The majority of strength coaches use bands in some form or another and for good reason.  One band alone can provide you with a vast variety of different exercises and applications for use.  In this video post, I demonstrate how to do seven different exercises for the upper back and core without really moving anywhere or changing any weights.  In reality, I probably could have stayed there and shown you about forty more exercise with just that one band set-up.

So as you can see, bands can be a very valuable and cost effective training tool to have and implement into any training program.  I have used bands for years and encourage individuals to learn how to work with them if you never have.  They are great to travel with and can be set up and used just about anywhere.  Just like any other training tool; you need to respect it and know your limits and the limits of the band to avoid injury.

If you have any questions or comments about band training; please just ask.  Also, be sure to check out the other band training videos that I have posted.

Keep adding Variety to those workouts!!

To your health,

Jerry

This video was put together to show the Legend Fitness Pro Series Glute Ham Developer.  I totally endorse this piece of strength equipment as a solid training tool that is built like a tank.  We have three of them and have put them through the ringer with a lot of athletes for the last four years and they still are just as nice and functional as the first day we got them.  The entire frame is welded together; no bolts and the steel is all American so you know it is sturdy.

I have Legend Fitness Equipment in our facilities and I will say this company is legit.  They stand by their strength products and  emphasize quality by not cutting corners.  If you have any questions about the Glute Ham Developer or any other Legend Fitness Product; please do not hesitate to contact me and ask.

To your health,

Jerry

When I am coaching this exercise, I stress on concentrating on all the muscles in the body and “feeling” them contract throughout the movement.  Never stay fixed in one position.  Just let everything move naturally allowing your feet to pivot from side to side.

I recommend doing 2-4 sets of around 6-8 reps.  Take it slow and don’t force it.  If you do it right you won’t need more than 6-8 reps.

Stay Strong & Fit,

Jerry

A lot of people ask me about my personal training programs and workouts.  Recently, I had a request from a subscriber to post a sample of one of my workouts.  Well, I did one better:  I filmed it and I show clips of the workout in the video.  You ask, I listen, then I post what you want.  So here you go, the following is exactly what I did on this day in my personal workout.

Warm-up 5min on a upright bike

Dynamic Flexibility (Continued Warm-up)

Shoulder Circuit (5 exercises-explained in detail in my shoulder injury prevention article)

Tennis Ball Arch Rollouts (I always do these when I am going to train without shoes on)

Homemade Indian Club work

KB Oblique Raise 2 x 8-10 (both sides)

KB Towel Around The World Swing 3 x 10-12 (both directions)

Double KB Clean To Press 3 x 10

Single KB Clean To Press 2 x 8

Bucket Hop 3 x 12 Supersetted with Push Away Pull-up 3 x 5-8

Spiderman Push-up 2 x 20

Stability Ball Stabilization Press 3 x 6-9

Straight Leg/Arm KB Sit-up 3 x fatigue

Band Stretch

This might look like a lot at first glance but my rest periods were very short; typically no more than one minute.  A good portion of my rest periods were spent hitting the record button on the video camera or repositioning it.

If you have any questions or comments about this workout; please post them below.  Also, if this is something you thought was informative and beneficial, let me know and I will post more of these.  Thank you for your continued support and questions.

Keep your passion alive,

Jerry

In the body weight dip video, I go over the dip and the various body positions while doing the dip and I really speak in detail about how productive this exercise is in developing upper body mass and triceps muscularity.  But what if you can not perform a dip because you might weight a lot or you just do not have the upper body strength to perform this exercise?

This video was put together to show how to implement and use a band to assist you in doing dips.  See the hardest part of the dip is in the down position.  This is also when the band is stretched out the most so it will take the most amount of your body weight off.  When you come up through the range of motion; the band tension lessons and it gets harder to do but you are also in a stronger position when you get closer to lockout with the triceps.

So the band really becomes an essential part of this exercise as far as being able to execute the rep.  It will also help you get more reps, even if you are able to get one or two body weight reps and you want to get some higher volume to reach hypertrophy of the triceps.  The band will allow you to get this good burn in achieving a high volume set.

I hope you found this video to be helpful and useful.  Please feel free to ask any questions or leave comments below in the comments area.  If there is something you would like to see or learn; please feel free to contact me by email or over in the forum area and we will be sure to get all your questions and comments answered right here at Variety Trainer dot com.

Using a band to help you achieve a pull-up or just to increase the number of reps you are able to do is an excellent solution to a problem most people have.  When deciding to use a band to assist you; you will need to understand there are many thicknesses to bands and how the band will assist you.  When a person does a pull-up the hardest point of the pull-up for most is getting started from the hang position.  When you use a band; this will be the position when the band is stretched out the most and will give you the best assistance.  As you pull yourself up, the tension in the band lessons.  Most individuals are much stronger towards the up position of the pull-up.  Having the band lose tension during the upward phase is a perfect compliment to the pull-up.

Choose a band thickness that will assist you in achieving 5 reps.  Continue to train with that thickness of band until you are able to achieve over ten reps.  You will now be ready to go to the next lighter thickness band and continue training with that thickness until 10 reps are achieved.  Keep doing this until you are down to the lightest thickness and then you will be able to perform a full body weight pull-up with no band assistance.

It is so awesome to see someone who could not do a pull-up at all and see them progress through the bands.  When they achieve their first body weight pull-up with no assistance at all the excitement and sense of accomplish that individual shows is priceless!

If pull-ups are not your thing-make them your thing.  Start doing them and you will be surprised how fast you see your strength gains and fitness developments improve.  If you have any questions about the bands or pull-ups; please post them in the comments are of start a discussion in the forum.

I just wanted to let you all know that there will be much more content added to this site as the total reconstruction continues.  I was also out of the country on a much needed vacation to Jamaica with my wife.  It is always great to get away from the real world for a week every now and then, but now we are back and ready to get moving forward.

Just last night my wife and I were watching our sister-n-law’s kids as she went to play in an adult field hockey league and of course she came back to our house hobbling on a sprained ankle.  I told her she needs to start following my injury prevention techniques; which leads me to my most recent article which I posted two hours later on ankle health.   Anyone who knows me knows my passion for training and my intense focus on injury prevention techniques.

Check out the article in the articles section of the website or click here.

Also, anyone who has signed up for the free newsletter; please be patient as we are having a few learning problems (working the bugs out) with our new server.   We are hoping to have that squared away real soon.  If you have not already signed up for the free newsletter; please do so.

I am looking forward to providing you with the information you want to know and I am passionate about.   So follow along as I guarantee you will learn something new and potentially keep you healthy and injury free.

Thank you,

Jerry