Correct me if I’m wrong, but bands usually kick in really hard after 35%-50% (approx) of the ROM has been completed. For example, If I wanted to increase my starting strength on bench, bands probably wouldn’t be the best choice, right? Well, is there anything like the reverse of bands, besides chains. I really am not allowed to lug around 200 lbs worth of chains to my gym, nor would have anywhere to store them. I would love to try chains, but I can only imagine. My reason for asking is because I find 50% and over the ROM I can most likely complete a lift whether it be 1 rep or the 50th rep.
On a different note, I do like bands, I am not bashing them at all, but some free-weight systems don’t seem so “band friendly”.I can’t do free-weight bar-bell squats with bands, due to the contraption being too heavy to lift up and place a band under its structure. I would use my feet to hold the bands, but that just seems dangerous and an injury waiting to happen at racking time.
Your assumptions about bands are correct, but chains don’t do the reverse of that. They do the exact same (albeit with a different feel to them). The idea is that as you get closer to completing the lift, more chain comes off the floor and thus more weight is on the bar.
Are you asking for a way to make the first half of a lift harder than the lock-out portion? If so, then that seems unnecessary. If your lockout is already strongest, then you will be limited by your starting strength, and simple barbell weight will already emphasize the weaker portion of the lift. I have never heard of anyone trying to do that.
To do band stuff on racks that don’t accommodate them (most places I have seen are not band friendly), you can lug some heavy dumbbells over there and wrap the bands around those.
Two really good methods for developing more starting strength would be accentuating the pause, and increasing the range of motion.
For the bench, you could increase the range of motion by using a cambered bar or dumbbells. For squats, you could just squat deeper, or onto a lower box.
Lengthening the pause at the start is pretty self explanatory.