Okay, this one might
LOOK a little strange but I can promise you it's
a REALLY good one! I just posted this to my Powerful
Training Secrets site (http://www.powerfultrainingsecrets.com)
members area but this was too interesting to keep
a secret :)
I came up with this
one as a way to do assisted deadlifts using bands
but without having anything to anchor bands onto
in order to give assistance out of the bottom.
This makes it great for home-gym use and for regular-gym
use in acclimating your body to heavier deadlift
loads than you could normally use.
It's a really interesting
technique in that you're still carrying the entire
load throughoutt the exercise, even at the bottom
where the bands are helping you. It's just how
the bands are position on the bar and your body
that helps spring the bar off the floor.
You'll truly either
think is crazy or genius or both...
Now obviously for
this one, you're going to need training bands.
Click
here to go to where I got mine.
I'm using the green medium bands for this exercise.
I'm going to show
you how the exercise is done first, then I'll
show you how to attach the bands onto the bar.
I'm using my Super
Deadlift Bar for this exercise but you
can definitely use a straight for it as well
- just attach the bands outside where your legs
will be and you're set. Me, I just prefer this
style of bar over the straight bar because I find
it makes for a more natural movement, plus, I'm
not training for competitive powerlifting and
have no real need to train the specific technique
for competition deadlifts.
So here's the setup...the
bands are hitched onto the bar.
Kneel down and lean
forward then put the left band over the right
side of your head so it's across your RIGHT shoulder.
Now do the same
with the right band (it goes over to your LEFT
shoulder).
Now you've got that
lovely "cross-your-heart" look going...notice
how in this position, the bands are already stretched
- you don't want any looseness in the bands at
all here.
Now get to your
feet (you'll have to stay hunched over while you
get to your feet) and get into the start position
of the deadlift. Here's where the fun begins...
As you start the
lift off the ground, your upper body comes up.
As your upper body comes up, the bands then pull
up on the bar, giving you assistance getting the
bar off the ground. This instantly allows you
to lift more weight off the ground than you could
without the bands while still keeping the entire
load on yourself!
Come all the way
up to full-standing position. That's one rep!
Then set the bar down as you normally would and
go again.
This admittedly
strange-looking technique makes for excellent
training if you have trouble with the top half
of the deadlift movement or if you just want to
use heavier-than-normal loads on the deadlift
but either don't have access to anything to hitch
bands to up above you or if you want to keep the
whole load on yourself the whole time but just
want a little "pop" off the bottom.
I like this one
for going heavier than normal and it's also quite
good for doing higher-rep sets with moderately
heavy weight.
Here's an alternate
view of the exercise.
How To Set It Up
As I mentioned above,
this works fine on a straight bar, too, so don't
be put off by the Super Deadlift Bar here.
It's tough to show
perfectly well in still shots but I've included
this in the demo video as well, so hopefully it
won't be too hard to follow.
Put one end of the
band around the bar.
Pull it through
the loop of the band on the other side (called
a bale hitch).
I've got some better
pics of this style of loop done on a chin-up bar
- It's the exact same idea except in this deadlift
exercise, it'll be looped onto an free-weight
bar instead of a chin-up bar.
See how the short
loop gets pulled through the long loop.
Now it gets pulled
all the way through and is locked in nice and
tight.
Back to our regularly-scheduled
program...
This looping through
basically locks the band in on itself. For my
height, I had to loop the end of the band around
a second time through to decrease the length of
the band. This makes it shorter so I get more
tension in the band while doing the exercise.
When I had a single
loop through, the band was loose on me. Something
to keep in mind when trying this one - if the
band is loose, you'll need to put the end of the
band around through a second time.
Here's what the
finished product looks like.
Now you're set!
Just repeat the
procedure on the other side. When using a straight
bar, it's the exact same deal - just do your best
to make sure the bands are EVENLY PLACED on the
bar. Use the smooth center ring and the smooth
"O" ring as your guide.
To figure out where
to put the bands the first time, set your feet
where you normally would when doing deadlifts
then eyeball it so you have a few inches of clearance.
The bands will grip on the bar tightly and won't
slide inwards at all when you're doing the exercise.
If you've got bands
and you've got the inclination to give this one
a try, I'd love to hear your experiences with
it!
