I’ve found some cheap bands that i can use for training westside, although they aren’t the jump stretch bands like westside using, i’ve found some that give different resistance. I’m new to band training and have tried them out on the bench press. I have 3 pairs, 1 pair gives just barely a little bit of tension at the bottom and very light tension at the top, the other pair gives more tension at the bottom and medium tension at the top, and the other pair gives pretty strong tension for me at the top. Which should i use to start out with since i’m new to band training.
You need to see Dave Tate’s articles on this site (such as “Accomodating Resistance” and the “TNT” articles) to see what types of jumpstretch bands you would be using with your current numbers. From there, go to jumpstretch.com and see how much tension those bands give at the bottom and top positions. Next, you would need to figure out a way to calculate how much tension YOUR types of bands are giving, and then compare them to those sold by jumpstretch.
Instead of going to all this trouble, you could also just sack up and buy the proper bands.
I will tell you that all the band tension guidelines are just that: guidelines. If you feel you are getting decent tension at the bottom position with your type of bands, and that you still have good speed on your lifts, then do your best with what you have.
its hard to say since they arent jump stretch. I would use the lightest bands on bench press and double them up.
“The exact tension in the cables [bands] may be measured by standing on a bathroom scale (or pair of scales) while holding the bar and stretched cable at the starting and end points of the movements.” - Mel Siff, Supertraining 2000
You don’t need jump stretch bands, although it will save you from alot of work. My suggestion is to start with the lightest band then work up to a heavier band, just make sure that your bar speed is not slowed by the heavier bands.
I would not use the heavier bands on the bench press unless it is for partial range max effort work. And then it would be iffy. The big bands will create too much eccentric for speed work.
Alternatively, you could play around with what you have, find some combos that give you good tension at both the top and bottom, use it in some workouts, see how you respond, and then make the necessary adjustments.
I use the elastic that is used for spearfishing guns for my home made bands. Working out the tension at the top and the bottom of the movements was not difficult at all and the tension that i use is very similar to that recomending by tate/simmons. Pretty good value too, cost me 7 dollars (about 4 american dollars). The shipment alone of the bands that westside recomends would have been significantly more expensive, so it was definetly good value and worth the time. I just checked… the cheapest band at the site is 10 bucks plus 17 shipment, therefor 27 american dollars so probably close to 50 austrlian… I actually really enjoyed it, got out some physics books, drew tension/length graphs, was fun mucking around with it all, but then again im a bit of a nerd 