An Intermediate Guide to Accommodating Resistance

So, you've seen instagram and facebook posts, tweets and several articles mentioning "bands and chains" on notable barbell lifts. Just what exactly are they doing?

The principle these people are using is called Accommodating Resistance: which is defined as the increasing of resistance through a range of motion while performing a movement. (In a majority of cases, the barbell lifts; bench, squat, deadlift.) Example: When performing a squat with chains attached to the bar, as you squat down, the chains pile up on the floor. This lightens the weight on your back until you proceed to squat up again when the chains then begin to come off the floor and progressively increase the weight on your back.

If you are having trouble with the top portion of your bench press, or the lockout portion of your deadlift, or if you want to just add some extra stimulus for leg growth, these are great tools to use.

There are several implements to use for accommodating resistance and each have their merits. However, I will rate them based on ease of use, applicability and calculation of weight used.

1. Chains. Chains are easy to use and easy to calculate. They weigh a certain amount and you can measure how much you are adding to your barbell very simply. Setting up is easy. Use some sort of lead, be it with a chain or straps (demonstrated below). Attach the chains to the lead at the proper height to where they are almost fully off the floor when you are at the top range of your motion and they should completely or nearly completely deload onto the floor when you are at the bottom end of your motion. They can also be used for deadlifts, simply by looping them over the barbell or attaching them via carabiner (It's exceptionally good for working the lock out portion).

The picture on the right demonstrates a misguided use of chains. It's not necessarily wrong, but the amount of weight deloading isn't significant. Only a few links will deload to the floor.

2. Bands. Bands aren't nearly as easy to set up as chains, nor are they as simple to calculate the weight being added. However, they do provide an interesting stimulus and using them can cause tremendous power output. Setting up bands can be tricky. You can use a dumbbell to loop the bands around on the floor and then attach them directly to the barbell. Or, if your rack or bench has band loops, use those! Most sites like elitefts.net  provide a band calculation chart that shows how much tension the band is creating at what length they are being stretched. For deadlifts, I find simply looping the band over the barbell and placing both ends under my feet to be a really simple and effective way to use them (also good for lockouts).

One can also use the bands to do a reverse banded lift. Which means the bands are suspended from above and looped around the barbell. They then stretch when you are in the bottom position of your movement and deload some of the weight, which then reloads as you move toward the top end.

3. Single Ply Squat Suits and Bench Devices like the Slingshot
Squat suits can be beneficial in keeping everything around your hips compressed. In reality a squat suit should allow you to squat a little extra weight by accommodating some of the resistance with the material it is made of, especially when down in the hole. The slingshot is a nifty little device that you loop onto your arms for bench pressing (or most pressing movments, like pushups or dumbbell pressing). The material stretches out when you bring the weight to your chest, deloading some of the resistance. As you raise the weight, the material has less stretch and the weight progressively reloads.

Accommodating resistance is a great tool to use to add a little extra stimulus for strength gains and muscle growth. It should be treated as such, extra stimulus, not the end all be all to strength training. Nothing beats straight weight on a barbell. And you should be well experienced in the principle movements before attempting using any of these implements.

The Gorilla Mecca Method

The Gorilla Mecca Method

Strength takes time. The stronger you get, the more time it takes to get even stronger. Interesting enough, not a lot of people get that, especially newbies.

So, this is the method that I have been using for a while and with enough cycles, I think it has a lot of potential to get me brutally strong. This macrocycle is 16 weeks long, divided into four 4 week mesocycles, each of which has a 1 week microcycle. The first mesocycle is 4 weeks of 10’s of the major lifts. The second mesocycle is 4 weeks of 8’s of the major lifts. The third mesocycle is 4 weeks of 6’s and 5’s of the major lifts. Then the fourth mesocycle is 3’s, 2’s, and 1's of the major lifts to peak. A final week can be used to test for maxes or the macrocycle can be repeated.

The week has 6 days of workouts. A rest day can be scheduled in between any of these days.

Bench Press

Tricep Press

Squat

Light Bench

Light Tricep

Deadlift

The first bench day is dedicated to benching, obviously. The keys to benching for the 10’s and 8’s weeks are as follows: Do not completely lockout (the triceps will be worked the next day). Keep tension in the pecs. Lower the bar slow to the chest and explode up. The last two mesocycles each rep should be paused on the chest and fully locked out. On the tricep press day, use an EZ Curl bar or you can choose to use a barbell and closegrip press. The keys here: lower the weight slowly and explode up, locking out completely. Try to use the triceps exclusively. Squat day is for squatting. Light Bench and Light Tricep days are exactly like their heavier counterpart days, just lighter weights. Deadlift day is for deadlifts.

Supplemental Exercises: These movements should closely mimic or compliment the main movement for the day. These should be placed after the main movement and prioritized based on weakness.

For Bench Day; Wide Grip Bench-for pecs. Close Grip Bench-for delts and triceps. Incline-pecs and delts. Overhead Press-shoulders.

Tricep Press; Tricep Extension w/EZ Curl, Rope, Straight Bar, Dips.

Squat; Wide Stance Squats-for hips. Olympic Highbar Squat-for quads. Pause Squat-for strength out of the hole.

Deadlift; Deficit Deadlift-for lacking strength off the floor. Block Pull-for erectors and lockout strength. Rounded Back Deadlift-for erectors and lockout strength. Stiff Leg Deadlift-for hamstrings and glutes.  

Accessory Exercises: These movements are used for weaknesses, lagging body parts and for joint health.

These include; Curls, Shrugs, Rows, Lat Pulls, Pull-Ups, Grip Work, Flys, Delt work.

The following table illustrates how one would organize the days with supplemental and accessory work.

Bench	Tricep Press	Squat	Light Bench	Light Tricep	Deadlift
Wide Grip	Tricep Ext	Wide St Squat	Inc-Close Grip	Tricep Ext	Block Pulls
Inc-Close Grip	WeightPull-Up	Stiff Leg Deads	DB Incline	Pull-Ups	Oly Squats
OH Press	Barbell Row	Shrugs	DB OH Press	Lat Pulls	Shrugs
DB Laterals	1-Arm Row	Weighted Abs	DB Laterals	1-Arm Row	Weighted Abs
DB Front Raise	Curls	Calf Work	DB Rear Fly	Curls	Calf Work

So now that you have an idea of how to go about piecing together your training, let’s talk about numbers and percentages. Your starting point will be determined based on how well you perform reps below your max single. The less “in-shape” you are for reps, the lower the percentage you can start with. Ideally you can start with 60-70 percent for your sets of 10. From there, you’ll add about 1.5%-2% per week for each major lift which equals to about 10-15lbs each week for deadlifts, 10lbs each week for squats, and 5lbs each week for bench.

Let’s look at how the program will add up with the main lifts. This is the current cycle I'm in. 

Supplemental work rep ranges mimics the main work. Example, after 4x8 bench, I'll move on to incline bench for 3x8. Accessory work is usually done for the higher rep ranges from 10 all the way up to 40. 

Further depth can be discussed with me via email if need be. 

Boss Barbell Strength Method, Linear Progression, and Deloading

To start off:

I deleted my old google+ profile with my old email and unknowingly deleted everything that was attached to it, including my old blog. I'll take this as an opportunity to start fresh with new information and experiences that I have learned, especially in the past year or so.

With that being said, let us move on to the topic at hand: Boss Barbell Strength Method

For the past year I have embarked on a sort of new strength quest I label as the "Enlightenment Period" of my training. I hired Dan Green November of 2013 to participate in his Boss Barbell Strength Method, aka BBSM. Dan's program is brutal and simple. I say simple because it is not difficult to understand the process and his goal with you. As a powerlifter, you focus on your skill of the three lifts: Squat. Bench w/Pause. Deadlift. And the supplemental work is usually a variation of said lifts: Olympic Squats with a Pause. Front Squats, Deficit Deadlifts, Deadlifts from Blocks, Stiff Leg Deadlifts, Wide Grip Bench, Close Grip Bench, Overhead Press. With his 10 week program my lifts went from: Squat 475, Bench w/Pause 295, Deadlift 600-to-Squat 510, Bench w/Pause 335, Deadlift 615. Decent Progress.

That is about as revealing as I'll be with BBSM. If you'd like to find out more, go to http://bossbarbellclub.com/

The biggest revelation I had in this time frame was that the quads are a very important part of squatting. I always used the "westside" style of squat, which basically was a goodmorning now that I think about it. Now, I will forever put front squats in my training. Even with a wide stance, you can be a quad dominant squatter. Instead of sitting the hips way back, you can sit them straight down. A great example of this is a lifter named Robb "Buddha" Philippus. He is a Raw Squat w/out Wraps World Record holder in the 308 class with 854lbs. He also has posted a 600lb front squat video on his instagram. Check him and his big ass quads out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1dZ2uoJQc

As I've gone along, I decided to take a linear approach to my training. My program has consisted of high volume, low intensity work focusing on the major lifts/barbell work and it slowly progresses to high intensity, low volume. There are four phases each lasting 4 weeks. A high volume phase with Sets of 10, a moderate volume phase with Sets of 8, a strength phase with Sets of 6-5, and a peaking phase with Sets of 3-1. Supplemental work has consisted of: Wide Grip Bench, Close Grip Incline, Seated Overhead Press, Tricep Press w/EZ Curl Bar, Wide Stance Squats, Highbar Pause Squats, SSB Squats, Front Squats, Stiff Leg Deadlifts, BB Shrugs, Lat Pulls, Rows, Etc.

I have provided a couple of graphs to illustrate my program.

Bench	Squat	Deadlift
9600	12600	12300
9800	13000	12750
10000	13400	13200
10200	13800	13650
8320	11360	11280
8480	12000	11640
8640	12320	12000
8800	12640	12360
5600	9720	7950
5700	7470	8175
5800	6375	8400
5900	6525	8625
3600	4095	5310
2745	4185	5445
1860	1940	2480
1260	1980	1270

This first graph, and the numbers corresponding to the left, is an example of Total Volume (in lbs) in work sets of the main lifts for 16 weeks. Bench as Red, Squat as Green, Deadlift as Purple.

Bench	Squat	Deadlift
335	535	635
71.5	58	64
72.5	60	66.5
73.5	62	69
75	64	71.5
77	66	73.5
78	70	76
79.5	71.5	78.5
81	73.5	81
82.5	75	83
84	77.5	85.5
86	79	87.5
87.5	81	90
88.5	85	92.5
90	86.5	95
91.5	90	97.5
93	92.5	100

This second graph illustrates the percentages progressively over the 16 week period of my maximums of each lift (Provided on the left with previous maxes up top).

The bench press is probably the most linear of the lifts because I can successfully progress in weight and the rep ranges I can perform tend to stay in a very linear fashion. Squats take slightly larger jumps between 4 week periods because I tend to not be able to perform high rep ranges, especially in the 75 percent or more. I find my deadlift to be very efficient, which is why I can push the intensity from an early start and work a decent amount of reps in the 85+ range.

In the beginning of the first and second phase, the idea is to use weights that would be a challenge to perform, but not too difficult to finish the sets. Then by the end of 4 weeks, the final week would be difficult to finish, but still leave a couple reps in the tank. The strength phase is all about performance and really getting technique dialed in for the peaking phase. After the peaking phase, maxes can be tested the following week if desired.

I find that with the fluctuation of volume, a deload isn't needed until after the peaking phase is complete. Week 1 of each phase is sort of a small deload in itself because the volume is decreased from the previous phase. However, I am unique and every individual out there requires different needs.


Please comment with any questions.