Banded Squats/squat jumps

[Manquellerman]

Hey all,

I've been training compound exercises/leg weights for quite a long time (as I've been running varsity track and field for a few years now) but upon starting BJJ/Judo/mma i've been trying to change up my leg weights to focus not only on strength for running but resistance/explosive power for takedowns/general strength.

I was basically wondering if any truly savvy lifters/trainers could tell me if this is a good supplementation of power and strength for the squat portion of my workout.

From week to week i generally try to mix up my squats, one being 1 x 20 (part of an overall workout)

and the next week i might do something like 3 x 15 in terms of squats.

What I'm looking to do is instead of doing a set of 15 at 225, maybe do 3 sets of 10 with 135 pounds on the sides but with both ends of the bar attached to rubber bands that are weighted down.

Upon completing that set I thought it might be good to have another band attached to a heavy weight on the ground and do resisted power jumps, maybe a set of 5-10?

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated and good luck to all those who put in the work at gym.

 

[bubs]

why so high on the reps?

 

[Manquellerman]

i'm just trying to work on strength endurance at the moment for grappling/judo comps so i don't gas my legs out too fast. I go through gaining phases as well as others.. The lowest my squat reps will go will be 4-5 reps which I would generally pair with 10 reps of an explosive jump.

 

[bubs]

it looks like your results would be mainly hypertrophy.

For 'explosiveness', probably oly-type things. Although you're probably on the right track with the explosive jumping, etc. And if you want 'general strength', i think you pretty much have to lift lower reps and really heavy.

And to get better takedowns, you have to practice takedowns.

 

[Manquellerman]

of course i'm practicing better takedowns (haha). I'm training judo/greco. But on top of technique... athletic ability/training is very useful. For Olympic stuff I do power snatches/cleans 3 times a week, often throwing in dumbbell snatches in also. My lower rep/high weight portion of my training will come fairly soon.

 

[bubs]

sounds like you got it all figured out.

Just make sure to squat and dead really heavy.

 

[Urban]

I don't like your rep scheme. I've been using 12 sets of doubles or singles for banded squats.

 

[zop]

The banded squat idea is excellent!

For a rep scheme you should read around. Check out elitefts.com there are some articles on using bands. This is from their faq

What are the percentages for dynamic squat day when using bands?

Regular Training Phase
Week 1: 47% 8 sets of 2
Week 2: 51% 8 sets of 2
Week 3: 53% 8 sets of 2

Four to six reps over the three weeks must be above training percent. This is done in addition to the regular sets.

This phase should be used by the majority of lifters.

Recommended bands for strength levels -

Squat: 300-500
Light band (purple)

501-750
Average band (green)

751-1000
Strong band (blue)

Keep in mind, for the bands to work properly, you must have tension at the bottom.

 

[BlondeWarrior]

I agree, squats+bands FTW.

I usually end up with 8 sets of doubles, or maybe 6 on the days that I forget how to count. Using bands really helps the "explosiveness" of your lifts, and the bands catch a lot harder than you may thing.

I would warm up with naked bar + band so you can get used to them. Use the blue bands (the #3s shown here) and then add weights to it. Don't put more than 50% of your 1RM on the bar, and make up the rest of the weight you want to work with in bands.

Also try adding on mini-bands, too (#2s here) to add on weight more slowly.

 

[megaseth7]

Our Dealers Home of the guy who made bands popular.

If I was going to go out and get a set I would goto IronWoodys.com

Bands will also teach you alot about how to squat correctly...they are self correction for your form (to a degree). They provide immediate feedback...

Every other work out is enough...its easy to overtrain with bands. Some say not more than once every 21 days. Once every week or two is enough for me.