Accommodating resistance, also known as variable resistance, involves attaching chains and / or bands to the barbell to help “accommodate the strength curve,” typically in addition to plates on the bar.
Every exercise we perform in the gym has a natural strength curve, which could be ascending (we get stronger as we approach the end of the repetition, as in squatting or pressing movements); descending (we get weaker as we approach the end of the repetition, as in pulling movements); or a bell curve (we are strong, then weak, then strong again, as in the case of a bicep curl).
This should make sense logically: anybody who’s been in the gym for a while knows you can half-squat or half-bench press much more weight than you can take through a full range of motion! Keeping this in mind, using accommodating resistance in exercises where we have an ascending strength curve, we can derive a variety of benefits in strength, power, hypertrophy, and even injury mitigation which we will discuss below!
How to Set It Up:
To get started with using accommodating resistance, you can either add chains or bands to the barbell; typically we would recommend using chains first as they are simply added dead weight, whereas bands provide an overspeed, hypergravity effect which can have a steeper learning curve (more on this later).
If using chains, you will need a lead or guide chain hanging off the bar and then your main chain hanging off of that. The biggest mistake we see is people hanging the main chain directly off the barbell in one long line and then it barely gathers up on the floor throughout the range of motion of the lift. Remember, we want a large discrepancy in weight from the top to the bottom of the movement, meaning we need a fully deloaded chain at the bottom of the movement and almost the entire chain off the floor (save for one link) at the top of the movement. CLICK HERE for a better visual!
Similarly, our bands have to be set up so that they are always providing tension throughout the whole range of motion of the movement. Naturally there will be less resistance at the bottom than the top, but there should still be some! Typically we will tie the anchor point of the band around the base of the rack, around a band peg attached to the rack, or around super heavy dumbbell and then fasten the other end up around the barrel of the barbell. Physical benefits aside, bands that become slack at the bottom could also fall off the pins they’re fastened to which is incredibly unsafe.
Bands are unique from chains in the fact that as opposed to being dead weight like chains, they are actually accelerating the weight down faster than gravity due to their elastic nature. This is why we recommend using them even less frequently than bands because of the added eccentric stress during the movement (can make for some achy joints if used too often or for too long a period of time).
Why to Use It
Using accommodating resistance is typically not recommended for iron game rookies. Instead, we would recommend having a few years of lifting under your belt. Once you get to that point where you’ve hit a plateau, it can be a great tool to help you get over the hump.
Strength
You can use chains or bands to supramaximally load your lifts because, as we mentioned, we know we’re stronger at the top of the movement. If your current max bench press is 300lbs for example, you could load the bar so that it is only 270lbs at the bottom but 330lbs at the top. This would add increased load on your triceps and help strengthen the lockout portion of your lift while allowing you to get your body used to handling these heavier loads which will help increase strength over time. Loading the bar where the total weight at the top of the lift is at (or even exceeds) our max which will help us get used to handling heavy loads and even blast through our old maxes.
Power
If you are looking to increase power output, accommodating resistance can be an excellent method to do so! Loading the bar with lighter weights and then adding accommodating resistance will help teach you how to accelerate through the entire range of motion; if you put the same amount of effort into the top half of the lift that you put at the bottom, you will be unable to lift the weight as it’s getting heavier! This is a great way to learn how to accelerate through the weight (or your opponent), especially effective for athletes. Start with a three-week wave of 40%, 45% and then 50% bar weight where we have 25% of weight added in the form of accommodating resistance.
Hypertrophy
Similar to our strength prescription, we know that mechanical tension is a large driver of muscle growth. Because of this, it can be a great idea to use accommodating resistance during hypertrophy training! Keeping in mind that bands have that added eccentric stress and can beat you up a bit if used too often, we would recommend sticking to chains in the case of hypertrophy and using only a bit of chain weight with mostly barbell weight.
Injury Mitigation
When we’re injured or returning from injury, it can be extra painful to load deep ranges of motion. Keeping this in mind, using chains on our big lifts as we look to manage or return from injury can be a great strategy! You can still load your body with the heavy weights it’s used to, but temporarily deload the ranges where you’re experiencing pain. As time progresses, if you can maintain the overall total load but shift more of that to bar weight and less to chain weight, you’ve made progress in a unique fashion.
When and How Often to Use It
As fun a tool as this is, don’t go too crazy and start adding accommodating resistance to every single exercise. Instead, choose one upper body and one lower body exercise per week to add these tools to and go from there! As mentioned, we would use chains before bands as they are less chaotic and easier to learn and then you can look to implement bands as you become more comfortable.
In Closing:
Accommodating resistance can be a great method to help you smash through plateaus and even help manage pain. While not the be all end all, we would recommend trying to implement these tools into your routine to see how they could benefit you! We’ll see you under the bar.
If you’ve always wanted to try using Accommodating Resistance in your training but don’t have access or are still unsure how to implement it, hit the button below and let’s chat; we’d love to help!
