Overload band tension Q for Strength 1

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Austin and Jordan,

I’m currently running Strength 1 after a successful 10 weeks on Bridge 3.0. I have a question about the banded squats and deadlifts — I’ve found and read many versions of this question on the forums, so apologies if this feels like a duplicate, but I still feel like I need this detail spelled out for me.

I’ve also seen you recommend that the chain or band tension be roughly 20% of e1RM, but then over and over your clear recommendation to everyone is to not worry about it and use the red mini-bands. These add roughly 50 pounds to the top of deadlift or squat (I’m standing on a band for the deadlifts, and using pegs with two bands for squats).

My deadlift e1RM is currently 499, so this is ~10% of band assistance. You both lift way more, so i might expect ~100-150# of band tension for you, but I found a training video of Jordan using red mini-bands during deadlifts.

I’m guessing that the answer here is “it doesn’t matter”, which is great. Clearly 50# is a lot to add over the course of a rep and I can just increase base weight.

Do you ever use or prescribe any bands heavier than the reds?

Thanks for answering some version of this yet again.

2

Sritchie,

To answer your question, no, I never use or prescribe bands heavier than reds for lifts against bands. I rarely program reverse band stuff, though I have used medium bands. I typically default to micro minis for pressing work.

You can adjust band tension via how you anchor them to fine tune the loading in a repeatable way, e.g. double the loop, choke it over a wider base, etc. In any case, I would err on “less” band weight vs more in this case.

-Jordan

2 Likes
3

Thanks Jordan! This is the ultra-clear info my foggy brain needed to stop thinking too hard and go lift.