Band push-ups
by Scott Bird
May 20, 2005
6 comments
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Once again I found the workout split today. I managed to squeeze a little band work into 30 minutes this morning, consisting of :
Band push-ups. For these I just wrapped a miniband around my back, looped the ends around my hands and did push-ups as normal. One bit of advice if you try these - hook the band under your arms, otherwise it has a tendency to smack you in the back of the head. Not much fun at all.
Bench press with bands. This time I used a lighter band (the Iron Woody supermini, about 50lbs at the top) and doubled it around the safety pins; set at about the height of the bench. This setup added the band tension through a much greater range of motion (probably the top 6” of the press) and was far more adjustable than my last configuration.
Push-up 10@bw, 10@miniband
Bench press 8×3@bar+doubled supermini bands
Time to run - the workout continues this evening.
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Scott, do you find that the bar wobbles when you bench using bands but no weight? I find that the more weight on the bar, the easier it is to stabilize when using bands. Maybe that’s just because of my set-up though?
Posted by: John McDonald | May 20, 2005 1:40 PM
It moves around a bit, but nothing too serious. Wrapping the bands around the pins (rather than the base of the rack) means I can quickly adjust the band tension if it does present a problem.
Still experimenting though - perhaps a lighter band + weighted bar would be a better combination.
Posted by: Scott | May 20, 2005 5:09 PM
You answered one question on the band pushup in regards to set up … I tried it once with my wife’s Dynaband and my neck was getting slapped around good. How was the feel of the movement and can you tell me how the pushups felt afterwards sans band? Also, when did the bands kick in?
Posted by: Alberto Caraballo | May 20, 2005 8:04 PM
The bands kick in through most of the range of motion, although it’s a bit less when they’re tucked under your arms (more direct path). I didn’t actually do any regular push-ups afterward, but I’ll definitely try this next time. Will hopefully be a bit easier.
Posted by: Scott | May 20, 2005 9:25 PM
Hi Guys, could i just ask where do you get these bands from?, and what are they called so i don’t look like an idiot trying to explain i want a really really big band??
Thx
Posted by: VasB | May 21, 2005 12:12 AM
There are a few brands on the market; all of which tend to be available from different places, and at different costs. The most commonly used are those made by Jump Stretch, which you can get from EFS in the US, London Kettlebells in the UK or on Ebay from various stores.
I use the bands made by Iron Woody, which are slightly cheaper and a bit easier to get hold of in the UK. So far I’ve had no problems with them.
Other bands are on the market, such as those made by Nazareth Barbell and the bungee bands sold by CriticalBench.com. As far as I can tell these are only shipped from the US, and may be ordered through their respective websites.
What sort of stuff did you have in mind for the bands (and that’s all they’re called by the way)? The tensions are slightly different from brand to brand.
Posted by: Scott | May 21, 2005 12:45 AM