Elastic Resistance Band Training – Part 3

Article by Idai Makaya

This article was written for the July 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine.

This month’s article is the third and final one in a three-part series on elastic resistance band training. The first article highlighted the options martial artists have for conditioning their legs for better kicking using resistance bands. The second article focussed on using resistance band work to improve the injury-resistance of the shoulder joint, as well as to build better speed and speed-endurance for hand strikes.

The aim of this month’s article will be to show you how you can use resistance band training in a general conditioning program for martial arts fitness. To meet this aim I will outline exercises which can be grouped together and used in a full-blown martial arts fitness workout. I will also show you where best to incorporate this type of workout in your training schedule to derive the maximum fitness gain.

For the benefit of readers who have not seen the two preceding articles, I will briefly describe an elastic resistance band device and explain its peculiar advantages. Resistance bands are simply tubes of elastic material designed to provide an even and constant resistance - when stretched within specified limits. They were originally designed for use in physiotherapy and rehabilitation and proved extremely useful for isolating and conditioning muscles in the very specific planes of motion sometimes necessary for correcting muscle and joint dysfunction.

The principle of using an elastic resistance instrument makes a lot of sense when one considers the advantages of cutting out momentum and providing constant resistance throughout a full exercise movement – without necessarily having to work against the force of gravity. However, the practicalities of doing so are often less attractive. The main problem with using elastic resistance materials for conditioning work was found to be abrasion against the skin when performing certain types of exercise (especially for upper body movements) and the danger of being struck by a recoiling length of elastic, should the device wear out and eventually snap during use.

These major drawbacks seem to have been addressed to a great extent in a patented, branded device called the Flexitrainer - to which I was recently introduced by a fitness training expert. The drills covered in this three-part series are based around the use of the Flexitrainer (although they can probably be performed with a range of similar kinds of resistance band). The most important aspect to these drills is the principle of how and why you incorporate use of the resistance band into your training.

The Flexitrainer resistance band consists of a tube of elastic material which provides constant resistance over a large proportion of its flexible range. The practicality of the device has been achieved by housing the flexible tube in three plastic sheaths. The sheaths can serve as handles and are relatively short – although the centre sheath is somewhat longer than the two at the ends. By sheathing the elastic resistance band, the Flexitrainer can be extended and flexed repeatedly across different areas of the body – within the sheaths - without causing any abrasion. In addition, if it were to snap it would simply retract into the sheaths – reducing the potential for any whiplash consequences the elastic material may otherwise have had.

The advantages of using this sort of device are that it is:

1. Low-cost,
2. Portable,
3. Easily accessible,
4. Able to provide an infinite number of exercise planes,
5. Easy to use and easy to design customised routines with,
6. Useful in the prevention and remedy of muscle and joint injuries - as a supplement to other kinds of strength exercise.

There are a number of important considerations to be made when planning to incorporate resistance band training into a conditioning routine. These include the following:

• What methods of conditioning – if any – are you currently using?
• How regularly do you train during the course of a week?
• How much time do you have available in your week for training?
• What are the goals of your training?
• What level of expertise and experience have you reached?
• How much training do you do on your own, away from the martial arts gym?
• How intense are the different elements of your training?
• What injuries currently affect you or have affected you in the past?

You need to know the answers to these questions in order to determine what approach to take towards resistance band training and other types of conditioning you may want to start using.

Now that we have looked at the considerations we need to make before commencing training, I will look more closely at the actual training sessions you can develop with resistance bands.

There are four ways we can make use of elastic resistance band conditioning:

1. During or directly after a martial arts training session.
2. During or directly after a resistance training session (weights, callisthenics, etc).
3. Directly after a particular exercise (in which instance the resistance band work will focus on the same muscles as the exercise just completed).
4. As a separate self-contained session, aimed at fitness conditioning for martial arts, during which all the different types of resistance band drills can be performed alongside general fitness exercises.

The first three methods are self-explanatory, or have been covered in great depth in this three-part series of articles - so the focus of this last segment of the article will be on self-contained sessions using resistance band drills.

A good tip when using self-contained sessions is to combine resistance band work with the use of bodyweight exercises (such as squats and lunges) in order to maintain a good working heart rate and a higher operating body temperature. Try to sustain the sessions for between thirty minutes and one hour. You can perform a circuit routine in which you repeat a set group of exercises in sequence, for the full session duration - including the squats or lunges after every set of every exercise – or you can continuously change the exercises done throughout the workout. It is important that you train every area of the body in such a workout. It must be a full-body workout.

Perform the following exercises (with sets of ten-to-twenty squats or lunges in between each different exercise) and try to minimise rest periods (restrict rests to times when you need to take in fluid):

• Squats can be performed in the breaks between all the exercises…
  
  
  
  

• Bent over raise
  
  

  
  
• Rear raise
  

• Side raise

• Front Raise

• Biceps curl (you may use a standard underhand grip or an overhand grip)
  
  

  
  

• Triceps Kickback:
  
  
  

• Upright Row:
  
  

  
  
  
  
• Front Kick:
  
  
  

• Roundhouse Kick:
  
  

  
  
  

• Side Leg Raise:
  
  

A good approach is to go through the exercises in a random sequence and then repeat the circuit again, until you reach the target session length you are aiming for. You can tag this sort of workout to the end of a martial arts training session at home and shorten the routine so that the training time incurred isn’t too long.

Make sure you never use this type of routine on two consecutive days. Always leave at least forty-eight hours between repeat sessions to get the correct recovery. Feel free to design your own routines for variety and to increase the challenge, once you’ve got the hang of resistance band training routines. Don’t forget the leg exercises between every set of every exercise performed. Always look out for injuries and if you feel a weakness developing in any joints or muscles, scale back or adapt the routine appropriately to relieve the strain. The most important skill an athlete can develop in order to prolong his/her training career and maintain good health is the ability to read warning signals appropriately and develop the instinct of regulating training load to match the body’s responses on a day-to-day basis.

My future articles will continue to focus on modern, convenient methods of martial arts conditioning. Happy training until then!

If you would like to learn more about Martial Arts Conditioning please click here.