The Magic You May Be Missing In Your Workout Program
One question I get weekly is…
“What makes Crossover Symmetry different than other bands on the market?
And there is plenty when it comes to the quality and durability our sleeved bands provide. Not to mention an accidental break won’t cause you to lose an eye, and we’ll make sure that we get your system back in working order quickly.
There’s also the program and education you definitely won’t get with the “cheap stuff.”
But one of the most overlooked advantages is getting the right resistance for your training. We didn’t just choose random resistances, but we paired the exercise with the correct resistance for different strengths and abilities. On top of that, we include both heavy and light resistance sets to target different muscle groups.
This week in The Movement, we’ll take a look under the hood of Crossover Symmetry to understand the importance of having the right resistance.
The Problem with Too Light
If you want to produce a change that will promote faster and stronger movement or improve range of motion, you’ve got to make some muscles contract to generate some tension.
To understand why, you need to know a bit about how muscles work—which starts with a message from the nervous system to make them go.
Thankfully, that message is very precise. Imagine taking a sip from a coffee mug with the same intensity as a max effort bench press. There would be a mess to clean up.
This regulation occurs through the progressive recruitment of the muscle.
It starts with small groups of muscle fibers that don’t exert much force. So to take that sip of coffee, you get just the right amount of force production.
Got a big cup of joe? The nervous system starts recruiting more and bigger units of muscle to increase force production.
The point being, if you want to contract the higher threshold units—the ones used for high-powered sports performance—you’ve got to have enough stimulus.
The most efficient way is with heavier resistance.
The Problem with Too Heavy
On the flip side of things, many believe that the heavier they go, the stronger they will get.
I’m often talking many athletes out of buying a set of the heaviest band we offer because they think that’s what will make them the best.
For the record, our heaviest are the 40lb Bronco Cords. They were initially made for the Denver Broncos because they needed bands to use with their offensive linemen. Hopefully, this gives you an idea about who should be buying the Broncos.
But most important to this part of the discussion is to consider the goal of the exercise. And when going through the Crossover Symmetry programs (especially Activation), it’s not to…
build that bulk beach body, hit a new Strength PR, or to “tone” those guns…
Instead, it’s to optimize your movement so that you’re ready to train or compete to hit those goals above. And supporting better movement is best done by tapping into the smaller supportive muscles to do their job more effectively.
The shoulder system’s two bigs goals are to get the scapula moving and facilitate a strong and supportive rotator cuff—best done with something lighter than your max load.
That’s because when you overload these smaller movers, it requires compensations from the bigger muscle groups to get it done and loses the intended effect.
But when done with the lighter load, you’ll find your range of motion improves, and you “feel” stronger overhead.
Thus, lighter weights have enabled you to lift and do more, for the work that truly counts…nobody cares about your Scaption PR.
Finding The Sweet Spot
So how heavy should you go? Here are some helpful tips…
- Start by watching the training and going through the movement instruction without the bands. Your technique should look similar once you pick up the cords.
- Go lighter at first—err on the side of less resistance and use a slower tempo and pause for longer at the end range. If you can maintain this tempo with something heavier, then it’s time to go up a bit.
- Change it up a bit. Somedays, you may feel great, and pushing heavier resistance is a good option. Other days, you may feel stiff and achy, in which going a bit lighter will do more for you than suffering through your normal.
- There are different goals for different programs. For something like Activation, go a bit lighter and feel the tension at end ranges, vs. Strength give it a push and go for that pump!
Hopefully, this gives you some more insight into making your training the most effective it can be!
