Powerlifting with bands helps the lifter to develop more speed and explosiveness. This is an advanced technique and is not suited for beginners.

 

Before we go into the details of powerlifting with bands, let me ask you a couple of questions: 

 

 

These questions are essential for your personal success and failure. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to make them a reality. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If you cannot it is time to get a pen and paper and start. Many people go about their lives like this: 

 

 

This will leave you cm fused and frustrated. What you want changes hundreds of times a day depending on what you do, who you are with and where you are. Making this the center of attention will spread your resources thin and scatter your time between too many activities. Something interesting happens when you flip the running order of these questions on their head:

 

 

This way you will focus on your long term goals and be more fulfilled. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's Ted talk on the golden circle will change your life. 

 

It all starts with better habits and rituals to get more done in less time. One of the best ways to do this is to keep a journal. I have been using the self journal from best self for two years now and my marriage and salary have dramatically improved. You can check it out via this link. 

 

Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat, and deadlift. For each lift, you get three attempts to establish the highest amount of weight. Your best attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against your competitors. 

 

A big difference in lifting weights in the gym is that you will be judged. Three referees will observe your performance from different angles. Two out of three referees have to agree that you executed according to the rules of the federation you are competing in. Then the attempt qualifies. You need at least one qualifying attempt for each lift to make it on the board. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. 

 

Your total usually splits into 40/40/20. The squat and deadlift usually contribute roughly 40 percent each while the bench press adds up to 20 percent. You better make sure that you have strong legs to succeed. 

 

What can happen in powerlifting is that your training pays not enough attention to explosiveness. Bands and chain work can remedy this. 

 

Think of this like a truck and race car. Both probably have the same amount of horsepower, however, their gearboxes are built completely differently to bring that power into the street. The truck uses the horsepower to pull big loads across the country, acceleration is of little importance, the maximum pull is. The race car instead is more leaning towards to use horsepower to accelerate as fast as possible. This is a different way of bringing power to the ground. Powerlifters tend to lean towards the truck type kind of strength. To become one of the best it is also important to take care of speed and acceleration. Speed shortens the time under tension and therefore enables you to lift more. Acceleration helps you to break through sticking pick at in the lift by keeping upward momentum. 

 

Louie Simmons took this idea and ran with it in his west side method. The west side method became famous as it was able to produce a concentration of world champion lifters in the facilities of Louie Simmons gym. The two main ingredients which differentiate the west side method from other training programs is that they manipulate the setup and resistance of the three big lifts constantly.

 

The setup is changed by constantly moving the positioning of the hands and/or feet for the lift you are performing. Another option is to shorten or lengthen the range of motion. 

 

The resistance is changed by adding bands or chains to the lift depending on what you want to achieve.

 

Overall the west side method pays attention to constantly challenge your movement patterns to get stronger and inject speed and acceleration Into your lifts. The biggest counter-argument o the west side method is that working with bands and chains is good for equipped lifters as it emulates competition for them. It is supposedly not ideal for raw lifters as the resistance stays the same for the lifter because bench press shirts and squat suits cannot be used. 

 

Chains are the beginner version of training with changing weights during the lift. The weight you lift gets constantly heavier until you reach the top of the movement. It is the lightest at the bottom. With the chain links leaving the ground the resistance goes up in jumps. The goal is to accelerate through this increasing resistance without slowing down. Training like this can add speed to all three lifts. The disadvantage of chains is that the weight increase is not continuous.

 

As powerlifting with chains was not hard enough Louie Simmons also experimented with bands and found them to be even better for training speed. The do the same as chains except that the increase of resistance comes constant and uninterrupted to the bar. If you are fighting with sticking points, this is the way to go.

 

Powerlifting with bands is only for the experienced. You should have mastered the basics of the bench press, squat and deadlift before you even entertain the idea of adding bands or chains to the mix. Once you do, make sure that you k is how to set things up as otherwise, you will run into a very bad injury.