It can be difficult to build strength as you gain more experience in the gym. Many experienced athletes have a hard time finding the best way to get stronger for one specific reason. They keep doing the same things in the gym, expecting different results. The research is clear. If you want to gain strength in the gym, you need to include variable resistance training into your lifting program. Keep reading to see why researchers recommend this incredibly effective strength training method.
Most athletes, and even experienced coaches, don’t really understand that training needs to change depending on the training age of the athlete. By training age, I mean the amount of experience someone has with serious training. A 20 year old athlete with 5 years of hard training has the same training age as someone who’s 40 and has spent the same 5 years lifting heavy free weights. They may train differently but they have the same relative experience.
The type of training that works for new athletes is quite broad. Nearly anything will work for newbies. This isn’t the case for more experienced lifters. Even something like lifting lighter weight for enough reps can increase your strength when you’re new. Don’t try that after a few months of lifting, and expect any kind of significant results!
This same error in logic continues in other areas of training. How many times have you read an article where a well known coach or certified personal trainer preaches that just doing the basics is all you need to keep making gains? That’s like every fitness article you’ve ever read. Just because you got stronger this way doesn’t mean it will work forever. You can’t learn calculus by repeating your multiplication tables over and over!
This means we must change our training methods from ones that no longer work, to something more effective. Variable resistance training has entered the chat. Check out the overview on variable resistance training. After that we’ll dive into the science that makes this the best way to get stronger for experienced athletes.
- Variable Resistance Training (VRT) and Accommodating Resistance Training mean the same thing
- VRT training uses resistance bands and chains to accelerate resistance on each lift
- VRT should be between 20-30% of overall barbell resistance, the rest is normal/straight weight
- VRT is great for athletes as it increase muscle fiber recruitment and power production
- VRT is a perfect choice for masters athletes as it applies less weight to joints in compromised positions
- VRT has been well researched and increases strength gains faster than normal lifting
- This method won’t effect fat loss or muscle size differently than normal training
Variable resistance training is a great tool for increasing both overall strength, and rate of force development. In fact, it’s one of my favorite tools for folks that need to increase their power output. You know people like: olympic lifters, power lifters, rugby players, basketball players, and really anyone that wants to move like an athlete. Let’s go over the basics of VRT training and see just how much stronger you can get using this strength training method.
Variable Resistance Training Overview
There are two primary types of variable resistance training (VRT). They are lifting with elastic bands attached to the barbell, or chains. Both of bands and chains add resistance as the barbell travels further from the lowest portion of the lift (depending on setup).
As any experienced lifter knows, lifting heavy weight is always most difficult about midway through the rep. This is called the sticking point. This weak point is the area that’s least mechanically advantageous for your muscles to produce torque on your bones, thus completing the rep.
VRT has the primary benefit of forcing your muscle fibers to fire more effectively, to accelerate through the weak points in each lift. After several weeks of VRT style training, you can move the same non-VRT load noticeable faster. You’ll see for yourself after doing some of my VRT programs that we’ll cover later. Check out this video on VRT band and chain setup to see how this works.
Now you know that VRT style training is a great way to get stronger, let’s cover the research so you can see exactly why I’m such a big fan of this training style for experienced lifters.
Variable Resistance Training Research
Any research nerd knows that the best way to find out what most research says on a topic is to find a meta analysis, or research review. This meta analysis entitled, “Effects of Variable Resistance Training on Maximal Strength,” examined all relevant research available on the effects of VRT training. Here’s a quick excerpt that summarizes this research paper.
In this meta-analysis, we compared the effects of traditional vs. VRT on the adaptive response produced in terms of maximal strength. The studies meeting the selection and inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis were those by Cronin et al. (15), Anderson et al. (2), Ghigiarelli et al. (22), McCurdy et al. (31), Rhea et al. (40), Bellar et al. (9), and Shoepe et al. (42). Participants were either untrained (with under 12 months’ experience in strength training) or trained (longer than 2 years’ experience). Our results indicate that VRT over at least 7 weeks (≥2 sessions per week) leads to a significantly greater strength gain (p < 0.001) than that produced in response to a traditional strength training program. When subjects were stratified according to training status, trained individuals achieved a significantly greater strength gain with the VRT than the traditional training program (p = 0.001). However, the strength gains observed for the nontrained subjects undertaking a VRT program vs. a traditional program did not vary significantly (p = 0.11). When stratified according to the extremities trained, for both the lower and upper limbs, VRT gave rise to significantly better gains in 1RM than conventional training (p ≤ 0.02).
Effects of Variable Resistance Training on Maximal Strength
Let’s break this down a little more plainly. The researchers found that there were significant gains across all studies for those athletes that used elastic bands/chains in their training. All studies included were at least 7 weeks or longer, and had at least 2 sessions per week that utilized VRT.
Most importantly, they found that this method is the best way to get stronger for experienced athletes. When they broke down the study results by training age, they found little to no benefit for novice lifters. This is because new lifters will always drastically increase their strength, with any type of weight training. They need to worry about good form and lifting with proper technique, not fancy lifting techniques
This eight week study look at the effects of adding chains to a VRT program and found incredible increases in strength. Following the intervention, both training groups demonstrated improvements in strength compared to the control group. The overall results for the bench press 1RM were: chain group 28% increase; normal group 19% increase. The chain group also increase their back squat reps to failure by 8%, where as the normal group only increase it by 2% after 8 weeks.
VRT training also works well for your upper body. This study looked at very strong elite rugby players. They found that 85% of 1RM total load was the ideal intensity to use use with VRT training.
Research has shown that there are only two ways to increase strength. Become more efficient in the lifts, or gain muscle mass. If you want to try one of my best muscle building programs then check this out.
Now that we know that VRT is a good idea, let’s take a look at some ways to implement this in our training.
How to Use VRT in Your Training
I’m not preaching to the Holy Church of VRT training. This is an incredibly valuable training method, but it isn’t appropriate to use all the time, and it clearly works better on some exercises than others. In this section we’ll cover some do’s and don’ts, some of which I’ve learned the hard way!
Exercises to Add VRT
Research has shown that VRT works best on heavy barbell lifts like: bench press, and back squat. It should also work well on other compound lifts like front squats and heavy dumbbell work. The research is mixed on it’s efficacy for the deadlift; however, I’ve found great success using it to increase my deadlift.
However, it’s dangerous to add to olympic lifts. Olympic lifts rely on power, and intramuscular coordination. It’s best to practice these lifts with normal weight, building your strength in the basic compound exercises with VRT. Here is a list of the best exercises that I’ve found work well with VRT training.
Main Lift
Accessory Lift
- Back Squat
- Bench Press
- Overhead Presses (Chains Only)
- Barbell Row
- Reverse Barbell Lunge
- Pull Ups (Banded down to ground)
- Weighted Dips
- Sit Ups
- Jump Squats
- Inverted Rows
This list is by no means exhaustive. You’re only limited by your imagination and they can be used on isolation movements as well as compound lifts. Now I’ll offer some practical advice for choosing how to set up up each exercise in the next section.
Are Bands or Chains the Best Way to Get Stronger?
There is some research that suggests that part of the reasons bands or chains work is because they destabilize the load, which requires more stabilizing muscles to work. Chains will generally destabilize the load more, and can be a little more effective in some cases. I also haven’t seen any research which demonstrates which method is best for muscle growth. It’s safe to say that if you put in enough volume then you can build muscle with bands or chains.
The bulk of research doesn’t really differentiate between the two, as both are very effective. I tend to favor bands because they’re cheaper, and easy to carry around. I probably use them for about 90% of my VRT style training. There are a few exercises that I think chains are better for.
First, any overhead pressing should be done with chains. You don’t want to use elastic bands, because if you miss the lift, or have an injury happen while lifting, that bar will come rocketing down towards your head due to band tension. Not smart! Use chains, and set the lead chain so some chain remains on the ground when the barbell is locked out.
Chains can be better to use on weighted dips, depending on how strong you are. It can be uncomfortable to add a lot of band tensions around your neck and shoulders where as it’s pretty easy to loop some chain through a dip belt. Next, let’s talk about setting PRs with VRT in your warm ups.
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Adding VRT as a Warm Up for PR Attempts
This research papers shows that adding VRT training to warm up sets, and then attempting a 1RM with no bands or chains works really well. In the study 81% of the subjects increased their 1RM immediately by 7%, after doing a heavy set of 2-3 reps with band tension.
Once you become accustomed to VRT style training, feel free to add this into a warm up if you’re attempting a new PR. I wouldn’t do this without some practice with VRT style lifting. You don’t want to add new things on a day you’re trying to set a PR.
Plyometrics and VRT
Most strength athletes completely neglect using VRT for plyometrics. This is a real shame, as bands are a great way to enhance the efficacy of most bodyweight exercises. If you don’t have a gym available, you can really increase the difficulty of movements like push ups and air squats with just a few elastic bands. VRT with your own body weight is a great training method.
You can also use them in reverse to make exercises into truly explosive movements. For certain populations like combat athletes, or ball sport athletes, it’s crucial to develop upper body pulling, and pushing power. You can do movements like vertical jumps using a band to lighten your body weight as well. Try looping a band around your chest and anchor it to a pull up bar, thus taking some of your weight away.
This reduction in weight allows you to move your body with maximum speed, which is exactly what plyometrics are designed to do. Lastly, I love to finish a heavy barbell squat session with banded barbell jumps. They are tremendous for leg power, and they really carry over to sprinting, running, and olympic lifting.
You now have some great guidelines for incorporating VRT style training into your workouts, however you don’t have the most important component, a strength training program! Wouldn’t you know it, that’s just what we’re going to talk about now.
Finding The Your Best Strength Program
If you’ve taken a look around this website, you’ll know that I’ve written dozens of programs for all types of athletes. I’ve also written several very popular strength programs for those that have different goals. In this section I will recommend my best strength programs so you increase your strength.
Each program uses well researched fundamentals for increasing strength. They all incorporate progressive overload on sets with low reps. Many of these programs will allow you to build some lean muscle mass, but I have better programs that can help you build lean muscle, if that’s your primary goal.
The 9 Week Functional Strength Program
This 9 Week Functional Strength Program is one of my most popular strength training programs. It’s heavily biased towards increasing your strength in the squat, bench press, and deadlift, however there are still WODs and metcons included in each training session. Here’s a sample week for the program.
For this program, you’ll have to download the StrongLifts spreadsheet which will calculate your weights for the day. After you finish your lifting you’ll take a short break and then move onto the the warm up for the WOD. I’ve found that this program has you in the gym around 60-80 minutes depending on how much rest you take. It can also beat you up, so make sure you’re focused on eating enough protein, and using correct form to aid in your recovery.
If you want the premium version of this program, where I included specific warm ups, and a better lifting progression, you can get your copy below. I’ve also included coaches notes on every piece of the program.
The 9 Week Advanced Functional Strength Program
The 9 Week Advanced Functional Strength Program is probably my most effective strength program available. It relies heavily on lifting with VRT, including elastic bands and chains. There is an included PDF for this program and I’m currently finishing up a premium version of this with all the percentages, rest periods, and other details for athletes like to know exactly what they’re doing each day. Here’s a sample week.
This program only has WODs three times per week. I’ve found that if you really want to gain the maximum amount of strength in the shortest time, you have to shift the majority of your focus to the lifts. That doesn’t mean the WODs don’t matter, it just means that less of our training budget focuses on them.
This program will allow you to increase your strength as quickly as possible and you should be able to maintain your functional fitness conditioning. Stay tuned for the premium version which will come out in a few weeks. Lastly, I’ll cover my best strength program for those that don’t care about functional fitness.
The 7 Week Free Strength Training Program
The 7 Week Free Strength Training Program is designed for the true meat head. No WODs or metcons in sight. Instead you have a lot of lifting, with each lift in a very challenging rep range. It’s designed to take you from your current strength level to a new one-rep max in 7 weeks. Here’s a sample week below.
If you look through the weeks you’ll see that you hit the major muscle groups 2-3 times per week, which research shows is optimal to gain strength. Each training session includes a primary lift where you’re working with heavier weights. All primary lifts are compound movements like back squats, or bench presses. After that, you move on to your accessory work. Now let’s cover some of my favorite tips to take your workout to the next level.
Tips for A Better Strength Training Session
There are a few things that I’ve learned over the years that really improve the your chances of having a great workout. First, I recommend that you do a general warm up of walking, jogging, or some other monostructural movement for 3-5 minutes. After that you should move into your specific warm up, where you do the same movement patterns you’re going to use in your first lift. An example of this would be starting with air squats before going to the back squat.
After each session I recommend that you do a cool down. Research has shown that 10 minutes of easy cycling or walking can improve muscle mass. I’ve also found that you feel much better after the session, and much less exhausted.
Moreover, you can drastically increase the amount of reps you can complete with a specific breathing technique which I covered in this article. Researchers found that athletes who did 30 seconds of hyperventilating prior to their set completed up to 35% more reps per set. This technique is an incredibly effective technique to lift more reps.
Lastly, I have one tip to help reduce muscular soreness after a workout. Research has shown that wearing compression tights during, and after a hard session will reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). I was initially skeptical of this, but after trying it myself, there is noticeable improvement. Now let’s talk about everyone’s favorite topic, supplements.
Final Thoughts
This article has fairly long, and we’ve covered a lot of research so let’s cover a few keep points. VRT style training is very effective training tool for intermediate and advanced athletes. We need to work with our traditional rep ranges and use 20-30% of total in the form of bands or chains. Ideally most of our reps will be around 85% of 1RM.
You can actually add VRT style training to most training programs that don’t normally call for it. The best piece of advice I can give you is to be patient with this style of training. It can be hard to get the bands and chains set up so they feel even during your lifts.
After a few weeks you’ll find that you have a good set up that will have you building strength in no time. Give some of my strength programs a shot, and feel free to add bands to the programs that don’t call for them. I bet you’ll wish you started using them years ago. Now get out there and get training!
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