I’ve been meaning to post this for about a week but keep forgeting.
I set a new PR last week in the Push Press with, (drumroll please)…410 for a single.
It was not as hard as I thought it would be. I had been kind of stuck at 350ish for almost 2 years but then recently I started woking with bands. Within a month I was doing 380 consistently, in EDT style blocks for 8-12 singles. So the other night I decided to go for 410 (50lb bar and 4 big plates). I think I could have done a bit more but no need to risk injury.
As a side note, since using the bands, all my lifts are up.
Awesome! Although I love squats and benches, I always felt that deadlifts and overhead presses were the truest tests of strength.
Just wondering, how much do you think you improved your shoulder strength, and how much do you think the bands may have helped your leg drive and speed?
At first I used the smallest Iron Woody bands, but now use either the blues, greens or blacks, depending on exercise.
Honestly, I am still kind of experiementing with using the bands. I’ve used them for both speed and max effort benching…used various sizes for “Bottoms up” Front or Back Squats (starting from the bottom off of the pins in the rack) with is an insanely hard exercise but really teaches you to push through the whole movement…
I’ve also tried using them for GM’s which I didn’t like all that much, Curls, which I loved because it makes it so much harder. Also box squats with the bands, which was different.
I haven’t done any reverse band work yet. I’m also looking forward to trying DB Bench/Inclines with the bands like CT described in one of his articles.
I would say overall pressing strength went up. My CGB, DB presses, DB Inclines, all improved. It makes it so much easier to blast thru sticking points.
As for leg drive & speed. Definetly improved. After 10yrs lifting I had two major evoulutions in my training. First, I got away from just doing the O-lifts and their assistance exercises all the time. I started rotating a large number of exercises (Westside-esque). That, and the bands made me faster and MUCH more athletic. My team mates were in awe at how much better I was running patterns and making athletic catches than I had been in the past. I was also beating CB’s sometimes…not bad for a TE.
Now, this is my 3 weeks off from the bands but I haven’t really been able to get out to the field and run because after being in the 60’s here for most of Dec. and Jan., it snowed about 12" and it’s friggin impossible to run.
But, overall, I’m amazed at the improvements…especially to someone who has been lifting for almost 10 years.
I would say overall pressing strength went up. My CGB, DB presses, DB Inclines, all improved. It makes it so much easier to blast thru sticking points.
As for leg drive & speed. Definetly improved. After 10yrs lifting I had two major evoulutions in my training. First, I got away from just doing the O-lifts and their assistance exercises all the time. I started rotating a large number of exercises (Westside-esque). That, and the bands made me faster and MUCH more athletic. My team mates were in awe at how much better I was running patterns and making athletic catches than I had been in the past. I was also beating CB’s sometimes…not bad for a TE.
Now, this is my 3 weeks off from the bands but I haven’t really been able to get out to the field and run because after being in the 60’s here for most of Dec. and Jan., it snowed about 12" and it’s friggin impossible to run.
But, overall, I’m amazed at the improvements…especially to someone who has been lifting for almost 10 years.[/quote]
I got a set of bands, and started using them 3 weeks ago. I’m posting my results in “6 week double band experiment update” The best thing is that after having ACL transplant surgery in July, I couldn’t squat parallel on Dec. 1, and got parallel with just 185 on Jan 1. Now in three weeks, I matched my all time PR of 425 with a parallel box squat, got a PR 515 rack pull from the knees WITHOUT STRAPS (15 more than previous PR with straps) and did a PR 325 floor press (20 more than previous PR).
Great job. I was reading thru alot of your posts on a the topic of bands in another long forum discussion right before I decided to buy them. Great stuff. I’m not sure why I kind of resisted buying them for so long but I’m glad I finally did.