Iron Woody Fitness Bands

[burn2live]

Ok, I've got some Iron Woody bands to help me with my lifts. Thing is, I'm finding it hard to get a lot out of them so far. They are 41 inches long and I was using them while squatting today. I have pairs of the lowest three resistances. I'm coming back from a back injury and started today with just 130kg squats 5x6, 1x10 with the lowest resistance bands I have. I didn't feel a whole lot of resistance from them and was considering doubling them up. This is hard to explain, but I don't mean using two pairs at once, rather looping one pair over the bar twice, doubling the distance the bands stretch and so increasing the tension that way. I think it could work, though I'm afraid it may damage the bands and also that it may be too much of an increase in tension.

I am going to use the bands on the bench as well and was wondering the about the set up there. Considering the length of the bands I have I was thinking of using one band and looping it under the bench and onto the bar on either side.

I was wondering what arrangements you guys had come up with that may help? I know these bands have great potential for my training and I was looking for a few alternative and novel ideas. Any constructive input appreciated

(Hopefully my explanation wasn't too unclear!)

[burn2live]

Just found this picture which shows what I meant on the bench.

[MisterMagoo]

easiest way for me was always to loop it around the collars before you put the plates on. in my case i'd double up the light bands and put a DB on the floor to anchor them down.

[burn2live]

easiest way for me was always to loop it around the collars before you put the plates on. in my case i'd double up the light bands and put a DB on the floor to anchor them down.

Yeh, sounds along the lines of what I was thinking. The power racks in my gym have holes almost at floor level for the safety bars, so I can wrap the bands round those instead of using a dumbell. Do you think I could manage to double up one band on each side? I would just be worried about pulling the bar up to get it into the rack against the resistance. I guess it's worth a try! 

[MisterMagoo]

Yeh, sounds along the lines of what I was thinking. The power racks in my gym have holes almost at floor level for the safety bars, so I can wrap the bands round those instead of using a dumbell. Do you think I could manage to double up one band on each side? I would just be worried about pulling the bar up to get it into the rack against the resistance. I guess it's worth a try! 

what i did was double-loop the band around the bar, and then pick up a DB and stick it in the middle, then let the DB drop to the floor. and i needed the 130s to hold the damn thing down.

my gut says the holes might be either too low or in the wrong position horizontally, putting the "pull" at head level instead of straight down.

[burn2live]

what i did was double-loop the band around the bar, and then pick up a DB and stick it in the middle, then let the DB drop to the floor. and i needed the 130s to hold the damn thing down.

my gut says the holes might be either too low or in the wrong position horizontally, putting the "pull" at head level instead of straight down.

How did you manage to get the damn bar in the rack with all that tension? lol. I just took the easiest band and stood on it and pulled either side up out of interest there now. Fuck it was hard and I didn't even get it to shoulder height. I don't know how I'm going to rack a bar almost 6' in the air with that pull on it.

The safety bars are like most others, running from front to back on either side of the rack. I can position the bands at any point along them and if need be adjust my stance so the bands pull down instead of back or forward. Should work?

[Vet]

Just found this picture which shows what I meant on the bench.

I absolutely hate benching with bands like that.   I have a pretty high arch and all I feel is the damned band digging into my shoulders.  Combine that with the simple fact that the bands don't have enough tension like that, its worthless as far as I'm concerned. 


I use jump stretch bands, not Iron Woody, so i'm not as familiar with what you are doing.  With the bands I use, I take a pair of 110 lb dumbells and put them on the floor under the bench.  Then I double a band for each side of the bar.  If I want more band tension, I add 110 lb dumbells and I add bands.  (although two doubled monster minibands is a HUGE amount of band tension for the bench press in my opinion). 

For squats, I loop the bottom of the band under the space of the powerrack and put a 20 lb dumbell inside the band loop to tighten things up.  This works well up the point of an average and a strong band on each side of the bar.  At that point, setting up in a power rack becomes a bit hard (the bar doesn't want to set well in the J-hooks in the rack in my gym because of the slightly backwards tension of the bands).   I really think you need a monolift to set up with more band tension than that.  It keeps you from flipping backwards.  That or I haven't figured out how to do it yet. 

[burn2live]

I absolutely hate benching with bands like that.   I have a pretty high arch and all I feel is the damned band digging into my shoulders.  Combine that with the simple fact that the bands don't have enough tension like that, its worthless as far as I'm concerned. 


I use jump stretch bands, not Iron Woody, so i'm not as familiar with what you are doing.  With the bands I use, I take a pair of 110 lb dumbells and put them on the floor under the bench.  Then I double a band for each side of the bar.  If I want more band tension, I add 110 lb dumbells and I add bands.  (although two doubled monster minibands is a HUGE amount of band tension for the bench press in my opinion). 

For squats, I loop the bottom of the band under the space of the powerrack and put a 20 lb dumbell inside the band loop to tighten things up.  This works well up the point of an average and a strong band on each side of the bar.  At that point, setting up in a power rack becomes a bit hard (the bar doesn't want to set well in the J-hooks in the rack in my gym because of the slightly backwards tension of the bands).   I really think you need a monolift to set up with more band tension than that.  It keeps you from flipping backwards.  That or I haven't figured out how to do it yet. 

Very helpful post man. Thanks!

I'm benching again in a couple of days, so I will try a few things and see what's best. Same with the squat. I think I could probably double the bands over on the squat if I raise the safety bar for anchorage. Keep the ideas coming 

[Stubborn]

You may want to try this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuElvPYWG_0

Let us know how that bar tastes!

[burn2live]

You may want to try this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuElvPYWG_0

Let us know how that bar tastes!

Yeh, I've seen that video. Fucking nuts. lol. I may give it a try when I'm more experienced!