Use Accommodating Resistance with Bands and Band Resistance On Cleans

Dr. Joel Seedman, Ph.D.

Here’s one of my high school athletes (soon to be South Carolina Gamecocks Quarterback) Drew Dinsmore demonstrating a dead stop hang clean from pins (similar to cleaning from blocks) using band resistance.  

Band Resistance on Cleans???

As many of you know when training my athletes I often use accommodating resistance on Olympic lifts particularly in the form of reverse bands and band assistance.  However, band resisted Olympic lifts such as band resisted cleans is something I picked up from Westside Barbell founder Louie Simmons.  So if you have issues with this protocol take it up with Louie and his fellow compadres at Westside Barbell as I’m sure they would be thrilled to hear from you.

Although reverse band Olympic lifts tend to feel more natural and also provide more variety (i.e. snatch variations), band resisted cleans can have a positive impact on Olympic lifting performance for four primary reasons.

1. Requires more explosive hip power.  Because the weight gets heavier the higher the weight is pulled, this requires the lifter to produce more violent triple extension (in the hips, knees, and ankles) in order to overcome the higher positions and blast through the overloaded phase of the lift.  In fact this is one of the main reasons lifters use accommodating resistance in the first place (on any movement) to teach the lifter to accelerate through the entire lift rather than just relying on bottom-phase momentum.

In fact one of the most common problems on Olympic lifts is that individuals rely on incomplete yet quick hip extension by producing a mini hop or jump to jolt the weight up into the catch position.   Instead of jumping using a partial hop, the lifter should be trying to drive into the floor for as long as possible in order to maximize hip extension forces.  Although many strength coaches erroneously advocate faulty mini-jump mechanics (using incomplete hip extension), which emphasizes knee and ankle extension rather than hip extension (as well as knees and ankles), the band resistance technique helps to eliminate this for two reasons:

First the weight is so heavy at the top the athlete is forced to finish with the hips as the weight will stall out on the second pull of the lift (once the bar reaches mid torso height).  Simply put you’ll be forced to accelerate the load with the hips.  Second, because the catch phase of the lift involves unusually heavy loads and tension (due to the bands), jumping and catching with such high tension feels incredibly jarring and unnatural to the body not to mention that it’s both dangerous and ineffective.  Simply put if you have an athlete that needs to eliminate the common faulty jump clean (rather than full hip extension) band resisted hang clean technique will immediately help resolve this as it punishes this common error yet rewards proper hip extension patterns. 

This is something I’ve been working on with Drew as he was erroneously taught in high school to jump when performing Olympic lifts.  The combination of using band resistance, band assistance, and eccentric isometric variations of Olympic lifts has done wonders for eliminating this issue and teaching him to get violent triple extension particularly in the hips.

2. Teaches the lifter a better catch and rack position.   If you have an athlete who’s having difficulty with the catch position of their clean or snatch and does not receive the barbell quickly enough, band-resisted variations immediately remedy this.  For instance on the clean, anything but quick, violent, and aggressive racking where the athlete forcefully snaps their elbows forward when catching the barbell will literally cause the barbell to launch right back down to the starting position. 

In addition, the athlete will be required to keep their elbows high throughout the duration of the racked position for the same exact reasons.   Besides improving their clean technique this also does wonders for improving upper back strength and posture as the surrounding musculature must work overtime when catching a band resisted clean.

3. Teaches better force absorption.  Olympic lifts provide just as much benefit for teaching force absorption as they do for reinforcing force production and explosive hip power.  That’s because the lifter must learn to receive heavy loads by strategically positioning and activating their body, essentially bracing their entire neuromuscular system to catch the heavy barbell.  Incorporating band resistance further magnifies the benefits associated with force absorption and deceleration both of which are critical for performance and function.  As an added bonus the core strength produced from teaching your body to stabilize the spine when catching these unusually heavy loads (typically supramaximal tension due to the bands) in the front racked position is unparalleled. 

4. Teaches proper bar path.  A common mistake when performing cleans and snatches is to drive the weight straight up rather than up and slightly back towards the body.  This helps to ensure the bar stays close to the body and does not get too far away from the lifter.  With the band resistance if the bar gets even a few centimeters too far in front of the body and the lifter does not keep the bar close throughout the entire movement, the bands will literally rip the bar right back down to the starting position.  Simply put the lifter is forced to pull the bar up and slightly back towards their upper torso which represents ideal mechanics.

The same setup can also be applied to snatches as I show here.

You’ll also notice I use a quick stretch reflex or pre-stretch to initiate the movement. Deadstop training from blocks or pins can be performed with or without the stretch reflex. However, most athletes will find they achieve greater power as well as sensory feedback from muscles spindles by quickly pre-stretching or preloading their posterior chain and producing a stretch reflex immediately before initiating the concentric or pulling phase. It’s a subtle quick stretch (almost looks like a small hitch prior to the lift off) but internally and intramuscularly it feels quite different than traditional deadstop training where the athletes typically would have very little muscle spindle recruitment and pre-loading prior to the concentric.

Note About Band Setup

You can use standard accommodating resistance (where the bands provide tension throughout the entire movement) or the modified version I show here where the band tension doesn’t kick in until just after the 2nd pull. I prefer the second method for several reasons.

First, bands tend to guide the lifter into a very specific bar path. By completing both the first and second pull before the band tension kicks in requires the lifter to create their own optimal bar path rather than being confined into a certain position and patch produced from the bands.

Second, most bands aren’t suited for double looping and performing overhead movements (as the bands would be too tight) therefore this setup is the most practical for a majority of gyms and band options.

Third, the strength curve is actually ideal in many ways particularly for low back health as the tension doesn’t kick in until after the lifter has reached triple extension. Simply, the bands don’t provide any additional tension on the spine in the bottom position where the spine is most vulnerable. If you’re looking for a way to overload the Olympic lifts yet minimize back tension, this setup is optimal.

Fourth, the goal of accommodating resistance is created regardless of which method you chose. In either case if you don’t produce aggressive triple extension and hip drive the band tension will decelerate the bar and make it stall out before the catch.

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