Resistance Bands Make Strength Training Fun  regardless age, gender and fitness level

 

 

At least once a week I am posed the question about how to train my son or daughter using bands and in most cases all I can envision is kids being put through a grueling workout using big bands that literally throw them around like a human sling shot.

 

 

Ok, maybe I am a little off but I see a lot of things on Youtube that scares me when it comes to training young athletes.  If you really want young athletes to enjoy training with  resistance bands , start making the training game oriented.

 

 

My goal with any Resistance Bands resistance band workout is to get them to train instinctively because when I reach that level, you are as close to a game situation as you possibly can be and training becomes fun because athletes are thinking about competing not training.

 

Over the past several years I have had a chance to test out resistance band training games and wanted to share some of these simple training games with everyone in the IYCA.

 

 

Video Partner Zigzag training

Young athletes need direction and a target.  I find cone drills like a simple Zigzag drill to accomplish both of these.  The key to this drill is making sure athletes have a good understanding of how to shuffle or backpedal as well as holding for their partner.  Once this is accomplished Zigzag drills are very easy to implement.  Within about 2 minute you will have talk and train a young athlete how to decelerate in the frontal and sagital planes while developing good reactive strength of their trunk, hips and quadriceps

 

 

Video Ricochet

Ricochet is a drill I developed to teach athletes how to decelerate.  It has become a training game due the ability for athletes to compete while performing it.  It can be used for all band locomotion drills but can also be effectively used for strength training drill as well.   The video below demonstrates how it works with locomotion.  To use it for strength training drills it is the same way.  You essentially alternate back and forth during the strength exercise.   This format is great for developing teamwork but also is very effective at improving strength endurance.    Especially when done for a 2 minute time interval.

 

 

Video – Partner Reaction

This is where athletes get to test their partner who now is their opponent.  Athletes face off where one is offense and one is defense.   Defense must react to offense and try to mirror them during the drill.  Best drills for this are shuffle or turn and go drills.  Also 2 step deceleration drills work well with this also.  This is also a coaching favorite because you allow the kids to dictate the start and stopping of the drill.

 

 

 

1 Minute Partner Challenge

The One minute partner drill is fun because you can do it with 2, 3, 4 or 5 athlete teams.  You can do all the same exercises or you can have each athlete do a separate exercise for 1 minute.   The goal is to get as many reps as possible in 1 minute before transitioning to another exercise.  My favorite resistance band exercise for this are

• Band Push ups
• Assisted pull ups
• Split Squats
• Squat Jumps
• Front Squats
• Overhead Press
• Turn and go (touching a cone)

Now to make training with resistance bands a real game experience and even more fun, all of these games can be played anywhere because resistance bands are  portable.  This means kids can:

 

• Train at their practice site and not have to go into a smelling weight room
• Trainers can have kid train outside where it is much more enjoyable to do
• Coaches can throw these types of drill into practice anytime and supplement conditioning with strength training

To be a successful youth coach you must find ways to motivate young athletes starting from a very young age and continuing that throughout their high school years.  Resistance bands can provide a definite change of pace that athletes find fun and challenging at the same time.

 

Getting BETTER with BANDS

Dave Schmitz

 

 

 

On this final video I thought you would enjoy watching 2 very special young athletes have some fun competing while training in resistance bands.  Pay special attention to the laughing that comes along with this type of training. To this day Kenzie and Carter Schmitz (yep these 2 are mine… thank God every day) still talk about this experience and when they will be able to do it again.

 Video -  Kids Getting The Best of Some Fitness Pros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting BETTER with BANDS

 

Dave