Other/Mixed Where the rubber hits the mat - new ebook on resistance band training for grapplers

[Period]

Hi, as some of you know, I have been working on a guide to rubber / resistance band training for grapplers; it may be of some interest for non-grapplers as well, but it's really aimed at the grappling crowd. It's been over two years in the pipeline, and lately I didn't really get around to work on it much for work reasons, nor did I get much new input, so I decided to just upload it in its semi-finished stage - please don't expect graphical perfection or professional editing.

The book contains a bit of history on rubber band training in grappling, my attempts at describing how they are typically used in the grappling schools I am familiar with, an overview on types of bands you can use (from home depot to the top brands), and a bunch of links to youtube videos with my comments.

You can find my profile at the end of the book if you're interested, so I will keep that brief here: I'm a former Freestyle and Greco wrestler in what would be the exquivalent of D1 over here in Europe, and have trained (sometimes even coached) a number of grappling styles. My coaches and teammates were mostly Russians, they have gotten me hooked on long (3-5m) bands. We consider them the single most important training tool for grappling after partner and mat work, everything else is optional. They are well known and widely used in the former Eastern block as well as the Judo powerhouses (especially South Korea), but good information is not easy to find in the West; I have tried my best to collect and present what I was able to.

It's an entirely non-commercial project that I did for fun, so there are zero strings attached (in fact, I don't have a website, don't sell anything and only coach people I personally know for free). Therefore, I am using Archive as a platform again, where I already published my first (German) book eight years ago.
Here's the link:

John Flais Where The Rubber Hits The Mat Protoversion 1 : John Flais : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A guide to using rubber bands as a training aid for all grappling styles (freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Catch wrestling, Sambo, Judo, BJJ,...

archive.org

All feedback - the good, the bad and the ugly - is welcome. Have fun.

Cheers
Period.

 

[Antti]

Hi, as some of you know, I have been working on a guide to rubber / resistance band training for grapplers; it may be of some interest for non-grapplers as well, but it's really aimed at the grappling crowd. It's been over two years in the pipeline, and lately I didn't really get around to work on it much for work reasons, nor did I get much new input, so I decided to just upload it in its semi-finished stage - please don't expect graphical perfection or professional editing.

The book contains a bit of history on rubber band training in grappling, my attempts at describing how they are typically used in the grappling schools I am familiar with, an overview on types of bands you can use (from home depot to the top brands), and a bunch of links to youtube videos with my comments.

You can find my profile at the end of the book if you're interested, so I will keep that brief here: I'm a former Freestyle and Greco wrestler in what would be the exquivalent of D1 over here in Europe, and have trained (sometimes even coached) a number of grappling styles. My coaches and teammates were mostly Russians, they have gotten me hooked on long (3-5m) bands. We consider them the single most important training tool for grappling after partner and mat work, everything else is optional. They are well known and widely used in the former Eastern block as well as the Judo powerhouses (especially South Korea), but good information is not easy to find in the West; I have tried my best to collect and present what I was able to.

It's an entirely non-commercial project that I did for fun, so there are zero strings attached (in fact, I don't have a website, don't sell anything and only coach people I personally know for free). Therefore, I am using Archive as a platform again, where I already published my first (German) book eight years ago.
Here's the link:

John Flais Where The Rubber Hits The Mat Protoversion 1 : John Flais : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A guide to using rubber bands as a training aid for all grappling styles (freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Catch wrestling, Sambo, Judo, BJJ,...

archive.org

All feedback - the good, the bad and the ugly - is welcome. Have fun.

Cheers
Period.

I got two questions before reading the book:

1. What do you think of the claim that band resistance is more akin to muscle properties itself than typical weights, let's call it elastic for the lack of of a better word, and this would be intrinsically useful for training?

2. What do you think of the claim of overspeed eccentrics compared to equal typical resistance?

I'll eagerly have a look at the book as I'm in part in the same field as you, though as far as I can be with both of my feet still on the same ground.

 

[Period]

Good questions! I'll try to answer them as good as I can.
1. Rubber bands do increase resistance when they are stretched, and that does mimic how muscles work to some extent; they can also be used to alter the tempo etc. However, I do think it's probably better to use them in conjunction with weights if lifting is your goal, just like Westside Barbell, Kenneth Jay, Pavel and others have suggested.
But that is not what I am writing about here: we don't care about weights lifted, we care about moving people. And it so happens that bands of the proper length and resistance, anchored at the proper angle give the closest approximation to moving a human partner, at least among the options I have tried. The resistance curve of rubber bands allows you to pull full force and to put your bodyweight behind it, just like you would want in a throw. It's like using a very smooth, seamlessly adjustable pulley system or sled.
2. Overspeed eccentrics aren't my area of expertise, either. I have occasionally used them in various forms - worked fine short-term, not so great long term. In fact, all my coaches have stressed that you should accelerate concentrically and at least control the eccentric when doing strength-centric drills. Make no mistake about it, a rubber band of the recommended peak resistance (1/4 to 1/3 of your body weight per hand) can seriously mess up your joints and tendons if you let it snap your joints into extension, especially with the rep ranges we are talking about here.
The other thing I like to repeat is that you need to look at a system in its entirety, not just a part of it. What I mean by that is: rubber bands are an important part of our training, BUT they are used to complement our wrestling, acrobatics, running, plyos etc in the quantities that we do them. I'd say those take care of the eccentric work for us, and bang us up enough already. For a person who doesn't do all or any of these things (or puts a different emphasis in their training), the effect will be vastly different.
And finally: always talk to your coaches. Your coaches need to know what you are doing when you're not on the mat / playing field, and you should evaluate that together. Don't just do it because some dude on the internet said so, even if he comes from a world-class wrestling school. I've tried to present what we do as broadly as possible, but there is always things that I might overlook, consider obvious or that are different in your case. Your coach knows you and knows your goals, and it's his job to help with them. And if anyone doesn't value their coach's opinion on such matters (at least as far as him being honest enough to say "I don't know, I never tried that"), they seriously should consider looking for a different coach imho.

 

[John K]

Thanks for sharing! Definitely interested in reading it.

 

[Period]

PS: For those who want to try the exercises right away without spending much on bands, my recommendation would be to get a 5-7.5 m long piece of bungee cord from the hardware store or an online retailer (typical cost: 5-20$ depending on thickness, length and brand). The advantage is that you can always use a bungee cord for other stuff if you decide it's not what you wanted. I recommend tying a simple knot or loop knot at the end (be aware that will shorten the band, so if you want loop knots, buy at least 6m; you can find instructions on the loop knot in the link section of the book), possibly a short length of webbing strap as a door or post anchor, and you're set. Bungee cords are some of the safest and most durable bands and will typically last for years and years, I have seen some that were in use for several decades and were still fine.

Look for a bungee that is reasonably flexible (stretches at least 100%, the more the better; if it stretches by over 150%, 4 m will be fine, if it stretches less than 100%, get 6+m) and is wrapped with cotton, PS (my personal favorite) or PP.
As a rough guideline, use
8 mm for youth grapplers and lighweight females (typically 6-8 kg peak resistance)
10 mm for lightweights and light middleweights (typically 9-14 kg peak resistance)
12 mm for strong middleweights and light heavyweights (typically 18-24 kg peak resistance)
14 mm for big heavyweights (typically 25-30 kg peak resistance)
16 mm for superheavyweights (if necessary - most will do fine with 14 mm) (typically 30+ kg peak resistance)
Resistance is given for one length of band (= per hand), so a 12 mm bungee is equal in resistance to a 36-48 kg (depending on the bungee) loop band.

If you never trained with bands before, size down; in fact, I don't think many people will need more than 12 mm to start out.

Thicker bungees are usually quite a bit more expensive and less commonly found, in that case, you might want to consider getting two or three times the length of a thinner bungee and doubling or tripling it up.

 

[Anna C]

Wow, I know next to nothing about the subject matter, but that's an amazing piece of work, @Period ! Quite awesome of you to share it for no cost.

 

[Period]

Wow, I know next to nothing about the subject matter, but that's an amazing piece of work, @Period ! Quite awesome of you to share it for no cost.

My pleasure.

 

[watchnerd]

Interesting.

I use resistance bands several times a week as a recovery tool for weightlifting, as well as for isolation accessories.

 

[Simply strong]

I know someone who used only resistance bands for the last two years. Before training with bands they were swinging a 24kg bell and doing get ups with a 12kg bell. They recently tried kettlebells again and were able to swing a 16kg and 20kg bell together and did a get up with a 20kg bell on both sides.

They are a tool. It’s all in how you use them.

 

[John K]

@Period - I haven't had a chance to read your book, but today I heard about another Johnthat wrote a book on rubber band training, John Jaquish. Apparently he's well known in the fitness industry (I'd never heard of him). You familiar with him and his work?

 

[BJJ Shawn]

@Period - I haven't had a chance to read your book, but today I heard about another Johnthat wrote a book on rubber band training, John Jaquish. Apparently he's well known in the fitness industry (I'd never heard of him). You familiar with him and his work?

Yeah, he’s been around for a while. He created the X3 band system Home | X3 Bands

 

[Period]

They are a tool. It’s all in how you use them.

Yes, that's right - which is why I wrote a book about them The same is true for barbells, kettlebells, bodyweight...
Speaking of get-ups, I was able to do them with a 50 kg dumbbell (over half my bodyweight) the first time I tried. Took me some time to get used to the different balance of kettlebells, though, since I hadn't really used them before for anything.

 

[Period]

@Period - I haven't had a chance to read your book, but today I heard about another Johnthat wrote a book on rubber band training, John Jaquish. Apparently he's well known in the fitness industry (I'd never heard of him). You familiar with him and his work?

Yeah, he’s been around for a while. He created the X3 band system Home | X3 Bands

Yes, I mention him at some point in the book, and I have his book somewhere. I don't think I read it in its entirety, though.
Jaquish concentrates on what I call "basic exercises", he mostly substitutes standard resistance bands for barbell and dumbbell exercises. Nothing wrong with that, but not really what I wanted to write about. I must say though that I'm not a fan of the design of the "X3 ELite Bar" he sells: while I am sure the materials are good and everything, I REALLY don't think pulling giant rubber bands with a heavy steel bar while your own body parts are in the trajectory it would take if it slipped out of your hands is a good idea. There's still a hole in the concrete ceiling of my parent's garage from me trying something similar when I was 16 or so.

 

[Period]

Interesting.

I use resistance bands several times a week as a recovery tool for weightlifting, as well as for isolation accessories.

Weightlifting isn't really my thing, but of course bands can be used to complement that. For example, Lasha Talakhadze has been seen using the type of band I'm writing about (ca. 5 m long) as part of his warm-up.

 

[Dayz]

Yes, that's right - which is why I wrote a book about them The same is true for barbells, kettlebells, bodyweight...
Speaking of get-ups, I was able to do them with a 50 kg dumbbell (over half my bodyweight) the first time I tried. Took me some time to get used to the different balance of kettlebells, though, since I hadn't really used them before for anything.

That's crazy! Is that all from bands? Or do you do barbell stuff as well?

Thanks so much for sharing this resource. Very generous!

 

[Period]

That's crazy! Is that all from bands? Or do you do barbell stuff as well?

I used to do all kinds of things, some barbell and dumbbell lifting, lots of bodyweight. If you look the author's page on archive, you can find the book I wrote in 2014, although in German. I think in this case, one-arm handstands, one arm bench presses, one-arm dumbell and barbell snatches and bent presses are what made the get-up pretty easy for me. I couldn't really understand why people found them hard.

 

[3letterslong]

There's still a hole in the concrete ceiling of my parent's garage from me trying something similar when I was 16 or so.

yeh, i also knocked a hole in the ceiling when puberty hit

 

[Period]

yeh, i also knocked a hole in the ceiling when puberty hit

Well, in this case it wasn't me, it was a 4 kg iron bar powered by about 1000 Newton (100 kg) of band pull.... I still don't know how i managed to get out of the way of that one.

 

[Diryan]

Thank you for sharing the book! Might try these after i have hit timed simple. Do you suggest just doing lets say the Colat circuit for like 2 times a week or something after training? I train bjj and submission wrestling 4 times a week and have been doing S&S 2 times as a supplement for a while now.

 

[Period]

Thank you for sharing the book! Might try these after i have hit timed simple. Do you suggest just doing lets say the Colat circuit for like 2 times a week or something after training? I train bjj and submission wrestling 4 times a week and have been doing S&S 2 times as a supplement for a while now.

You're welcome! That is definitely a possible start, I'd say twice per week is enough for a beginner. You can do it after mat training or at the end of a conditioning/running session. Once you develop a feel for the bands, you can start incorporating more technical exercises.