Band Aid: Static Contraction/Pre-Exhaust With Bands

I'm going to finish off my "Band Aid" series by combining three brutally effective training practices: elastic bands, pre-exhaust and static contractions. My muscles are burning just thinking about it! The below four-day workout split maps out the routine. But before you jump to the workouts, I'll give you some background on static contraction training...

The term static means lack of movement. And as this term implies, with static training you take the bands and hold them in a fixed position without moving. This concept is spawned from the idea that by forcing a muscle to work against resistance only when it's maximally contracted, you can optimize its growth potential. This is due mainly to the overload that's involved as well as the novel stimulus with which it jolts the muscle.

Static contraction training may seem like a novel concept, but it's far from being a new, radical training philosophy. In fact, Bob Hoffman, founder of the York Barbell Company and former U.S.A. Olympic Weightlifting coach, had members of the team use a similar training system (albeit with free weights) back in the early 1960s with incredible success. The late Mike Mentzer, a professional bodybuilder and past editor of Muscle & Fitness, also touted the effectiveness of static contractions for building size and strength.

The best way to use the static contraction method is with exercises that allow maximal resistance in the muscles' strongest point of contraction. This is precisely why elastic bands are perfectly suited for static training. With bands, resistance (tension) increases the further you go through the range of motion. And since most static contraction exercises will be done when the bands are maximally stretched, you'll be maximizing the resistance on the muscle. What's more, bands provide resistance from any direction, which allows you to keep the resistance on the muscle in any position of a static contraction. (Read more about the properties of elastic training in my Banded Benefits article.)

That said, elastic bands aren't the only equipment used in the below workouts. You'll also find dumbbell and

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