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As is the way with many types of relationship, the key to longevity is avoiding stagnation, repetition and the same routines. They say variety is the spice of life and training should be no exception and regarded in the same vain. Even though as a concept physical exertion certainly should be part of a regular routine, the nature of the training itself should not be allowed to become a mundane task you lament. When falling into this dilemma many resort to the wise council of the internet, yet it’s a fickle friend, often providing so much conflicting information you end up more confused than before you started. Your search will undoubtedly bring up some paid add on Google proclaiming the most innovative training system ever developed, which unleashes an arsenal of off the wall exercises. To clarify now, and although this may seem counter intuitive, if you wish to take your training forward the key is to look back. Really, any training system selling itself as new after the fall of the Berlin Wall, (1989) is in likely hood either fabricated for commercial purposes, or rehashing old eastern block training methodology.
With the aim of providing some transparency on the matter I will share some sound relationship guidance to this most essential of partnerships. If you are reading this blog there’s a good chance you already have a background in training, and this foundation is perfect and should remain unchanging. Yet to rejuvenate an old program, try adding some toys to the mix, and to take the semi innuendo even further, I mean by adding bands or chains. With the addition of these simple implements known as accommodated resistance, you can not only transform and old hat exercise into a new challenge, but bust through frustrating training plateaus.
Working on a similar but slightly differing principle, both of these tools augment the strength curve of an exercise e.g typically a bench press is hardest at the bottom and easiest at the top. By using either the weight of a chain or the resistance of a band the reverse is created, meaning the load at bottom position is reduced relative to the load at the top. This culminates in a completely new training stimulus and provides an interesting new challenge to exercises we have all been doing for countless years.
Below is an example of an upper body routine using these new “toys”.
| Order | Exercise | Reps | Tempo | Sets | Rest |
| A1 | Incline Swiss Bar press with chains | 6-8 | 40X0 | 4 | 90’s |
| B1 | Reverse Bent over row with bands | 10-12 | 30X1 | 4 | 60’s |
| C1 | Band floor press | 10 | 20X0 | 4 | 10’s |
| C2 | Incline DB fly | 10-12 | 3010 | 4 | 90’s |
| D1 | Band external rotations with press | 12-15 | 2021 | 2 | 60’s |
Written by Embody Fitness trainer David Lewis
