So the guys that have been power lifters don't all benefit from the same thing. They shouldn't all cycle through bands and chains because some of them are already pre-designed to be really, really good at certain things and then they're not so good at other things. Good morning. Happy Monday. I have neuro coffee in hand and it is perfect. All right. Looking forward to a great week. Pretty fired up. Couple things going on. Obviously, if you're following me on Instagram, then you know that I sent out the golden tickets to the Intensive 12 last night. And so I already got a few responses back on that. We're gonna start prep this week as soon as everybody gets their acceptance back. And so I'm very excited about getting that rolling. If you didn't get in this time, keep trying. I've had several people that have applied numerous times before they got in. Next one will be in July, just as a hint. IFSU members, check out ifesuniversity.com today. The Q&A from last week is posted. Okay, today's Q&A is with Manuel. You're gonna love this one, I think. Especially if you work with power lifters, we've been on this kind of power lifting kick as of late, getting a lot of questions in regards to some of the methods that they use. So we talked about the difference between bands, chains, and weight releasers as to who qualifies for what, when to use the right tool at the right time, and then the differences. Again, I think you're going to really, really like this Q&A for today. So have an outstanding Monday. Have a terrific week. Get a good start. And I will see you. Retorting. And whoops. Time has started. What is your question?

So I wanted to talk about using different implements for strength training. We were talking earlier this week on the coffee call about weight releasers. You mentioned that because the weight is heavier with those, it creates more stiffness and it lessens the yielding action.

On the way down.

Right.

The way down. We have to be really specific where the extra load is.

So let's say for a squat. Let's use a squat as an example. Absolutely. That would be like the place where it would be most commonly represented, I would think. Okay. Let's make a comparison between two barbell lifts first as a representation. So let's say that you've got 100 kilograms on the bar for a squat, and then you've got 200 kilograms on the bar for a squat. One will behave in a stiffer manner. The connective tissues will behave in a stiffer manner. So the magnitude of load. So I've increased the load by 100 kilograms, which means that number one, as I descend in the squat, the tissues will be stiffer. And number two, even though as I lower the weight down, I'm using fewer motor units than I would to lift it, okay? So my motor units have to drop off or I can't move, right? I am putting greater load, so I'm recruiting more muscle in the descent with the heavier barbell than I am with the lighter barbell, correct?

Say again.

Let's use a squat as an example.

Absolutely. That would be like the place where it would be most commonly represented, I would think. Okay. Let's make a comparison between two barbell lifts first as a representation. So let's say that you've got 100 kilograms on the bar for a squat, and then you've got 200 kilograms on the bar for a squat. One will behave in a stiffer manner. The connective tissues will behave in a stiffer manner. So the magnitude of load. So I've increased the load by 100 kilograms, which means that number one, as I descend in the squat, the tissues will be stiffer. And number two, even though as I lower the weight down, I'm using fewer motor units than I would to lift it, okay? So my motor units have to drop off or I can't move, right? I am putting greater load, so I'm recruiting more muscle in the descent with the heavier barbell than I am with the lighter barbell, correct? Okay. Now, since we have that representation, what you got with weight releases is I got the 200 kilogram squat on the way down, and I got the 100 kilogram squat on the way up. That's basically what we're talking about. So now we have to say, well, what are the difference between those two squats? Real simple. So as I descend with the weight releasers, and we're using a really crazy example, I don't think you would ever overload 100 kilogram difference between the two squats. Although, I think there's a good reason to do that, but you probably wouldn't do that. As you're descending, I'm increasing the number of motor units that get overloaded on the way down. The motor units that I'm using are the ones that are trying to stay constant and are pushing up against the resistance. I have to drop motor units off so I can actually sit down into the squat. Which means that on the way down, my connective tissues that are involved are stiffer on the way down. Here's the really cool thing. The split second that I release that load, the connective tissues start to re-expand. Okay? So I'm stiff, stiff, stiff, stiff, stiff. I go down to the bottom, the weight kicks off, the connective tissues expand very quickly. And then I try to stand up very quickly. So what I have done is I've done what's called increasing the impulse. So this impulse is a change in the momentum. which means that I'm trying to increase the distance covered in the shorter period of time. And so the really cool thing about the weight releasers is that it affects that change in momentum to a very high degree. So it's very, very useful in those situations where, and you've seen this on a squat enough times where somebody is really having trouble getting through the sticking point, right? And so think about a slingshot at the bottom of the squat.

So as I release that weight and the connective tissues start to re-expand, and I push really hard, I can actually get through the sticking point by using velocity. I can create momentum from the bottom up by releasing the load. That's how the weight releasers work. Does that make sense?

Yes. Would you say that there's a delay in the guts as you rise up and then they gain momentum as well and help you through that sticking point?

Yeah. So we're going to make an assumption that the velocity at which we're going down is going to be slower just because the amount of load makes the tissues differ. It's going to be harder to move, so we're going to move slower. All right, you release the weight. Everything starts to expand. I start to push up as aggressively as I can. So think about like if you had a cylinder with a water balloon in it, and I lift the cylinder really fast, the water balloon gets smashed down into the bottom of the cylinder and then it would come up. That's basically what the guts will do. So yes, you will accelerate the guts upward. And if I can lighten them, okay. So if I get them off the bottom of the pelvis enough, then they become weightless, right? And then less, I mean, it's literally it's less load that I actually have to live. That would be an ideal situation when we're talking about expressing the velocity. Okay. Some people can't do that. And then that's why we use like some of the elastic resistance stuff to try to teach them how to manage those, those issues.

So yeah, I actually wanted to jump into the bands next. So would you see the same thing going on with the band because you're starting at the top, so it should be stiffer, but there's a great deal.

Are you talking about a band that's pulling downward?

Yeah, a normal band set up. So in that case, you're starting stiffer and then it's gradually decreasing. Right. Okay. So, which is like an instantaneous change.

Right. Okay. So, here's going to be the difference. The longer I stretch the band, this is a change in acceleration. If I'm at the top of a squat and the band is pulling downward, at the very top of the squat, acceleration is actually increasing, but it's a negative acceleration. Acceleration is described as positive or negative. So what people call deceleration is actually just acceleration in the opposing direction. So acceleration is increasing in a negative manner, which means that velocity is dropping at the top. As I go down in the squat and the band is compressing, velocity increases as I go down. I can actually go down faster than the guts on the inside if I can do it faster. As I accelerate my way downward and the guts are floating, then they come down and land on the bottom of the pelvis at the bottom of the squat where I actually have to come to a stop. And then they hit, they land on the guts. Depending on how fast that entire system takes place determines what the behavior will be as I hit the bottom of the squat. It's like, do I distribute this load through the connected tissues? So I expand, I yield, and then that helps me to snap myself back up. Or is the tension so high that I hit and it becomes very, very stiff? Again, there's a sweet spot. This is why you'll see people, when they're squatting with band resistance, the weight on the bar tends to be well below what they would lift for a maximum load. The better the power lifter, the lower the bar weight tends to be with a band-resisted squat because they're trying to create the yielding action. They're trying to emphasize the yielding action at the bottom of the squat so they can absorb the energy and use that to make the turnaround, kind of like we were talking about with the weight releaser, so they can create a faster impulse upward.

So would you say that the tissues are still stiffer at the top with a band? Absolutely. Decrease?

Yes, there you go, exactly. And so the difference between a weight releaser and the banded squat would be the weight releaser is stiff all the way to the bottom, then it releases it very quickly, so I get an impulse. Whereas with the band resistance, it's a decreasing stiffness on the way down. So I'm creating more elongation on the way down, still getting the energy absorption at the bottom, but the impulse might be a little bit slower coming off the box. So that's how you decide it's like, what response am I trying to create here? Am I trying to create this quick impulse or am I just teaching these tissues to first and foremost absorb and create the yielding action throughout the system? So if we looked at this from a procedural element, if I got something that can't yield at all, I'm going to put them on bands first, teach them the yielding action, get those tissues to actually yield, then I'm going to run them through the cycle of weight releases where it's stiff, stiff, stiff. And then go, bam. And then create this impulse that pops them right up out of the squat.

Do you think that chains would be a midway to that as well? Because they're stiff, but they're also gradual.

No, so what the bands are designed to do is prolong the duration of max propulsion. The chains intentionally slow you down. So I start in this unweighted position so I can initiate the squat, but as I push through max force, that's where the load comes in. So I'm actually teaching concentric and increased stiffness at that point. So again, bands and chains do not do the same thing. They are not necessarily for the same person at the same time. There might be a period where to emphasize that element of the lift where it becomes very, very useful. But there might be somebody that never ever benefits from chains ever because their physiology is designed to be stiffer. They were meant to be somebody that lifts heavy, heavy things without a time constraint, like a powerlifter. So the guys that have to be powerlifters, they don't all benefit from the same thing. They shouldn't all cycle through bands and chains because some of them are already pre-designed to be really, really good at certain things. And then they're not so good at other things. And then spending time on that stuff is just a waste of time because they don't get better from it. All those techniques are useful for someone at some time. They are not useful for everyone at some time.

Right. So with a chain, you still have that gradual unloading as you go down. So would you say that there's yielding action happening with the chain?

At the very bottom, yes, but it's a much lesser degree because I started with, think about it, I'm starting with the heaviest load at the top and I'm deloading at the bottom. So yes, there has to be some element of the yield. But if I was to compare it to the band tension, not even close, not even close as far as the yielding action, because like I said, that's not what the chains are designed to do. The chains are designed to create an additive load. So it's a magnitude based influence. So I'm increasing the magnitude at the point where I should be producing the hardest force. So I'm increasing that duration of force output. So I'm prolonging IR. I'm making it last a very, very long time. Okay, so I'm in that stiffer range for a very, very long time. I'm in a concentric orientation for a very, very long time. So that's why when you use bands, you tend to see a little bit more velocity than when if you use chain where you hit that load on the chain and it's like literally they're grinding through it, right? So they're not the same. They're not for the same thing and they shouldn't be used for the same thing because they don't produce the same output.

Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, because I wanted to understand how the guts react to these different implements. But it's good.

Right. Yeah, so it's like with the chain, you're not going to get the unloading of the guts when you're using chains.

Because you're still stiff on the way down.

Yeah, because so the acceleration doesn't change like it does with the band tension.

Yeah.

Okay. One minute and three seconds.

That's all I had. So I think that's it.

Get out of here. All right, man. No worries. That's a good question. Good questions. Really. This is going to help a lot of people. This is going to help a lot of people. So, because I think that people perceive these things to be the same when they're not even remotely the same. Okay.