TL;DR

Chains and bands can provide a good strength stimulus over longer periods of training for athletes of different sporting backgrounds and untrained subjects. We can’t say if this is due to a novel stimulus or due to the whole movement or strength curve being overloaded.
Heat or cold treatment immediately post exercise is a good way of reducing muscle damaged. Cold immediately after or 24 hours post exercise is better than heat for reducing pain.
there is an individual differences people failing during the squat this is down to a weak link or joint. Assistance exercise should be applied to strengthen this “weak” link.
if you want to potentate sprint training in a contrast weight training session then banded squats are a great option to increase short sprint performance.
you can produce similar performance in the bench press exercise using a 2 minute rest but if you want to produce a subjectively easier workout rest periods of 3-5 minutes are best
using a battery of exercises to try and objectively determine “function” is a silly idea.
The 225 lb rep out test is not an effective monitor of 1 rep max for well trained athletes who have underwent a strength phase.

Effects of Bands and Chains on maximal strength – Meta-analysis

Soria-Gila et al performed a meta analysis on the existing research on the topic of “variable resistance training” or chains and bands to the rest of us. They found 7 studies of sufficient quality to included in their study. These seven studies had a cohort of 235 subjects and all lasted for longer than 7 weeks of training. They concluded from their meta-analysis that varable resistance training resulted in a 5.03 kg greater increase in maximal strength when compared to traditional strength training. They concluded that chains and bands where a good way of increasing athletes of different sports backgrounds and untrained subjects for periods of longer than 7 weeks.

TL;DR – Chains and bands can provide a good strength stimulus over longer periods of training for athletes of different sporting backgrounds and untrained subjects. We can’t say if this is due to a novel stimulus or due to the whole movement or strength curve being overloaded.

Hot or Cold for reducing post exercise soreness?

100 subjects took part in the study which was designed to determine which method was best for reducing muscle pain, damage and strength immediately post exercise and 24 hours post. Subjects did leg squats for 15 minutes and heat or cold was applied immediately after or 24 hours post exercise. Control subjects who received no treatment lost 24% strength post exercise while cold and heat treatment groups only lost 4% strength. Only subjects who applied heat or cold immediately after exercise showed less muscle damaged (135% baseline myoglobin vs 106% baseline). Cold was superior to heat for reducing muscle pain.

TL;DR – Heat or cold treatment immediately post exercise is a good way of reducing muscle damaged. Cold immediately after or 24 hours post exercise is better than heat for reducing pain.

The limiting Joint during a failed squat – Bio-mechanical case studies.

Flannagan et al looked at 5 subjects who performed a 3RM back squat and failed to complete the third rep. Using inverse dynamics looking at the moment arms and forces produced at the ankle, knee and hip they tried to determine where the subjects failed the lift. On average the subjects produced a net lesser force during a failed lift but seemed on the whole to fail the lift due to decreased force production at the hip joint. Looking at the individuals on an individual basis showed that subjects seemed to fail the lift due to different joints that weren’t shown from the averaged data. Some subjects failed lifts due to a lesser knee force which lead to a lessened hip force production and ultimately a failed lift.

TL;DR – there is an individual differences people failing during the squat this is down to a weak link or joint. Assistance exercise should be applied to strengthen this “weak” link.

Post activation effect of squatting with free weights of bands on short sprint times.

20 recreationaly trained athletes where randomly assigned to three conditions control sat for 5 minutes and then tested their 9.1 meter sprints, performed 5 sets of 3 @ 85% RM then performed 9.1 meter sprints or performed 5 sets of 3 @ 85% RM with 30% coming from band tension and then performed 9.1 meter sprints. Control and standard weighted interventions showed no change in sprint times. Banded squats showed a significant improvement in sprint times.

TL;DR – if you want to potentate sprint training in a contrast weight training session then banded squats are a great option to increase short sprint performance.

Effects of rest periods on bench press performance.

16 trained men took part in 4 different conditions which were randomly ordered for each subject. They all performed 5 sets of 3 with their 3 repetition maximum using either 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes or 5 minutes of rest. Performance drop off was observed for the group using 1 minute rest whilst for the other three conditions performance drop off only occurred in the 3rd or 4th set. RPE increases where observed to be greater from the second set for the 1 minute vs 3-5 minute conditions.

TL;DR – you can produce similar performance in the bench press exercise using a 2 minute rest but if you want to produce a subjectively easier workout rest periods of 3-5 minutes are best.

Is the functional movement test just a test of your ability to perform the functional movement test?

Frost et al looked at looked at the effect of coaching feedback on the functional movement test screening had on 21 firefighter’s scores. They found that participants improved their scores significantly from 14.1 to 16.7 immediately after they received feedback on how the movements were graded. The researchers concluded that giving specific feedback on the tests could render them useless as a monitoring tool.

TL;DR – using a battery of exercises to try and objectively determine “function” is a silly idea.

Ability of combine 225 lb bench press rep test to track change in 1 repetition maximum after 6 weeks of heavy training.

Mann et al looked at the ability of the NFL combine 225 lb bench press rep out test to track changes in Football players 1RM after a 6 week off season strength programme. Over the course of 4 years 203 athletes were assesed at the start of the pre-season and 6 weeks post for both 225 lb rep out and 1 rm bench press. Over the 6 week training block players on average increased their 1RM by 4.2 kg and increased their rep out by 0.9 reps. The rep out test showed a weak to negative correlation to their 1 RM strength.

TL;DR – The 225 lb rep out test is not an effective monitor of 1 rep max for well trained athletes who have underwent a strength phase.