Bands and chains might sound like something from a low-grade Chick-Lit novel, but they’re amazing weapons in your fight against stalled progress. There exists an almost endless supply of bands with thicknesses and resistances that vary from retailer to retailer so you really need to do your own research into what you need. Red bands are generally very thin so better suited to your warm-up/cool down stretching, but green and blue bands are tough and durable so can be used to wrap around a barbell without fear of snapping.
We can use bands to break a plateau in a couple of ways. I’ll demonstrate with the deadlift.
If we fix the bands low, then they will provide resistance in the concentric (the ‘up’ section) of the deadlift. Why would we want to do this? Well, lets imagine that you’re pretty strong off the floor but you have a sticking point roughly below knee level. By attaching bands at the correct resistance you can use a weight that you are comfortable with, but when it hits your desired sticking point the band will apply resistance and it will all of a sudden get heavier! This is an excellent way of pushing through weaknesses without crippling yourself lifting weights that hamper your form.
Alternatively, we can suspend bands above the weight, maybe from the top of a power rack. If you have a deadlift that stalls below the shin, then you can overload the first 8 inches of the deadlift by using a very challenging weight, but when you get to mid-shin the bands will kick in and ease you to lockout.
Chains have a very similar application – as you lift, more of the chain leaves the floor thus your barbell gets heavier. It’s a time-proven tactic to getting stronger in squat, bench and deadlift.
So how can we use these tools to burst through a plateau? Well, as ever, program a 4-6 week block on the lift you wish to improve using chains or bands. Keep the reps in the 6-8 range but 1-3 does also work well if you are focusing on pure strength. Analyze where your weaknesses lie, think about whether you would benefit from the bar getting heavier or lighter as you approach lockout, and have a play around with what feels good.
When you take the bands away at the end of the block, you should find that you burst through the sticking point effortlessly – when we can destroy our sticking points, we can set our new PRs with ease.