My Experience With Bands And Chains
So, if you’ve read my previous stuff, you already kno
w that I’ve “been around a long time” as I often put it. I’ve seen all the trends that keep getting recycled over and over again, by rolled into a new “system” that looks amazingly like an old system. I’ve also seen all the failed fads that happen once, and are too idiotic to make a repeat appearance, most of them being supplements like boron, or smilax....and if you remember those, I’m impressed.
When it comes to the way hardcore bodybuilders train, there has been very little change in the last 25 years. There was the super high volume of the 70’s and 80’s where guys spent 3 hours a day repping out with endless sets. Then Dorian came along and changed things up with a recycled, yet personalized low volume style. Six reps on almost everything, with tons of forced reps, and 45min workouts was the way to go.
Then when the guard changed again, we basically had 15 years of people either training super fucking heavy all the time trying to be like Branch and Ronnie, or they trained like Jay with tons of sets and short rest periods; pumping the crap out of things. Other than these strategic and philosophical differences, the workouts essentially all look pretty much the same on paper. Same exercises, in similar a order, with the same standard “4X8-10” beside almost every exercise. Sometimes there were some 3X6-8, or 5X10-12, instructions, but nothing new at all.
Almost all of the training systems that came out were just cleverly marketed, recycled versions of what guys had already been doing for years. Usually it just boiled down to “train hard and heavy, then pump the crap outta that muscle and call it a day”, wrapped in a DVD. There are exceptions to this, but very few.
One only has to grab ANY muscle magazine and open it to ANY pro’s workout for whatever bodypart, and they will see the same generic plan laid out. Most of the things one could learn from watching the pro train is totally lost in magazine format. So when Youtube came along, it really did help a lot of people increase their knowledge base, because they could see they way the pros moved weights. Some realized that the pros did train with a variety of styles even if they trained on and around the same sort of workout. That is really all that has happened regarding training in the last 2 decades. But times are finally changing, and we have bands and chains to thank. Yes, we’ve all
at least heard of them, or have watched vids with someone using them. I’ll admit that I was skeptical when I first saw bodybuilders using them in youtube vids a few years ago. I knew powerlifters utilized them, but had only read of their strength benefit, and hadn’t thought about the potential hypertrophy from overloading the entire strength curve. It seemed like their use was spreading. More and more guys were being spotted in vids doing chain squats, or banded movements. Ben Pakulski was one of the first higher profile guys to show them being used in vids.
The popularity of John Meadows and his “Mountain Dog” training really helped launch their use into more and more gyms. I’m sure we have all seen vids of John training one of his guys, like Antoine, with various banded chest and leg exercises.
I thought Fouad Abiad sported some noticeably improved quad mass at the Arnold. If you watch his vids, you’ll know that he went out and invested in some heavy chains for squatting, and well, you can’t say it hurt him at all. Bigger legs are bigger fucking legs, no way around it, regardless of placing.
To be honest, some of the guys I’ve seen that have used bands and chains for at least 2 years steady have actually been some of the most improved guys I’ve seen recently in terms of actually adding size. It’s enough to make a jaded guy who’s seen so many bullshit fads come and go, actually get excited about unlocking some of that potential size that I have been busting ass so hard to try and add.
Basically I found myself in a spot where I needed a lateral move. I have been training for 23 years. I’ve been very lucky in terms of injuries and setbacks, but the time has finally come wh
ere I now have a “bad knee”. Won’t bore you with details.....basically, slight quad tendon tear that healed quickly, followed by a year where it just wasn’t right and hurt a lot, followed by chronic tendonosis. It’s been doing really good but I know that I need to avoid falling back into the old trap of leg pressing 14 plates a side all the time. So what’s a hardcore guy who knows he still hasn’t reached his potential to do? He finds a way to overload the quads without piling endless plates on the leg press, or
always working towards heavier squats. There has to be another way, and I knew exactly where I was going to start. I was going to make a real commitment to using more supersets, some giant sets, shorter rest periods, and I was going to start using bands and chains.
My friend ordered me some Elite FTS Pro Lites and I immediately started using them on the leg press. It dramatically changed the exercise. The feeling of the entire rep being difficult was overwhelming at first. I was so used to the old feeling of it being heavy and hard out of the bottom, and then quite easy at the top. The bands changed that totally. It was also a learning experience figuring out how much weight to use. It’s less than you think. With the added intensity in each rep, your fatigue sets in faster and you exhaust more of your strength endurance with each set. I found myself having leg press sessions that were making me puke, while only loading 9 plates on each side. My
knees were in heaven, but my quads were in HELL! Perfect combo to be honest. It wasn’t long after that that I started squatting with chains. Aside from the feeling of the movement, I love hearing those chains load and unload off the floor. I’m lucky to be at a hardcore gym where noise isn’t looked as the ultimate crime, so I get to hear iron plates rattling and chains clanging when I squat. It’s awesome. I know lots of you guys are prisoners of fitness style facilities so you may have to rely on bands, since so many places won’t allow chains.
At this point, I feel like bands and chains have literally saved my quad wor
kouts. Allowing me to add intensity to each rep by overloading the quads without overloading my joints the way I used to. Plus, it’s just plain fun to try new things and shake things up. It’s been a long time since I had so many new tools in the toolbox.
I’m also doing stiff leg deadlifts standing on a tension band, so it adds about a plate a side at the top. Great overload to the glutes at the top of the rep, unlike any other movement. (I’m looking forward to all the bikini competitors who will want to borrow my bands after reading that part.)
I am also looking for benefits in other areas, doing incline BB presses with chains. I’ve already seen a big strength jump, and hope to really add some thickness there. Looking forward to a whole list of things I want to try, but I think I’ll need a variety of bands and some bigger chains.
What are your experiences? Have you tried them? Get excited and order some. In 10 years we will all be using them.
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