you're talking about using them for ''reverse band bench/squat/deadlift'', then you can really use any type of band pending the amount of tension you want from the bottom.

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Originally Posted by Aggression

This is what I wish i did from the start. Instead, I purchased sets and sets over time, which ultimately ends up costing more.

With bands, it all depends on what you're using them for. For speed work [dynamic effort] training, you'd use mini bands for bench press and mini bands for deads. For squats, it depends on your strength, but anywhere between mini, light, or average bands. Tension varies and will increase mini>light>average>strong bands. For me, I used mini bands for bench and deads and use light bands for squat work. This is all based on my 1RM. Watch some youtube videos on how to set 'em up. I actually brought a scale with me to the gym to figure it out; set up the bands, hook 'em up, step on the scale (after getting the registered weight with just you and the bar) and figure out the difference. If you're going to use bands, use 'em the right way. Don't just loop them on any random way. There's a great article on elitefts titled ''setting up bands and chains''. It gives you ways to set them up, required tension, and what type to use based on your 1RM.

If you're talking about using them for ''reverse band bench/squat/deadlift'', then you can really use any type of band pending the amount of tension you want from the bottom.

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Appreciate the thorough response

When I opened my gym, I researched it and the size of the band is standard, the thickness is standard, it's the width that varies, so assuming they're all the same, no matter what company, the tension should be the same. We have measured them with a scale and ours are all the same despite color and manufacturer. That being said, I got a package of bands for around $75 and it was roughly 20 of them from ebay...roughly 6 small ones that are either black or red, mostly medium ones comparable to the orange from elitefts, and then a few bigger ones.

Chains I looked on craigslist and found some, got quite a bit for cheap, had to cut long sections into 5ft sections, some were rusty so I soaked them in muriatic acid for a day and then coated with rustoleum clear coat, but they're perfect and used all the time...I want to say my 3/4 in chains I got for roughly $60 and there's four 5 ft sections and then I have quite a bit of 1/2 inch for under $30 total...

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Originally Posted by JHOORNSTRA

Chains I looked on craigslist and found some, got quite a bit for cheap, had to cut long sections into 5ft sections, some were rusty so I soaked them in muriatic acid for a day and then coated with rustoleum clear coat, but they're perfect and used all the time...I want to say my 3/4 in chains I got for roughly $60 and there's four 5 ft sections and then I have quite a bit of 1/2 inch for under $30 total...

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Never thought to use Craigslist. I know stores like Home Depot and Lowes don't sell the 3/4 and 5/8 sizes. I'll have to search Craigslist.

yeah new the bigger chains are between 5 and 10 dollars a foot, I was making a trip about 3 hours away so checked all of the craiglist cities in that path and made a few stops on the way. Chances are, no one is looking for heavy ass chain in sections or even a medium size length...usually chain that heavy, above towing, etc is for heavy machinery and they need longer distances. Not like anyone is going to be chaining up their bike with 3/4in chain...