The Band Man Interview

1. Hi Dave. Good to have you hear to do this interview. I like referring to you as the band man because you do a great job with incorporating bands into your routines. Could you tell us what made you interested in the fitness industry and the bands? What is your background?

Jimmy thanks for this opportunity. I have been an orthopedic physical therapist since 1986. In the mid 90’s I realized how our body truly functioned and why certain injuries continued to occur. I also realized that we were not training our athletes to work the body was designed to work. Primarily teaching it how to deal efficiently and powerfully with gravity as well the big 2.. Momentum and ground reaction forces.

That got me thinking and to make a very long story short.. bands challenge our body to handle faster momentums, deal with ground reaction forces quicker and speeds up gravity. As a result neuromuscularly elastic resistance , specifically resistance bands, not only did this but allow us to train doing the same movements we did on the field or in the garage. The fact was we needed to train our body to be much more than weight strong. “We need to make it Reactively strong not just weight room strong”

How is that for a 20 year story in 100 words or less!!





2. Let’s jump right into the hot topics. Why do you think using bands can be very beneficial to an athlete of any age?

As I said above… it teaches the body several things neuromuscularly that weights can’t. For instance

1. How to deal with decelerating at higher velocities than what normal body weight would create
2. How to explode through the full range of motion .. not just through mid range.
3. How to handle horizontal vectors …. Weight can only create a vertical force vector and life is far more horizontal than we think
4. It can teach our body to become stronger at end ranges where most injuries occur
5. It improves dynamic flexibility by taking us beyond our normal body weight range of motion
6. It proprioceptively turns on the hips and trunk quicker than weights because of the speed factor that comes with elastic training.
7. Lastly it fits any body, any person and you can do it where kids love to train.. on the field outside



3. What do you say to people that say will bands give athletes enough resistance to make considerable gains?

Its not about the resistance. Its about the response that the body develops training with bands. But if you want me to bury you, I can. I have out pushed guys that are a 100lbs heavier than me and bench 2 times what I can. I do not say that arrogantly. Neurologically those guys do not know how to stabilize and recruit from the ground up. As a result they go to push a band and their trunk lets go. With out your trunk and hips stabilizing you are not going to push anything.

Now lets take that into running. Same thing is true.







4. What are the most common mistakes that people make when training athletes with bands?

#1 Mistake – They work with too heavy of a band and as a result make athletes compensate badly which leads to injury and poor performance.

#2 Mistake - Do not educate first. They think band training does not need teaching which results in bands being damaged or worse yet…athletes being injuried during training

#3 Mistake - Do not follow training progressions. 90% of fitness pro’s that use bands with their athletes, try to go right for the sexy drills without working on things like foot work, deceleration control or arm action.

#4 They use bands for only 1 aspect of training and do not take full advantage of all their capabilities. Stretching with bands will improve speed as much as running in bands.





5. What are some ways that you have been able to use bands that most people find surprising?

Simulating sled drags, tug of war drills and working on transition speed (going from deceleration to full out acceleration in 2 steps)

We can also do awesome hip dominate activation drills that get your butt in the party instantly.

Trunk reaction training that truly I feel is something no one knows about or consciously works on.

The best dynamic over pressure flexibility program I have every used to improve hip mobility.
Incredible foot quickness drills that get athletes faster in just a couple of sessions.


6. Can you give us the reason that bands can be so effective in making athletes faster?

Neuromuscularly it makes them better at handling momentum and dealing with gravity and ground reaction forces which is what they deal with everyday on the field. If you can’s stop and you can’t accelerate. Therefore you are going to struggle in a multi-directional sport.




7. How would you deal with a young athlete that is too weak to do one push up, but wants to use the bands?

I would teach him how to successfully do a push up using bands as an assistive device. Again something no one realizes about bands. They assist as well as resist. I would work on dynamic stability in short amplitude movements and gradually keep increasing the training distance. Interestingly I will be coming out with a brand new product the middle of february call Quick Kids – Training for a Fast Future. Its my exact 6 week program I use to train middle school athletes. Looking forward to seeing what people think.

Jim, I would be happy to let your audience know when it’s live.





8. I have used your bands with success when doing active isolated stretching. Can you explain why the bands help in stretching?

Inflexibility comes from 4 things.

1. Myofacial restrictions
2. Structurally shorten soft tissue – muscles and ligament primarily
3. Neurotension tightness
4. Poor Neuromuscular stability

Bands can and do address all but #1 by doing the band flexibility program. No other tool can do that and that includes static yoga straps








9. If I am an athlete that can only workout outdoors and only have bands as resistance can I get diesel?

I assume you mean strong Ha!… Yes you can but understand that dead weight training is still very important to gaining absolute strength. Bands are the key to putting that absolute strength into something amazing and productive on the field.









10. Who in the Industry has influenced the way that you train?

Gary Gray PT, Mike Clark PT, Dick Hartzel Coach, Greg Johnson PT, Shirley Saharman are the big ones. But honestly I have learned from hundreds of coaches, fitness pros and therapist. Everyone has something to offer you just have to watch.




11. Thanks for doing this interview and where can we learn more about you. What projects are you currently working on?

www.resistancebandtraining.com
www.askdaveschmitz.com

If you want to receive my weekly video series.. “RBT Live” you can sign up here
http://www.resistancebandtraining.com/rbt-live/






Jimmy Lamour is a former Guilford College in Greensboro, NC All South Defensive Back. He set the record for interception return yards at the school. Upon Graduation, he tested numerous philosophies on strength and speed through seminars, self-study, conversation with renowned strength coaches, and training of hundreds of athletes. This led him to develop a system that helped him improve his 40 yard dash from a 4.66 to a 4.30, which gave way to many professional football workouts. He later developed Lamour Training Systems with the help of his lovely wife Charlene to help youth athletes improve their performance and receive knowledge he missed out on as a child. He continues to consult with several division 1 , prep school, and high schools coaches. He is currently certified as a youth fitness specialist. He has two children Camdon (12) and Micah (7).Sign up for his newsletter at http://fastyouthathlete.blogspot.com/ or check out http://www.fastyouthathlete.com.