Bands and Bags

There is a great debate, do or do not use unstable training!? Well, it isn't so black and white as few things tend to be. There are many forms of instability training. In some respects, dumbbells are unstable compared to barbells, and there is no doubt that both tools are very important. However, is standing on unstable objects very "functional"? There has yet to be any research to demonstrate enhanced performance or decreased injury from using such objects. The use of such training may have value in initial stages of rehab or early pre-hab for the lower leg. However, for "core" and sport-specific movements, these methods fail greatly.

Yet, unstable training is not completely a poor idea. In the text book, "Conditioning for Strength & Human Performance", there is a detailed discussion that implements such as kegs and sandbags may be far more sport-specific tools as opposed to Swiss balls and wobble boards. Even though there is a lack of research supporting this claim, the authors state:

"...it makes sense that training with an active fluid resistance provides a highly sport-specific method of training for certain types of athletes as compared to lifting exclusively with a static resistance, because in many situations athletes encounter dynamic resistance in the form of an opponent as compared to a static resistance." (Chandler, Lee, p. 426)

Well, it also makes sense we can enhance these movements by adding some additional SLIGHT force application in the form of bands. Using bands while using sandbags can add a small amount of instability that will cause the body to have to resist a more horizontal force application that the typical vertical. In most cases, athletes have to deal with both and this is why this is a highly applicable training method.

Want to see it in action? Watch the video below...